Bristol, during lockdown!

Awesome, that's good of them. Just double checked and the Malago do vegan tapas every day (thought it was just Tuesdays) and on a Wednesday they do buy 2 mains get a free bottle of wine, depending on your arrival time. Very doggy friendly, but you may want to save them for brunch as well.

Being where you are you may as well quickly swing into Nelson Street for some of the street art, and there's a Banksy at the bottom of Park Street as well.

Otherwise you're covered with my previous post, but you could defo do a walk around the harbour with the dog, they'll love it. They can go in the water at points if your breed is so inclined! You can also carry on for another 15 mins and head into Ashton Court which has some nice walks and deer parks, and if you go up to the top you'll come out by the suspension bridge so you can loop back down through Clifton. If you like walking with some pub stops!
 
I went to Bristol a couple of weeks ago for the Craft Beer festival. It was awesome, I had a touristy time, I never felt threatened by Corona or crowds - there was a lot of space everywhere.

I highly recommend going to Left Handed Giant bar on the riverside - it's a beautiful bar and they have a huge range of UK craft beer and some foreign specials. Very modern, nicely lit, well organised (order drinks to table), well spaced out, not cheap (almost London - but worth it). I had a top night there, and they make fantastic pizzas in a proper oven.

Just seen the dogs thing - I don't know, call them and ask. I didn't see any when I went, but it was later i.e. post 9pm.

I didn't enjoy Wild Beer Co's own bar, in the centre. It was... "ok" but it felt a bit unfriendly and was very busy. Go for LHG!
 
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Hotel Du Vin is dead posh, enjoy!

I’m pretty sure the last time you asked I sent you to the Cornubia and it was a let down, still feel bad about it! :(

I recently went to the Left Handed Giant and it was a supremely excellent experience. Super, super easy and quick drinks ordering and they also do pizza... which I think may be all veggie. You’ll need to book a table. Not really enormously different from some of the King Street experiences but the app ordering with Apple Pay was 100% boss!!

If the weather is good, you really can’t go wrong with a nice walk around the Harbourside. Super easy from Hotel Du Vin. Takes about an hour but plenty of places to stop!

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Walking loop is green (although just stick to the water as much as is possible). Red is king street area. Yellow is Wapping Wharf and blue is left handed giant.

Hope you have a real nice time!
 
Nitefly said:
I recently went to the Left Handed Giant and it was a supremely excellent experience. Super, super easy and quick drinks ordering and they also do pizza... which I think may be all veggie.
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Mostly veggie pizzas, but they do offer a couple with token meat if you are desperate. I felt the veggie pizzas were better choices though, i.e. strong enough.

Nitefly said:
Walking loop is green (although just stick to the water as much as is possible). Red is king street area. Yellow is Wapping Wharf and blue is left handed giant.
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Superb map! We did the green walk on a sunny day, which is when you get the best from the river. The red area is nice in later afternoon, gets busy at night especially on King Street.
 
Oops just to add, I did mean stick to the northern side of Spike Island - you don’t want to be stuck waking down Cumberland Road (affectionately known by me as ‘Cumberwilly’).

@caff yeah on Saturday I tried to get into Kongs on King Street at 7pm and they had no tables left - this was the super ugly rainy day too.

Oh, one thing that is a little fun if you fancy something dirty, but there is a pretty fun American style Grill on the green walking route called Spitfire. You can get a whole load of ribs, a shared platter you know all of that stuff. Sort of fun if you’re in a MEEEEEAAAT mode, but really easy to go overboard! Stick to the beers mind (fair draft selection IIRC) as I recall my frozen cocktail there being total crap!! Has an outside area and otherwise quite large so maybe dog friendly?

Other random thing, Berthas pizza in wapping wharf is the dogs ********. Really good pizza there and fun ice creams for dessert. I did Tare when it first opened and it was really good.

Ah actually, dude, if you really want to impress, I can 110% recommend going to Casa Mia which is still local to where you are saying. It’s epically expensive for dins (with a wine flight for two plus service and aperitif etc you’re at £500+) BUT you can do a lunch menu and it is considerably cheaper, yet you get the same ‘experience’, if that makes sense. The wine pairings they do there are mental, blew me away. Edit - damn, just checked and they don’t do the lunch anymore. Grr. But if you wanted to do something truly amazing, albeit with the cons of any fine dining experience (long, expensive) then it’s really a good place to do it.

