1 York Place — Restaurant in Bristol

Bristol, it seems, is getting good for food again. I know, I know – the foodie influencers of the world will tell you it's been great for the past 20 years, but let’s be honest, it dropped off around the same time as the pandemic, which is hardly surprising. Even before that, places were nice but never really managed to pull off the full package: food, service, decor, and that elusive ‘special something’ all in one go.

But here’s the thing – in the past week, I’ve eaten in three of Bristol’s best, and I’ll say it straight: none of them missed a step. Including today’s lunch at 1 York Place.

To start with, it feels authentic. A neighbourhood restaurant with a bit of swagger but also a reassuring, relaxed air. Not the sort of place where the waiters scowl at you for existing, nor one where they bounce over with a "Hey guys!" and a clipboard. Just a solid, well-run room with people who know what they’re doing. Service? Friendly, efficient, properly trained. And the food? Bang on. We opted for the £35 three-course lunch menu, which, in this economy, is practically charity. Ox cheek croquetas to start, hake with vermouth butter for mains, and a blood orange set cream to finish.

The croquetas were textbook: rich, crisp, deeply beefy. The hake was moist, bathed in a silken butter sauce that actually tasted of something rather than just greased the plate. And the blood orange set cream? A perfect balance of sharp, sweet, and smooth – the sort of thing you think you'll just have a spoonful of before realising you’ve scraped the bowl clean and are now eyeing up your companion’s.

Frankly, I’d go back for any of those courses alone. The fact that all three landed so effortlessly in one meal is rare enough to be worth shouting about. Bristol, you might just be back...

Big let down. Went for dinner with my partner and the very first impressions were good: clean and simple decor, nice and welcoming atmosphere. We were sat at our table and one thing to note straight away is how close the tables were from one another - you have to really watch not to drop your neighbours drinks, which felt a bit awkward. Also, after a couple minutes you really start to notice how bad the acoustics are. Everything is so loud you will find yourself not able to hear anyone (including the staff) or make any proper conversation. Food was not great - not only it look a long while (over 1h), but it arrived poorly cooked. The rice in the dish was quite hard and raw, and both our meals were very salty and lacked flavour. We had to return one of the plates and ended up sharing the other one, disencouraged with another long wait. They were also out of whiskey and one of their starters. Staff was very friendly but everything looked and felt a bit messy. It took us a while to finally get the bill and we had to walk to the bar to ask for it, since no one would come to our table. Also, the prices charged are quite high and desproporcional to what was being offered. We love Little French and had high expectations for 1 York Place, but sadly it was not a great experience. The one thing we enjoyed was the bread, which basically turned out to...

We were so looking forward to this having heard great things about little French…so the reality was a massive let down. Lovely space and friendly staff who, I must say, made excellent wine recommendations, but the food was frankly poor for the most part. My sweet breads starter was badly cooked served on a brown sauce that was not very tasty, other had crab, which was nice but served on burnt toast they could hardly eat and queen scallops that were stone cold. My main if Iberico pork chop was a nice piece but came with a slick of what looked and tasted liked exactly the same sauce as my starter! A side of hispi cabbage was soggy and overly creamy without the lovely char that makes it so tasty. Barnsley chops were tough and came with what was supposed to be salsa verde but looked and tasted like paste made from nettles and was pretty inedible. My wife’s sole looked nice but was so badly cooked she should only eat about half. The sole highlights were the bread and the dessert if pedro ximinez and raisin ice cream…which may be the best ice cream I have ever eaten. Sadly not enough to rescue a poor meal. Maybe it was an off night in the kitchen - but based would only...