Bristol’s Best Bits: Windmill Hill City Farm

Posted on March 18, 2015 by

One of the many reasons why I have so much love for Bristol is for its ability to surprise you, even after years of living here. Since moving to the Bedminster/Totterdown/Windmill Hill area (I am right in the middle of all three) I’ve been trying to get to grips with my new area, and have been seeking out the little hidden gems which lie in plain sight in the BS3 neighbourhood.

The city farm concept seems to sum up the spirit of Bristol as a whole. Sheep and chickens in the middle of a busy city? Sure, why not. These community farms offer a piece of the countryside in the middle of metropolis, which can sometimes prove to be a bit confusing when you’re walking back from the supermarket and you hear a cockerel crow. Or in the case of St Werburghs City Farm, when you’re sitting in the pub and you can hear the baa’s of the sheep next door, and then the familiar rumble of a train passing nearby.

Wanting to explore more of my own slice of countryside on my doorstep, a few weeks ago myself and Tom took a short stroll through Victoria Park to Windmill Hill City Farm, to say hi to some goats.

Windmill Hill City Farm Bristol

It was a bit of a grey Sunday afternoon and it had just begun to drizzle, but despite this there were still a few young families dotted around looking at the animals. Windmill Hill City Farm is a lot bigger than I’d anticipated, and houses pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, guinea pigs and rabbits. There’s also an established vegetable plot and allotments, a play area for the kiddos, and a cafe open all week. Sadly I think we were a bit late for the cafe, but I’ve made a mental note to pop back, as their food looks AMAZING.

Windmill Hill City Farm Bristol

This goat was apparently comfy sleeping like this.

We didn’t stay too long as not shortly after it started to rain, but I’m definitely going to be heading back on a sunnier day. There’s something to be said for taking a short walk from the supermarket and ending up in a farm, with the chickens clucking at your feet! I love how many green spaces there are in this city I’m lucky to call home. Seeing as it’s less than 10 minutes from our house, I think many repeat visits are on the cards, plus if you ask nicely they’ll let you walk the pygmy goats!!

Bristol’s Best Bits: Tobacco Factory Sunday Market

Posted on March 11, 2015 by

I’ve been waxing lyrical about Southville recently – today I found out that my ‘You Know You Live in Southville When…‘ post went up on the Time Out Bristol blog, yay!

Believe me when I say that North Street really is a highlight of Bristol. Tucked away in the deep south across the bridge on the other side of the river, Southville and Bedminster might seem like far away when you’re dwelling in the North of the city, but you can find some real gems down here.

One of said gems is the Tobacco Factory Sunday market, which takes place – yup, you guessed it – at the Tobacco Factory car park every single Sunday! We popped down a couple of weeks ago to have a mooch around.

Tobacco Factory Sunday Market Bristol

I love this market for the way that it seamlessly blends the ‘truer’ elements of your standard market – baker, fishmonger, fruit & veg stall, pieman – with some of the most delightful bits that our city has to offer. The lovely Ivory Flowers has a stall there every weekend, as does the awesome , and when we popped along there was fresh homemade chai from relatively-new-guy-on-the-block, . I made a special trip to get a crisp fiver from the cashpoint to sample a cup, but when I got back they had sold out . Another time!

Tobacco Factory Sunday Market Bristol

On the first Sunday of the month it’s also home to ‘Retroville’, showcasing some of the city’s best vintage picks in homeware, books, records and clothing. Tom spent a good deal of time flicking through that box of vinyl, whilst I bopped along to Madonna’s ‘Cherish’, which was blaring out of an old speaker stack set up next to the coffee campervan. Such hipsters.

There really is nothing better to do with a Sunday morning ~~when you’re hungover~~ than to pop down to North Street, grab a bite to eat, have a mooch of the market, and pick up a trinket or two to take home. It’s always changing, too, with new things every time I visit. Keep up to date with all the market goings on over on their (and whilst you’re there, , too?).

