Rating:
Cuisine
Fine dining. Victoriana with a modern twist.
Appeals to:
Not gonna lie, the prices of cocktails at this brooding bad boy are a little steep, and in the original prohibition style, you don’t get stacks of bang for yer buck. That said, for couples it’s intimate and cosy, which makes it special.
Definitely hipsters with jobs like media types (shit, that’s me!) Anyone who wants to impress would bring someone here and… students? Yeah, well if your folks are payin’!
Also anyone with a penchant for stylish erotica.
Medieval or just plain dark?
Sitting in a dimly lit underground cellar faced with a behemoth of a 7 course tasting menu did not make for an average Tuesday night. That said, The Rummer in Bristol is in no way an average hotel. Ironically, it’s not even a hotel.
So, downstairs it’s all atmospheric lighting, brickwork and a kind of dungeon-esque ambiance. First cocktail on the list being called Corpse Reviver and billed as a morning drink sums up why this restaurant is a fucking ace find.
Award winners
Having been voted Spirit Pub of the Year last year, the variety on offer in the cocktail menu was pretty impressive and I was feeling reckless so smashed back a citrusy combo before we were even seated. They’ve also got into the Top 50 Pubs list in The Good Food Guide so it seemed like they were doing something right.
Toilets
Since I was brought up being trawled around jazz clubs with a chain smoking mother, I’ve always had a pretty odd obsession with toilets. I reckon you can tell quite a lot about a place by the quality of them. These were still low lit, had interesting mosaics and a fuck-off-big old trough type porcelain sink. Pretty cool.
The staff
Our waitress was from Malaga and named Gema. Sporting tattoos and an undercut, she was an ambassador for the ‘modern uniform’. I was even more chuffed to find out she was the owner, as she had a relaxed chatty manner with all tables and judiciously chose her moment to stop and talk, or leave tables to chat. You got the impression she’d seen a party or two before having her 2 kids and we loosely made a date to do some dancing on the tables when she gets a night off. The chef also popped out to introduce himself and his food, which felt pretty Masterchef and pretty fucking cool.
The food
Because this beast was a 7 courser, which actually was more like 10, if you include all the canapés, fresh bread and the sneaky little extra dessert we got. The sort of stuff on here was again bordering on Michelin star: A tri-shroom bonanza called ‘A Burnt Forest Floor’ demonstrated one of the chef’s key principles: to present the same ingredient in a variety of guises. With a rich mushroom pate, flambéed mushrooms and mushroom crumble, the chef took one of September’s most seasonal foods and processed it any which way he could.
Similarly with the dish simply entitled Chocolate!!! later on, Andrew demonstrated the agility and flexibility of different textures, flavours and aesthetics of the same ingredient.
Blending monkfish cheeks and hake to create faux scallops may have looked a little bit like testicles but actually came from the chefs love of Victorian recipe books and tasted as sweet and lush as scallops. The best thing is that they were created from offal; which would mean they’d be quite cheap to try and recreate.
The booze
By the time dessert came round I’d kind of forgotten how many different cocktails I’d had; redecorated their floor with lovely shiny particles of broken glass; and successfully fallen out with my partner about something to do with the washing up. Luckily, I was so pissed I’d forgotten all of the above by the time I sat upstairs slurping an espresso martini and marvelling at…
The decor
Definitely needs a section of its own. Upstairs there were what can only be described as cunning array of stunts on the walls. Well, if you like spoonerisms. Busts of naked bodies lined the walls carved from wood, fashioned from leather and hewn from stone.
Add to that a fireplace that would have housed Hagrid and you can imagine the sort of feel.
The verdict
Faultless food, ‘real’ staff and a unique feel; The Rummer is an experience and one you won’t forget.
The details
Address: All Saints Lane, Avon, Bristol BS1 1JH
Website: http://therummer.net/
Phone: 0117 929 4243
Hours: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm