Best In Bristol: the winners…

Some of you may remember that I had a mini-survey up on the blog in February, asking people to nominate their “Best In Bristol” in a variety of food and drink-related categories. Some of you (well done to Anna, Georgia and Jo) may have even won one of the three prizes that were on offer. And hopefully some of you will be interested in the results, which I’ve finally had time to look at…read on to find out more…

Best Cafe:

LOTS of different answers for this one. The stand-out winner, however, was Boston Tea Party – most voters didn’t mention a particular branch, but Park Street was suggested as the place to go by a number of you.

2nd= Papadeli, Clifton

2nd= Cafe Kino, Stokes Croft

Best Restaurant Overall:

Chris Wicks’ Bell’s Diner takes the number one spot here. I definitely agree about the quality of this place – I went earlier this year and had an amazing experience (see my review here).

2nd= Lido, Clifton

2nd= Flinty Red, Cotham

2nd= Riverstation, Harbourside

Best Food Market:

St Nicholas Market ran away with this one, with over twice as many votes as its closest competitor. Hardly surprising, especially when you consider that the Guardian named it as one of the 10 best markets in the UK. This is just the regular St Nick’s Market, though – second and third place are as follows…

2nd Slow Food Market, Corn Street

3rd Tobacco Factory Market, Southville

Best Restaurant For A Romantic Meal:

Another tough call on this one. Lots of votes for various locations through Bristol, but Greens’ Dining Room in Redland was the winner. Four venues tied for joint second place, namely…

2nd= Lido, Clifton

2nd= Bell’s Diner, Montpelier

2nd= 3 Coqs, Clifton (now sadly closed)

2nd= Bordeaux Quay, Harbourside

Best Market Trader:

Everyone loves a nice bit of cheese, and a top spot for Trethowan’s Dairy in this category hammers this point home 🙂 If you haven’t yet tried their Gorwydd or Stichelton, or headed to their stall at lunch for toasties or raclette, then you’re missing out…

2nd Castellano’s

3rd= Pieminister

3rd= Hart’s Bakery

Best Supper Club:

Congrats to “The Resting Chef” Danielle Coombes, whose Bishopston Supper Club made the top spot. Her March 11th and 25th dates are fully booked, but at the time of writing, she was taking bookings for April 8th…

2nd Montpelier Basement, Montpelier

3rd Blue Door Supper Club, Windmill Hill

Best For Al Fresco Dining:

Location is everything: the terraces on both levels that overlook the water must be what swung this category in the favour of Riverstation…just maybe not in the current weather!

2nd= Canteen, Stokes Croft

2nd= Lido, Clifton

2nd= Spyglass, Harbourside

Best Food Shop:

First place goes to Clifton’s Papadeli – a treasure trove of store cupboard staples and international delicacies, fantastic cakes, chocolate and biscuits, and a far-too-tempting deli counter! Take a look at their website for more product details.

2nd Source Food Hall, St Nicholas Market

3rd Arch House Deli, Clifton Village

Favourite Food-Linked Bristol Resident:

LOTS of names mentioned here, and no clear winner. Well done to (deep breath…):

Barny Haughton, Anastasia O’Shea, Keith Floyd (RIP), Ed Brown-Jackson, Holly Aurelius-Haddock, Nick Aspras, Ben Harding, Paul Polyviou, Laura Hart, Emily Knight, Mark Taylor, Elly Curshen, Frank and Petra Deane, Danielle Coombes, Kristjan Bigland

Best For A Meal With A Group Of Friends:

Thali Cafe, say the good people of Bristol. Head to one of the four branches across Bristol (Clifton, Easton, Totterdown and Montpelier) for a different take on a “normal” curry night.

2nd Cowshed, Clifton

3rd Wagamama, Triangle

and finally:

Bristol’s #1 Food-Related Business:

To be honest…this was the result I was expecting. With Pieminister such a big name, not just in Bristol but all over the country, I’m not surprised that they came out top. Trethowan’s Dairy and Source Food Hall take joint second place.

Thanks again to everyone who voted – it’s been interesting to see the responses, and has given me a few more ideas of places I need to visit (yes, there was a selfish motive in it too :))

Thanks also to Bristol Beer Factory, Lahloo Tea and La Dame Gateau for supplying prizes to the competition winners!

Any thoughts/comments/disagreements on the results, feel free to comment in the box below…