FOOD&DRINK

Tony Benjamin comes over all neighbourly with the fresh fish and real ales dished up by new management at this Southville cafe-bar.

What used to happen to lamb shanks before they became an essential addition to the gastropub menu? Were they packed off to Greece by the shipload? Or melted down for doner kebabs? Neither I nor The Boss knows the answer and, anyway, we’re not going to order the dish because the menu at the Terrace offers too many other attention-seeking temptations, but the significance is apparent: the place is under new management and the food is centre stage.

We’re in our own ‘hood, The Boss and I, and we remember when this was a greengrocer that sold trees at Christmas. Since then a series of bar/cafe businesses have done reasonable trade while never quite gelling with the ‘new Southville’ around them. Walking into this latest manifestation, however, it’s immediately apparent that there’s been a big shift in the right direction. The place feels brightly welcoming, with freshly scrubbed, unpretentious decor combining reclaimed woodwork and plain furniture. There’s a choice of real ales at the bar and those lamb shanks on the menu… it’s all very Southville, basically, and we have a pint at the bar before heading down to the dining area. We pick a table by a window with an inside view of the open kitchen area and pick over the menu, which covers all the angles with salads, sharing platters, pasta dishes and classics like fish & chips. Unless you opt for one of the steaks, you’d be pushed to spend over £20 on a three-course dinner here, and there’s a satisfying choice of wines by the glass around the £5 mark (250ml).

New owner Giles Pushman learned his trade in the family pub – the Bear and Swan in Chew Magna – and has brought their neighbourly philosophy with him. Thus the menu has bread from Mark’s Bakery and sausages from Rare Butchers, both a moment’s walk away, while the resident beer is Butcombe from down Chew Valley, and Mendip Moments ice-cream is made just outside Wells. There are fresh fish deliveries from the South West coast, and that means today’s specials include calamari and moules marinieres, both of which claim The Boss’s attention. I’m hungry and drawn to something substantial, so pick grilled sardines on toast with lime, ginger & chilli dressing, and those sausages with bubble & squeak and onion gravy.

While we watch the chefs bustling with our order we contemplate the potted descriptions on the wine list, trying to claim them for ourselves. Sadly, the ‘flavoursome, spicy, lovely’ verdejo is only available as a bottle and thus The Boss ends up with ‘fruity, fresh, crisp’ Chilean sauvignon while I’m ‘savoury, earthy, robust’ like my Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. We’re fooling nobody, though, but both are very enjoyable drinks at least and work well with the food.

Starters arrive promptly, the battered calamari rings still sizzling from the pan and the crisped sardine smoking from the grill, and get an equally warm reception for being perfectly done. I especially like the dressing, in which all three flavours are present but not overpowering. It’s a clarity born of careful cooking, making straightforward, unfussy food richly satisfying to eat, and the same quality is there in the main courses, too. The little cake of bubble & squeak houses deliciously sweet chunks of parsnip as well as cabbage, and my side dish of sauté vegetables has a similar contrast, with slivers of red pepper lightening the near bitterness of the greens. As The Boss disappears behind a growing heap of mussel shells, I sneak a taste of the wine-based liquor in his pot and quickly go back for more. We don’t, sadly, have time for a Mendip Moment, but we’re nicely full and very pleased to have discovered that the new regime at the Terrace has put it firmly on the Southville map.

The Terrace 220 North St, Bedminster, Bristol. Ffi: 0117 963 9044

THE VERDICT



Comfortable and welcoming place serving quality ingredients cooked with care

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011