Sonny Stores

Bristol

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Laid-back and super-friendly, chef-patron Pegs Quinn and partner Mary Glynn have created a neighbourhood bistro that people travel for miles to visit. The bright white, minimalist decor of this converted corner shop in Southville has barely changed since its days as the much-missed Birch, and the focus on a short menu of carefully chosen local produce also has echoes of its former incarnation. Beyond this, the credit is all down to Quinn’s intermittently superlative Italian cooking, honed during his time at London’s River Café and Bristol’s Pasta Ripiena. Be sure to try the excellent wood-fired pizza, also offered in miniature as a starter and loaded perhaps with melting Tallegio, wafer-thin sliced potato and an oozing egg yolk. Helpings are so generous you may feel you could skip straight from your starter to pudding – especially when there’s a rich and grainy salted almond chocolate cake, garnished with a dollop of savoury crème fraîche on offer. That would be folly, however, with such expertly made pasta to be had. Large homemade cappellacci stuffed with locally grown chard and dressed in ultra-moreish nutmeg butter and olive oil are not to be missed. The wine list, though short, contains plenty by the glass, as well as brews from the Bristol Beer Factory round the corner. For cooking of this quality, the bill is a pleasant surprise.