As an alternative, the place immediately next to Casa Mia is a tapas place, Paco Tapas, and they do a really fun multi course meal with a sherry pairing (!) for about £80 each, really good fun! The sherry’s are all really distinct, some were even salty, and if like your drink and fancy something a bit different that is also a GREAT shout. Just be aware that it can get a little smokey inside and it might hang on your clothes a bit :)

Ah I’m quite excited for you, loads of places to try! :D
 
It looks like left handed giant doesn’t take bookings but I’ll maybe call them later. Looks good for some scran and beer when we arrive.
Weather is looking ropey, but never mind!

The ‘rona makes city breaks much harder, normally I’d go down with a rough plan and wing most of it but feel I need to be much more organised now with bookings. Which makes me feel I may miss something, but better that than not get a table somewhere...

@Nitefly i forgot about that. It was some dodgy pub in a sketchy area with nothing going on? Hah! That was years and years ago.
 
LHG is big enough to get into for lunch or an early dinner easily. All the pizzas are veggie (one has optional bacon) and all can have vegan bases.

I presume you're vegan? I purposefully didn't recommend any largely meat places unlike @Nitefly ;).
 
I'm not, but my partner is. She's not militant in anyway so doesn't mind if I have meat but I don't think taking her to a ribs ribs ribs place is exactly fair! We usually do OK and find somewhere that suits. Looking forward to this, even the parking wasn't expensive! £23 for 3 nights.

Is The Apple open? Can't find anything about it online, and enjoyed it last time I was there.
 
Yeah The Apple is open, all outdoor seating with umbrellas I think.

Regarding the veganism, in that case 7 Lucky Gods is amazing too but you'll be lucky to get in (no pun intended). One of our favourite restaurants in Bristol and certainly have enough vegan to cater - the cauliflower is incredible - and the meat/seafood dishes are to die for. They've got a decent covered sun terrace now as well next to a beer and bao bar (Wokyko).
 
Hey Ahleckz. How old were you when you were in Bristol last and how old are you now?

I lived in Bristol in 2000/2001 for a year, aged 22 back then. The nightlife was awesome, and now I'm a middle-aged old *******, I wouldn't mind checking out some of the clubs again. However, I looked online and found out that a lot of them have closed. Edit: didn't know that starred word was a swearie lol :p

Creation - got converted into flats :(
Bierkeller - got converted into offices :(
Café Blue - became a Laser Quest, so that's not too bad!
The Depot - closed due to spiralling costs
Evolution - gone (the physical building isn't there any more)
Power House - closed
Blue Mountain - closed
The Maze - closed

Still operating:

The Rock - became the Carling Academy, then the O2 Academy
The Works - became Syndicate, now SWX, think it's still a cheese venue
The Thekla - nightclub on a boat

Unknown:

The Lakota - ? (iconic club back in the 90s)
Trinity - ?
Po Na Na - ?
Bar Latino - ?
 
Po Na Na is now Lo La Loh's. Largely irreverent given the current climate, there'll be lots of casualties. Motion is/was still going and I'm sure they'll be fine too.
 
Thanks for all the advice!

Stayed at Hotel du Vin, very dog friendly and a good location.

We arrived around 3pm Wednesday, and then had a walk down to the harbour side. Stopped for a drink in The Apple. Went up to Cargo and had tacos and margaritas which were fab, then a few beers in the Wild Brewing Company Co. Then had a few drinks in some pubs and ended up with a dominos at the hotel.

Thursday was a walk round the harbour, and then up to Clifton. Stopped at some cafes and bars in Clifton (found an ice cream shop that sold dog ice cream!) and ended up a late lunch at Grain Barge. Cake shop beside Christmas Steps was found which was amazing. Dog deposited back at the hotel and then We had cocktails at Milk Thistle (very good, drank everything on the menu and then the barman went off menu for a final drink). Dinner at Tare afterwards which was amazing. Great value and very tasty.

Friday morning we walked up Stokes Croft but most things were shut, and it chucked it down. Dog deposited back at the hotel as we Had a 12 o’clock lunch at Root, again very tasty. The deep fried oysters were fab. We then walked to North Road and had a wonder round the shops. Then we ended up at the arcades in the shopping area. Dog obtained, and walked to Left Handed Giant for pizza dinner and beers. Then ended up on North Street for some beers and popped into a Christmas Step pub for a nightcap.

Saturday was a walk round St Nicks market, bit disappointed with the selection tbh and then went back to Stoke Croft and bought some stuff from the porcelain shop. Lunch at pieminister. Then drove over the Clifton bridge and drove back to Glasgow.

All in all, a great trip. TARE was fantastic, though my girlfriend preferred Root. Everywhere was very dog friendly, and the people were lovely and friendly.
The city was very clean compared to Glasgow and pretty affordable.

Really good!

Bilbo enjoyed himself as well!


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