Bristol’s Best Bits: Mathilda’s Chilli Bar

Posted on March 3, 2015 by

More food! I’m spoiling ya.

Can you believe that it’s been almost a whole year since I wrote this post about the awesome Mathilda’s Chilli Bar? No, neither can I. My writing style has definitely improved!

On the weekend the fantastic Mathilda’s celebrated their first birthday in style, with a fully booked birthday party, a free bar, and more fried pickles than you can shake a stick at. Not wanting to miss out on any of the action, myself and Thomas popped along to wish them a hearty congratulations on turning another year wiser.

Mathilda's Chilli Bar Bristol

Tucked away in the deepest corner of the newly revamped Bear Pit, Mathilda’s is just how I remembered it. The school style table and chairs were arranged in a canteen fashion in the sleek monochrome tiled interior, with the open kitchen kicking out all sorts of delicious smells. The balloons were out in full force and the party was in full swing as we stepped in from the rain, and so we joined in with the festivities by ordering a delicious brew from New Bristol Brewery and perused the menu.

Mathilda's Chilli Bar Bristol

I opted for half and half last time, so to shake things up a bit, this time I went all out and plumped for their straight up meaty treat, the Texan brisket chilli, served with spicy guacamole and sour cream. Our choice of side was another easy decision – these deep fried pickles are quite honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten, even if I can taste a heart attack with every delicious mouthful.

So, was it as good a year on? The answer is a resounding YES. Just as before, the chilli was incredible – nicely spicy, a generous portion (maybe even a little too much), with the fluffiest rice on the side. I should really order a different side dish next time I go, but these pickles are just too good to pass up. I did quiz our lovely waitress as to what mysterious ingredient they put in their blue cheese dip to make it taste quite so heavenly, but she wasn’t giving the secret away so easily.

I’m so glad that Mathilda’s has lasted a whole year, usually small businesses find the first year the hardest, but luckily the food scene in Bristol seems to be going from strength to strength. Thank you to the lovely people at Mathilda’s for inviting me along, and here’s to many more successful years!

Jamie’s Italian, Bristol

Posted on March 1, 2015 by

Jamies Italian, Park Street Bristol

The weekend before last, to celebrate Thomas turning a quarter of a century, we were kindly invited along to test out the rather impressive looking Jamie’s Italian Bristol, situated at the top of Park St. I’d been along to the equally beautiful one in Cheltenham, but had never popped in here before, so was looking forward to seeing what this branch had to offer.

After a few quick drinks in the Christmas Steps, myself, Thomas and his parents trekked up the hill to test out their menu on a surprisingly busy Sunday evening. The restaurant is much bigger than I had anticipated, stretching over four floors, with a lovely bar area if you fancy a drink and a quick nibble. We were shown to our table by a very friendly waiter, hastily ordered a bottle of wine and perused the menu.

Jamies Italian, Park Street Bristol

To start, we chose a massive butternut bruschetta and some of the ‘Italian nachos’ to share between us. The bruschetta was fantastic, but completely overshadowed by this other brand new creation – pulled pork inside a crispy ravioli shell, with a smoky chipotle tomato dipping sauce. Everyone agreed that it was absolutely amazing.

Jamies Italian, Park Street Bristol

Our main courses didn’t disappoint, either. I chose a vegetarian main course, because I’m a firm believer in testing the quality of the restaurant on the effort they put in to their veggie options. I was pleased to see that they also offer vegan dishes, although you have to have a bit of a chat to the waiter about these. I had a porcini fettuccine (which sounds delightful when you say it out loud), which came with a spoonful of lemony crumbs to sprinkle on top. It was delicious – all my favourite things on a plate!

