I’m a firm believer that simple is usually best. Take The Stable – a small group of 6 bar/restaurants in the south of England. I was lucky enough to eat and drink at their Bristol site during a recent weekend stay in the city for Grillstock. Pizza, Pie, Cider – a simple combination which is pure dynamite!
The Stable has a great feel – right on the harbourside in Bristol – airy and industrial but at the same time quite homely with lots of long wooden benches and natural light flowing in from the floor to ceiling windows. Although they have a range of drinks available, really this place is all about the cider and they have some great local and national brews on sale.
We were away with some good friends and visited The Stable on the Saturday night after Grillstock. We opted for a couple of their tasting boards to start with (as did everyone else in the place from what we could see!) which includes 5x 1/3 pint samples for £7.50. They stock over 60 ciders on draught, bottle and boxes so this is a great move if you’re not sure what to have! The menu changes frequently but we tried some interesting and totally delicious ciders including a memorable sheppys cider with honey and interesting bridgefarm chilli.
After possibly a couple too many ciders (evidence above… you decide), we thought we’d best head back on the Sunday lunch time to recover with some food – pizza and pies of course! We were first in the doors although it filled quickly with a nice mix of students, couples and even families with young children.
The hubby and one half of our friends went for their Lamb pie – lamb, roasted rosemary, garlic potato and honey to be precise. All their pies are hand made and come with their tomato chutney, house wedges, salad and a big pickled onion. They are really reasonably priced too at £9.00 – total bargain. Even better, it was totally delicious!
I went for a pizza – all on sourdough bases and all made in house. Having been chowing down on Bath Pig Co chorizo the day before at Grillstock (see my blog post here) I went for their West Country Porker at £11- with Bath Pig Co chorizo, tomato, mozzarella and peppery rocket. It was huge but I polished off the whole lot!
The other half of our buddies went for their rather interesting ‘The Lamb Roast’ priced at £10.50. Marinated local lamb, mint, Ford Farm goats’ milk cheddar, thyme roasted sweet potato, roast onions, tomato and mozzarella. It was pretty good although I’m not sure I could eat the whole thing!
The Stable was a brilliant find for us and we went on both the Saturday and Sunday of our Bristol weekend away. As a small independent chain of pizza & cider bars they’ve got the balance spot on. Great branding, a fantastic range of ciders and a simple, well cooked menu featuring local ingredients and real skill. I for one will be seeking out The Stable on any future visits to Bristol, Bath, Poole, Fistral Beach, Weymouth and Bridport!
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The pizza here looks amazing! Sourdough pizza bases are definitely the best. 🙂
Thanks for your comment Jenny – I totally agree! Peter Pizza in Loughborough also do amazing sourdough pizzas.. making me hungry for pizza now!