When a venue describes itself as having the “best Sunday roast in Bristol”, I’ll always have high expectations. And so, when we recently visited Racks Bar & Kitchen in Clifton for Sunday lunch, I had high hopes: especially after seeing a menu that boasted of its local ingredients and its giant Yorkshire puddings. What did we think? Read on to find out…
It’s obviously a popular choice for Sunday lunches, as there were plenty of reservation notices on the tables as we walked through Racks’ rabbit warren of seating areas. Our table was in the Speakeasy: a cosy room just off the main bar area with plenty of exposed brickwork and twinkly lights, and which had an almost private dining feel.
With the Sunday lunch menu, it’s a choice of beef, lamb or chicken (all £11.50) – or a vegetarian nut, goats’ cheese and vegetable patty (£10.50). For both of us, it had to be the lamb: local Claversham roast leg, infused with garlic, rosemary and mint.
We were certainly impressed with the presentation. Served in bowls (which meant that they could include a decent amount of gravy), the thinly sliced lamb was surrounded by roast potatoes, and topped with the aforementioned giant Yorkshire, filled with roasted parsnip, parsnip crisps and a sprig of rosemary for good measure. The lamb was lovely and pink, the flavour of the garlic coming through more strongly than that of the herbs, and while some of the potatoes were perfectly crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the middle, some were sadly a little more soggy. We both loved the giant Yorkshire, though, which was cooked perfectly.
The honey glazed parsnip was tasty but could have done with some crisping up, but the parsnip crisps really were lovely – very salty, but that worked well with their sweetness. And the gravy? Perfect – not too thin, not too thick, and really rich and full of flavour.
Along with the standard veg that accompany the Racks Sunday lunch, we couldn’t resist ordering a side of cauliflower cheese to go with our meals – especially at the bargain price of £1.80. It didn’t disappoint either: as well as the creamy cheese sauce, there was plenty of cheese sprinkled on top. The dish had been grilled until golden – meaning that it not only had the requisite cheesiness, but a great variation in textures too.
When it came to the broccoli, carrots, green beans and red cabbage, we were a little disappointed. Not with the cabbage – that was beautiful. The other vegetables, though, were a bit overdone and seemed not to have been blanched – they were pretty dark in colour with none of the vibrancy you’d expect.
The portion sizes were generous – we were too full for dessert – and our servers were lovely: smiley and happy throughout our meal, and always on hand (but not excessively so) if we needed anything. While some aspects of the meal were a little hit and miss, there were others that we loved – it’s somewhere we’d certainly head back to, as the negatives weren’t enough to put us off.
Please note: our meal was received free of charge, but this in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the venue did not see this review before it was put up on the site.