Tom surprised me and went for a salad, but to his credit, it was full of beef. Beautiful, delicate strips of bresaola and a substantial salad of leaves, artichoke, Colwick cheese, crushed almonds and ricotta – amazing! Tom’s dad went for one of the specials on that evening – a whole sea bass served with mussels and crispy potatoes. I’m a bit funny about fish, but apparently it was delicious. Tom’s mum went for one of her faves, calve’s liver and bacon with mash, which she really enjoyed. All in all, we were very pleased with our mains, and even more so with the lovely waiter chap who kept checking that everything was OK (and more importantly, topping up our diminishing drinks).

Jamies Italian, Park Street Bristol

Not satisfied with our bellies being stuffed with delicious grub, we ordered a couple of puddings to share between us. We went for a sour cherry and almond tart (another two of my favourite things) and the lemon meringue cheesecake, topped with a beautiful layer of fluffy marshmallow-y meringue. They were both absolutely incredible, and we polished them off no problem!

We were really impressed with Jamie’s Italian in Bristol, the service was absolutely faultless, the restaurant was beautifully decorated (the toilets were the fanciest things I have ever seen!) and we chose some really amazing dishes, which all added up to a fantastic evening out. If you haven’t yet been up to the restaurant on Park St then I urge you to do so – you won’t be disappointed!

[I was invited to review this restaurant, but all opinions are my own]

Bristol’s Best Bits: Wicked at the Bristol Hippodrome

Posted on February 24, 2015 by

I’ve lived in Bristol for nearly 6 years now, and I’ll confess something… up until last week, I had never been to Bristol Hippodrome! This legendary Bristol insitution is prominently positioned slap bang in the middle of the city centre, opposite the fountains on St Augustine’s Parade.
Tom is sadly not a massive fan of musical theatre, or theatre in general, which is probably the reason that neither of us have been since the duration of our living in the city, although visiting has always been high on my to-do list. I just didn’t fancy going by myself!

Just as I was planning a trip for my birthday, I was lucky enough to receive an email asking if I would like to go and see the UK tour of the smash hit West End musical, Wicked. Of course I jumped at the chance, and after some much needed sister time, I took along my little sister and BFF, Nelly. This leg of the tour is only on in Bristol for four weeks, and ends on the 21st March, so if you want to see it then you better hurry!

Wicked Musical at Bristol Hippodrome

Bit of a history lesson – the Bristol Hippodrome opened in December 1912, and is one of the largest stages outside of London (according to Wikipedia), hence why it regularly hosts such top productions of West End shows. It’s pretty amazing to think that because of the size of it, Bristol is regularly host to larger productions and top comedians – who says we need an arena?! Its spot on St Augustine’s parade next to Boots is easily walked past on the way to Park St or Cabot Circus, but there’s certainly no mistaking its grand facade. It’s just as fancy inside, too.

The Hippodrome looked absolutely amazing, decked out in green glory, complete with a green carpet for the event. Even though I had tickets for a Thursday (and despite the weather!) it was absolutely packed – apparently the best times to catch this tour are midweek, Monday to Wednesday, and there are matinee showings as well. This is the UK & Ireland tour following a massively successful showing on both Broadway and on the West End, and having never seen the musical before I had no idea what to expect.

Wicked UK & Ireland Tour_Credit Matt Crockett_5046_Kickline
Wicked UK Tour_Ashleigh Gray (Elphaba)_Photo Matt Crockett_0880_sm_RT
Wicked UK Tour_Emily Tierney and Ashleigh Gray_Photo Matt Crockett_0766_RT

It follows the untold story of the witches of Oz, and as a bit of a fan of the Wizard of Oz anyway (I played the lion in my drama group production when I was 9, wow, such fame) I was looking forward to seeing how their characters were portrayed. I was definitely not disappointed! The story blends seamlessly into the original plot of the film, and even threw in a few cheeky references for good measure. It’s a pretty powerful tale in its own right, however, detailing how Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West, obvs) and Glinda the Good Witch first met as students, and following their friendship through highs and inevitable lows.

