A Spoonful of Sugar

Few things in life are better than sharing a meal with friends. Of those which are—better, that is—being treated to a meal by a friend is the best.

On Friday, our very lovely friend Grant took Dave and myself to riverstation in Bristol. As the name suggests, riverstation is situated on the bank of the Avon, within the floating harbour. The restaurant building used to be a River Police patrol station and has been transformed by a clever architect into a sleek, minimalist—yet inviting—restaurant and bar full of glass and steel. I'm a big fan of Grand Designs and have been admiring the architecture of riverstation for years, so I was quite delighted with Grant chose it from my choice list of Bristol eateries.

The dining room was as sleek as I'd expected but not so minimalistic as to be intimidating. Splashes of rich red and warm mustard yellow dispensed with any possibility of the room feeling cold, and the occasional sunny spell warmed up the room nicely. We had a harbourside table with a great view of the river Avon.

Crab and mixed herb ravioli with tomato and vanilla dressing

The ravioli had a delicate balance between the white crab meat and the herbs used. I think it was a combination of chives, basil and flat-leaf parsley which could have been overpowering but was restrained sufficiently to allow the crab to shine. It was topped off with crispy deep-fried shreds of fennel which provided a lovely contrast to the tender ravioli. The dressing was handled very well, too. The vanilla supported the flavour of the sweet, ripe tomatoes rather than dominating. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Rare-roast rump of lamb with confit shoulder, herb polenta, ratatouille and pesto

Mmm... rare lamb. The rump was exquisitely tender. It was set on top of a bed of very good ratatouille--veg all nicely diced to the same size. I loved the confit of lamb shoulder. It had been pressed into a terrine or mould, sliced, breaded and then deep-fried to give a lovely crunchy textural contrast. Herb polenta was very strongly flavoured and really cheesy, too--plenty of decent Parmesan in there. The pesto tied the whole dish together beautifully.

This was the real stand-out dish of the evening for me and one that I'll be attempting to re-create at home.

Iced pistachio and chocolate parfait with fresh strawberries, sable biscuit

Strands of dark chocolate delicately rolled around a cylinder of just-frozen pistachio ice-cream. I suspect this was made with commercial pistachio paste, but that's certainly nothing to be ashamed of as it was excellent. The strawberries went unexpectedly well with the nut ice-cream and were sweet and aromatic.

The boys started with chicken liver parfait, red onion marmalade and toasted brioche followed by char-grilled, dry-aged barrow gurney sirloin steak, maitre d'hotel butter and chips. The chips were huge, floury and amazing; the steak was meltingly tender and much more interesting than a fillet steak. For dessert Dave had plum and frangipane tart with clotted cream. Grant had the Eton Mess which arrived as a pretty in pink mound on a plate rather than the usual glass. Everything disappeared in double-quick time, which is the best compliment they could have paid.

We finished with coffees which came with some very good lemon madelines as we watched hot air balloons soar over Castle Park to the north.

The service was friendly and attentive but not intrusive--I dislike staff hovering over the table unless it is a Michelin-starred establishment. My only complaint would be that the barman persisted in tossing empty bottles into the bins underneath the bar rather than placing them in. So every so often there was a rather jarring crash from the bar. But as the food was so good, we forgave him.

riverstation is definitely worth a visit if you're in the Bristol area. The food is cooked very well, using great seasonal produce and the setting is stunning. I shall definitely be back!

riverstation
The Grove
Bristol
BS1 4RB

Reservations : 0117 9144434