FOOD&DRINK

Foodie co-op? Friendly boho bistro? Foraged, homegrown and seasonal? Pretty cheap, too? Tony Benjamin is a fan.

After excellent vegan co-operative Cafe Kino moved to their salubrious new premises on Bristol’s hip’n’happening highway Stokes Croft last winter there were early signs of activity in their former base on Nine Tree Hill. It turned out that another young foodie collective were making the place their home, and they’ve done a very thorough job of sanding off the floors, rebuilding the kitchen and redecorating the whole place. Now there’s a chilled bar area upstairs and cosily smart dining room downstairs with room for about 30 diners, with the overall effect recalling a comfy bohemian bistro in a Parisian backstreet.

The Runcible Spoon group’s manifesto is clear from their menus – an imaginative collection of ever-changing dishes using locally sourced seasonal ingredients, including stuff grown in a local walled garden and some foraged foods. Everything is made on the premises, including bread and chutneys, with new dishes arriving each day as fresh ingredients are sourced. The wine list is that simple choice – a carafe of red or white (£14/£7 for half-carafe) – with options of beer, cider and G&T also available.

The place was bustling when the Pianoman and I arrived on a Wednesday evening, with two competing birthday parties dominating the room downstairs. It looked like fun but we felt it might be a little overpowering so asked our friendly waitress if we could maybe eschew the table reserved for us and eat upstairs instead? It was agreed in an instant, absolutely no problem, and we began to feel nicely at home as we settled back into the bar with a fat and fruity red rioja helping us make short work of the admirably concise menu. Only two starters (one for veggies), so that was a no-brainer, with three mains (also including a veggie option) giving us only slightly more pause for thought.

Thus far the Runcible Spoon was scoring loads of points for ambience and friendliness, but it’s the food that makes or breaks the experience, and any amount of great intentions, youthful enthusiasm and amiability can’t compensate for an uninspiring meal. While the pricing policy (£10 one, £13 two and £16 three courses) was clear and reasonable, it might also suggest small and shoddy eating and we were certainly not in the mood for that kind of disappointment. And, happily, that’s the only time the word ‘disappointment’ will crop up in this review because, from the first sip of our complimentary cups of richly sweet borscht soup, it was clear that we were in for a real treat.

My starter’s interesting mix of hedgerow salad leaves concealed little morsels of Ticklemore cheese and slivers of marinated xxxxxx, and the combination of flavours was so bright that it could only have come from freshly picked herbs. Pianoman’s heap of seared beef carpaccio was rich and velvety pink meat offset by mustardy horseradish and watercress in a proper English assemblage. His roast Saltmarsh lamb was equally melting, the flavour drenched into braised puy lentils and texture balanced with crisp savoy cabbage. I had creamily smooth pork loin stuffed with intense black pudding, a thick slice set on sweet and sour red cabbage with a mustard mash – again a well-balanced range of flavour and texture.

By this point the only dispute was about who had made the better choices (we each knew that it wasn’t the other person) and the debate reignited with the puddings – his deep-flavoured rhubarb compote and crisp lemon polenta biscuits may have been as enjoyable as my satisfyingly crumbly (and syrup-trickled) orange spice cake but I was not prepared to concede the point. Amazingly, that flawless experience of bistro dining had cost just under £50 (including wine) – a fact that puts other less friendly and pricier places to shame. We shall return, we agreed, and soon… but I suspect we’ll need to book early.

Contacts

The Runcible Spoon 3 Nine Tree Hill (off Stokes Croft), Bristol. Ffi: 0117 329 7645, http://www.the-runcible-spoon.com/

The Verdict 8/10 With food as delightful as the service is friendly, destined to make a lot of foodie friends

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011