I was pleasantly surprised how I knew some of the songs already. I’m not entirely sure how, possibly through some kind of pop-cultural osmosis of sorts, but I found myself bopping along when the cast burst into ‘Defying Gravity’ and ‘Popular’. The production value of the whole thing was quite simply breathtaking – they never let the energy up for one moment, and the costumes, sets, props, giant dragons, pointiest hats… everything made the whole thing one of the most magical things I have ever seen.

It’s suitable for an audience of 7+, and if you haven’t seen it before, then I thoroughly recommend taking the kids along and watching. The Hippodrome is the perfect backdrop too, and it excited the history nerd in me to think of of all those theatrical productions over the last hundred years. I’m glad to have ticked that one off my Bristol bucket list!

[A huge thanks to Wicked UK for inviting me along – I was invited to review this production but all words and opinions are my own]

Bristol’s Best Bits: At Bristol After Hours – Love & Luck

Posted on February 18, 2015 by

At Bristol After Hours 13th Feb 2015 Love and Luck

I think we’re all secretly still children at heart. I certainly do not consider myself an adult.
So imagine my excitement when I got an invitation to At Bristol’s After Hours event – the chance to mess around in a science museum, at night, after hours, have a drink and play on all the exhibits. Even as a grown up. AWESOME!

At Bristol, for the non-Bristol folk, is a ginormous science museum just off Millennium Square, home to absolutely loads of amazing science exhibits, educational bits and pieces and fun things to do. It’s a fantastic day out to have with the kids, but not having any of my own, it was one of those places I had never visited before.

After Hours takes place every few months, with the idea of opening up one of Bristol’s best attractions to a wider audience. I took my good friend Jude along because like me, she is a nerdy science child at heart, and I knew she’d love it.

At Bristol After Hours 13th Feb 2015 Love and Luck

We set off from Bedminster and went to cross over Pero’s bridge and encountered the first excitement of the evening – the whole thing has been turned into an art exhibition, and was bathed in a mysterious fog. It’s part of an interactive art installation ‘Fog Bridge‘ by artist Fujiko Nakaya, celebrating Bristol as European Green Capital 2015. If you want to go along and check it out, it’s running til the 22nd Feb!

At Bristol After Hours 13th Feb 2015 Love and Luck

Each event is centered around a different theme, with different events taking place throughout the night. With it being Valentine’s Day and all this month, this event’s theme was ‘Love and Luck’, with events such as heart dissection (which I was really sad I missed out on) and neanderthal speed dating, which I wasn’t brave enough to try out!

Safely inside the venue, we were given our wristbands and ushered into the main area. The lights were low and there was a DJ belting out some choons, making a proper Friday night atmosphere (well, as much as you get with a science museum!). It was really nice to see people of my own age acting like little kids on some of the interactive exhibits. Wanting to get stuck in ourselves, we made our way up to the Animate It bit upstairs and did some Aardman-style drawings, and even got to have a go at animating our own little film!

At Bristol After Hours 13th Feb 2015 Love and Luck

Heart dissection!

There was so much stuff going on that to tell you about it all, I would be here all night! Amongst all the fun happenings and events throughout the evening my highlights were making giant bubbles big enough to go over your head, taste-testing my way through chillies right the way up to 500,000 scovilles, playing ‘Fancy’ on some giant wind pipe type things that you hit with paddles, a mysterious floating ball, playing with different coloured lights and shadows, and one of my favourite things to do, dressing like a bee!! I walked around in that bee outfit for a good 15 minutes until I could no longer bear people’s sideway glances at me. If anyone at AtBristol is reading this, please can I buy one from you?! It made me the happiest person ever.

If you fancy getting a piece of the late-night science action, then there is another After Hours event happening on the 6th May, with the theme of Food. Yes, FOOD! You can betcha I’ll be there. Will you?
Find out more about At Bristol and After Hours here.

