Glassboat

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Glassboat

It sits there rather elegantly by Welsh Back, a glowing of windows in the crook of the quayside. At night the lights under Bristol Bridge create an atmospheric shimmer and their reflection picks out smooth sliding swans slipping in and out of the darkness beyond. The combination of look and location gives Glassboat a head start over most restaurants but the challenge is to match the meal experience to the expectations raised as you cross that gangplank. Between us, my companion and I have visited the place on many occasions, but it’s been a while and we enjoyed the leather-chaired comfort of the very salubrious saloon bar while speculating about the impact of (relatively) newly arrived chef Liz Payne. Taken to our table – happily smack in the middle of that enormous window at the end of the boat – we perused a menu which showed a very grounded Englishness, rich in autumnal treats, and from the arrival of a generous bowl of sumptuous Spanish olives expectations were high.

I sometimes think you can make your mind up about a place by those first olives, though usually, sadly, in a bad way. These superb specimens were well matched by my smoked eel and smoked salmon starter, with its whisks of horseradish crème fraiche and beetroot. It was a judgement shared when my companion got her warm endive salad, the softened vegetable rich in honey and well balanced with a mild gorgonzola. I’d picked a crisp rioja blanco for the course (there’s an excellent selection of wines by the glass) that combined excellently with the smoky fish, but I moved onto a feisty douro, rich in Portuguese dust, in expectation of my main course. That was a classic roast loin of pork with apples and roast potatoes – one of the plainest dishes on the menu and thus a sterner test of the kitchen. I’m pleased to say the kitchen passed with exuberantly flying colours: the soft, flavoursome meat was simply heavenly, balanced with sweetly roasted new potatoes. My companion’s wild mushroom and parmesan risotto was no less pleasing – a celebration of intense flavours still juicily tongue-tingling. A rather grown-up bitter chocolate and prune soufflé cake and kick-ass coffee rounded up things with consummate style, ending an evening that had slid by as smoothly and gracefully as those swans and, at only a shade over £60, we thought it fine value to boot. (Tony Benjamin)

GLASSBOAT WELSH BACK, BRISTOL, BS1 4SB. TEL 0117 929 0704; WEB: WWW.GLASSBOAT.CO.UK

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