Please note: we were invited to try out the brunch menu at the Shore Cafe Bar at the Bristol Hotel, 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.
Looking for somewhere to enjoy brunch with a dedicated Bloody Mary menu this weekend? Then get yourself booked in at the Shore Cafe Bar at the Bristol Hotel on the waterfront: their brunch menu is only available until October 3rd…
It’s a bit of a confusing place, mind: walk up through the outdoor terrace (complete with covered and heated areas, plus blankets for if you get cold), and you’re straight into a venue that looks like it’s more set up for the evenings than the daytimes. There are a few tables inside, but not many: it’s a tiny place and there was only one guy working on the day of our visit.
The outdoor terrace is a comfortable place to sit, though: the heaters worked well, the chairs were full of cushions, there were twinkly fairy lights wound around the trees and views of what was happening on the water. With the hedges around the outside, it felt like a little oasis away from the hustle and bustle.
The Bristol Hotel weekend brunch menu offers everything from sweet to savoury, classic breakfast dishes to heartier mains. What we were most intrigued by, though, was the dedicated Bloody Mary menu on the second page of the brunch menu. As well as a classic Bloody Mary and a non-alcoholic Virgin Mary, we were presented with options that included all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations of ingredients.
So, naturally, we had to order three different drinks between the three of us. The four year old was excited to have his own “cocktail (the Virgin version for £5, of course), which we’d asked for with a lower level of spice than they’d normally include. Enough, though, so that it still had flavour beyond just tomato juice, and he happily slurped up the lot.
My Classic Bloody Mary (£9) was pretty heavy on the vodka, unlike in other places where it’s been served a little weak. It could have done with a touch more spice, though, to make it a little more full-bodied.
The Bloody Bulldozer (Buffalo Trace bourbon, tomato juice, beef bouillon, spices and beef jerky – also £9) was an intriguing combination – which actually gave it a completely different flavour to what you’d expect from a Bloody Mary. It was quite a meaty one, with the bouillon and jerky included, and equally as alcoholic as mine – but again, it could have done with a little more spice.
We ordered three very different dishes when it came to the food as well. First up, the cheeseburger (£16), topped with caramelised onions and club sauce, and served with a huge bowl of perfectly salty, crispy chips. The burger itself was “surprisingly good”: the patty well-seasoned and well-cooked all the way through, the bun toasted on both sides. It was generous on the cheese front and the sweet onions worked well with the other flavours. The patty, though, was cooked to the point that it was crispy on the outside, which was the only let-down.
Never one to turn down something sweet, the small person went for the brioche French toast (£14) with blueberries, banana and honeycomb butter. The slices were thick and had the requisite crunch on the outside, and rather than blueberries, it was strawberries and raspberries that accompanied the sliced banana (he didn’t complain!) The honeycomb butter included both drizzled liquid plus chunks of chewy honeycomb that made the whole thing even more decadent – and of course, the whole thing was topped off with a generous dusting of icing sugar.
For me, it was all about the Eggs Royale (£13) . The muffin was perfectly toasted and was topped with impressively sized mounds of smoked salmon – and you’ll be pleased to hear that the yolks of the poached eggs were deliciously runny. The hollandaise tasted great, but I’d have preferred more of it – and with a thicker consistency.
It may not be an obvious choice for a brunch stop in central Bristol: the Shore Cafe Bar at the Bristol Hotel doesn’t really have much outside to shout about what it is and what it’s offering, but it was a lovely setting for a relaxing weekend meal. What really made it so special, though, was the service: our server was not only friendly and helpful, he was incredible with the four-year-old which to me makes a real difference.