Make Your Face Funny for Money with Specsavers & Comic Relief

Posted on February 17, 2015 by

Red Nose Day 2015 make your face funny for money with Specsavers Bristol

It’s that time of year again! Comic Relief has rolled around once more like it does every couple of years to invite us to get our charitable hats on and do something funny for money. This year the challenge is to ‘make your face funny for money’ and I’ve teamed up with Specsavers in Bristol to tell you all about a special Red Nose Day themed event taking place this Thursday in Broadmead!

To celebrate the opening of the very first franchise store of Specsavers, and all the charitable work it’s done for the Bristol community over the years (including working for countless local charities including Above & Beyond), there will be a special event being held at the Bristol Broadmead store this Thursday 19th February. It’s also the store’s 30th birthday, and if that’s not a reason for celebration I don’t know what is!

Red Nose Day 2015 make your face funny for money with Specsavers Bristol

The event will take place from 1-4pm, with a photobooth and props inside for passersby to pop in and make their faces ‘funny for money’. All they are asking for in return is a £1 donation to Comic Relief, and you will get two prints of your photo, one to take home, and one to enter into a prize draw to win a brand new pair of specs! To help kick-off the day’s celebrations, The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Cllr Alastair Watson will be visiting the store at 1pm, and there will also be goody bags and balloons for everyone who comes along, so get yourself down there and get your best faces on.

Red Nose Day 2015 make your face funny for money with Specsavers Bristol

If you do pop along then be sure to post your photos in the comments or tweet me @lilydoughball, and see if you can do better than mine!

Bristol’s Best Bits: Ashton Gate Flea Market

Posted on February 10, 2015 by

You’ve got to love a good flea market. I admit I’m somewhat of a hoarder – since I was little I’ve had the inherent desire to collect things; first it was thimbles, Spice Girls photographs, and cinema tickets from the £1 cinema club on a Saturday, but this slowly evolved into an obsession with hoarding anything remotely shiny and cute, or more recently, just old and plain ugly. I LOVE ugly old stuff.

Luckily in Bristol we are spoilt for places stuffed to the brim with old treasures, ugly or otherwise, so on Sunday me and the boy took our for a trip to Ashton Gate for their ever excellent flea market. We’d been a couple of years ago to get some furniture for our new house and ended up staying for a good few hours just mooching about.

There’s loads to choose from – as well as the vintage businesses with their curated collections there’s also traders with a more pic n mix variety of retro treasures, as well as those with handmade bits and pieces, including a guy who’d crafted copper pipe into bespoke iPad stands. They’ve moved the stalls to a different bit of the stadium (while they’re knocking the old bit down) so it’s a bit of a higgeldy-piggeldy layout across a few rooms, but there’s still a good selection.

Ashton Gate flea market, Bristol

I was VERY restrained. If I had all the money in the world I would have bought it all and stuffed my house with 1970s mustard coloured treasures and baby nuns. I enquired after that badger too – but sadly couldn’t afford the £150 price tag. Wahhh.
In the end I got a porcelain labrador figurine for £1 and a massive pink wool blanket for a tidy £8. He’s sitting on my mantelpiece and the blanket I plan to cover the sofa with. Pics soon!

You can catch the flea market at the Bristol City ground on the first Sunday of the month, or at St Nicks on the second. The next one at Ashton Gate is on Sunday 8th March, you can find more info here.

Bristol’s Best Bits: Workhouse Cafe

Posted on February 3, 2015 by

MOAR CAKE!

Workhouse Cafe Bristol

A few months ago, hot off the heels of our trip for cake fun-times at Tart, me and Thomas finally got to try out a place that I’d been dying to go to for months, if not years. Workhouse Cafe sits at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill on Perry Rd, just up from the BRI and almost directly opposite the big sign that says ‘to the Christmas Steps’. You’ve probably driven past it a few times – it’s the beautiful big building on the corner, once home to a butchers, but now home to some of the tastiest home grown food money can buy.

Produce sold at the Workhouse cafe is mainly sourced from their own allotment, and their cakes are baked daily. They also have a fantastic selection of teas (over 20!) and their coffee is some of the best I’ve tasted (and I should know).

