Our eating out spree continues!

Last week, after our very first trip to the Cube (which is shameful considering – a) it is one of the best places I have ever visited and b) we have lived in Bristol for nearly 5 years, ie in other words we should have visited sooner!) we came out after the film decidedly peckish, and in the mood to eat. The initial plan was to go to Pieminister, but after deliberating for all of five minutes we decided we weren’t in the mood for pie, and began the trek back up the hill to Cotham.

We settled on Bravas, a fancy looking tapas place on Cotham Hill I’ve always wanted to visit, but seem to pick the days when it is absolutely jam packed full of people. Well, considering it was a Tuesday, it was definitely still surprisingly busy, but the lovely waiter man found us a spot on the bar – right in front of the food!

It didn’t take us long to decide what to eat. We started with a beer – it’s tiring walking up Spring Hill – and some bread with aioli, which sadly disappeared before I could get a decent photo. I love aioli, imagine a really rich buttery, olive oily-tasting garlic mayo and you’re nearly there (except far fancier than garlic mayo, obviously). The bread was fab too, dense and soft with a crispy crust. Having been sat right in front of all the dishes of food in the chiller we went for three of these – garlic mushrooms with pine nuts, sweet potato with goats cheese, and river trout with lemon.

Now, this is somewhat of a revelation for me – I hate fish. I mean, really really hate it. But when I saw it glistening in it’s lemony oil in front of me it seemed very appealing, considering the famished state I was in. Maybe it’s a sign of my increasing sophistication (or perhaps more likely a sign that I am getting old – changing tastes and all that!). Trout, I have discovered, tastes (and looks) a bit like salmon, and although all I did was pick and nibble a bit at it, it was very tasty, especially when smothered in lemon and olive oil.

One thing I will say about Bravas is that everything is pretty oily. I even managed to smother oil all over my new camera somehow! I know that this bothers some people (why?!), but for me, it only added to said deliciousness. The quality of the oil must be pretty top notch, too, as it had a really lovely flavour, not like the stuff I buy down the supermarket. My favourite of the three were the mushrooms, being a bit of a garlic fiend, which were the least expensive of the three at £2.50. It’s also worth noting that everything is very reasonably priced – all the veggie dishes hover at around £2.50/£3, with fish at around £4 and creeping up to £5 for the meat dishes.

Now, although we were pretty happily full off the three dishes and the bread, I couldn’t leave without sampling their orange and almond cake. It’s probably my favourite cake ever, and this one didn’t disappoint. This healthy slab came out of the kitchen warm, although I was a bit confused (nay, outraged) that they brought two spoons! Didn’t they realise it was all for me?! I had to share it with Tom in the end, which I was pretty unhappy about.

I’m glad I can tick another one of my neighbourhood restaurants off my list, and we will definitely be visiting here again. The food was delicious, the beer was cold, the decor was beautiful but most importantly the staff were brilliant, constantly checking if we needed anything else.

I heartily recommend!