Rock Salt — Restaurant in Bristol

Came here as a table of 4 for a celebration meal. The restaurant were able to seat us early and the servers were very attentive and helpful. There was a little wait for food to start coming out, but it was quite full so we didn’t mind. Mains came quickly after the starters.

I had veg dim sum for a starter - it was okay. The dumplings themselves were lovely and soft, but the filling didn’t have very much flavour and didn’t seem to have any seasoning. It kind of just tasted like cabbage or broccoli and not much else. Dad had pork dim sum and enjoyed it. Mum had duck spring rolls which were incredible and the salt and pepper chicken was gorgeous too.

We all had indian mains and they were incredible. So flavourful and fresh. The meat was cooked perfectly too - beautifully soft beef and chicken. The korma was aromatic and creamy and the kerela beef curry had a good kick to it. The korri ghassi chicken melted in your mouth and was so flavourful but I wasn’t fond of the excessive garnish leaves on top - they didn’t add to it at all and kind of spoiled the lovely creamy mouthfuls for me (but I’m a bit particular about textures!). I didn’t try Dad’s kashmiri lamb, but he ate it quickly and really enjoyed it.

You get a lot of rice in a portion - we could share one between two people. The popadums come with lots of lovely dips and the naans were lush - a little bit thin and a little bit crispy and really flavoursome!

There was music on but it wasn’t too loud even though we were sat right under the speaker. It was loud enough that we couldn’t hear conversations from other tables, but quiet enough that we could hear each other speak.

Overall, a little on the pricy side but worth the money, especially for a...

You HAVE to try this place. They really know what they're doing. Indian and Chinese cuisine colliding into one delicious experience. There were a few other juxtapositions in this restaurant - the decor on one side is graffiti and the other is exposed brick/smart tiles/greenery/fancy lighting. They also unexpectedly played disco all evening, so the atmosphere was really fun but became quite loud as the restaurant filled up. For food we had the onion baji (a highlight) and pork dim sum for starters. Lamb biryani, murg butter masala, palak paneer, egg fried rice, garlic naan for mains. Blackcurrant sorbet for desert. Totally over-ordered for two people (no regrets), but they very readily arranged the left overs into a doggy bag. I wouldn't order anything differently - each dish was stunning, particularly blown away by the quality of the egg fried rice. The only areas I'd mark down on would be, unavoidably it's not a big restaurant so if you're at a centre table there is a fair bit of traffic on one side and you're quite close to the neighbouring table on the other side. In future I'll book in advance one of the two tables by the window. Whilst disco is my all time favourite genre I found it a little distracting, perhaps a fraction down on the volume is all it needed. Will be returning...

My dad and I chanced upon Rock Salt when looking for a place to eat for dinner. We went in with no expectations and came out fully satisfied, happy and thrilled to have found a new favourite spot in Bristol.

We ordered a lamb Briyani, prawn chettinad and garlic naan.

The staff were fantastic, excellent service, warm and friendly staff. A special shout out to the waitress with the two snake bite piercings (apologies for not getting your name), she made us feel so welcomed, and was such a star with her bubbly personality.

The food was top notch!!! The prawns were huge succulent and full of flavour!

The star of the show was the lamb Briyani! One spoon of the lamb Briyani, took us both back to my late mother’s lamb Briyani which we both thought we would never get to try again. We were both speechless at how good the Briyani was. Thank you Rock Salt. From the fragrance to the soft tender lamb, the Briyani was a mouth watering delight that it is a must try! In fact the Briyani was so good, we bought one more to take away as well!

All in all, so so so glad to have chanced upon Rock Salt, grateful for the chefs for bringing real good food...