Workhouse Cafe Bristol

We went at lunchtime on a Friday, as I’d attempted to go at the weekend once and like most places around the town centre, it was packed! We got there just before 12 which is when they start serving lunch, so we perused the menu and glanced over their excellent cake selection whilst making our choice.

In the end we both went for a panini – I had goat’s cheese, butternut, rocket and almonds, and Tom had an ox cheek Rueben. They were both MASSIVE, and absolutely bloody delicious. Mine contained some of my favourite foods of all time, yet despite this, I think I preferred Tom’s. Ox cheek is something I don’t frequently dine on, but it was absolutely incredible – paired with tangy coleslaw and between super crunchy sourdough style bread it was absolute heaven.

Workhouse Cafe Bristol

The next tricky part was deciding which cake to follow our amazing sandwiches, from a selection of many delicious looking treats. After much umm-ing and ahh-ing, and eyeballing the bread and butter pudding for far too long, we I went for a chocolate stout cake with cream cheese icing. The piece we were given was absolutely humongous, and needless to say, we did not finish it in one sitting. It was the richest, moistest, deliciously bitter and ridiculously chocolately cake I have ever eaten, and was even more excellent paired with a damn fine cup of coffee.

Even if you’re just in the mood for tea and cake Workhouse Cafe definitely won’t let you down. If you’re in and around the town centre or near the Christmas Steps then take a walk off the beaten path and up the hill, or if you unfortunately find yourself at the BRI during their opening hours then pop in pick up a sandwich and a bit of flapjack, you most certainly won’t be disappointed.

January Favourites

Posted on February 1, 2015 by

January
(No, this is not Soviet Russia, this is Bristol. I took this snap on my way to work crossing the ‘banana bridge’ in Redcliff, in case you were wondering!)

January is OVER! Hooray! Everyone’s least favourite month has gone; we are now waving a hearty hello to lighter evenings, warmer mornings, and finally getting over our fear of it snowing. My car still has ice on the inside of the windscreen, but I can let that one slide after getting up to all sorts of lovely things in the month of January, including…

Lily Doughball Bristol Lifestyle Blog | January 2015 Favourites
This glittery bad boy from Paperchase // A beautifully picturesque and frosty evening along Bristol Harbour // Easter chocolate cornflake cakes, a few months early // Fancy lunch at Cosy Club Bristol

Tom bought me a belated Christmas present – tickets to see Mariachi El Bronx! // These lovely prints for sale at the Victoria Park // A new crabby jumper // Wolf cuddles with Emily‘s beautiful direwolf Logan
Lily Doughball Bristol Lifestyle Blog | January 2015 Favourites
This very odd sticker I found in the Cube // The best skirt ever from the Whitepepper // The park looked absolutely stunning in the frost // I messed around with the world’s cutest handbag

I #tbt’d back to when I could grow stuff in my garden // Tom is the best at Saturday brunches – he made shakshouka! // Went home to see the family pooch (and the family, of course) // I got a new bike!

There’s lots of things to look forward to in February – as well as the aforementioned gig it’s also Tom’s birthday, which I’d been hoping we could go on a little weekend break for. Sadly, neither of us have passports, and seeing as his birthday is the day after Valentine’s it’s making it a little tricky to find anywhere last minute! Oh well.

Did you get up to anything fun in January?

Lily Doughball

Bristol-based fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog

Tag Archives: bristol

Bristol’s Best Bits: Windmill Hill City Farm

Bristol’s Best Bits: Tobacco Factory Sunday Market

Bristol’s Best Bits: Mathilda’s Chilli Bar

Jamie’s Italian, Bristol

Bristol’s Best Bits: Wicked at the Bristol Hippodrome

Bristol’s Best Bits: At Bristol After Hours – Love & Luck

Make Your Face Funny for Money with Specsavers & Comic Relief

Bristol’s Best Bits: Ashton Gate Flea Market

Bristol’s Best Bits: Workhouse Cafe

January Favourites