The Stable's original advertising was a pretty straightforward piece of marketing by any one's standards. A big poster/banner and an A board with three words. Pizza, pies, cider. Sounded good to me when I received it sent as a picture message from a friend. The details of this simplistic venture are as follows. Set up a small network of eateries across the South West from Bridport to Bristol. Offer a tasty range of pies and pizza's utilising local suppliers and products served up with a plethora of ciders. Simplicity itself. On top of that you get the reassurance that the organic sour dough bases are hand made rather than mass produced and the menu changes across the four locations due to the locally sourced produce. So far so good.
The pizzas come served up on large boards with a pizza slice to cut your own, this was somewhat problematic for some of my fellow diners but I can't for the life of me explain why. Super thin and crispy bases topped with Bath Pig Co. chorizo, long horn ground beef, goats cheese and even hazelnuts (this was not all on one pizza) went down extremely well. This was aided by a 5 1/3 pint tasting board of ciders (£7.50). This is an ever changing selection from; Bridgefarm Dry, Severn Cider Med/sweet, Severn Cider Perry, Orchard Pig Explorer, Orchard Pig Navel Gazer, Joe’s Purbeck Med/sweet, Joe’s Purbeck Dry, Joe’s Purbeck Perry, Burrow Hill Dry, Ashridge Cider Med/dry, Ashridge Cider Blush, Lyme Bay Scrumpy, Lyme Bay Vintage Jack Ratt, Dorset Draft, Dorset Draft Single Variety Dabinet, Somerset Glory Medium, Westons Old Rosie, Westons Traditional, Burrow Hill Half ‘n’ Half, Bee Sting Pear Cider, Lilley’s Fire Dancer, Copper Press and Sandford Orchard.
Food and cider apart the place has a really lively vibe to it. It is certainly not the place to take a first date because it is exactly the right place to make a bit of a pig of yourself and over indulge. A great venue for groups though some confusion did arise as we were told we could not make a reservation with a group under 8, yet when we got to the venue the doorman was less than helpful as we did not have a reservation! Once this was sorted out however, the food and drink came to around £45 per couple and we left very full and a little tipsy. On to The Beer Emporium.
I may have mentioned in a previous post (http://shaftosgoodthings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/bands-beers-and-breweries.html) I am quite the fan of craft ales, even the telegraph is talking about them at the moment. It has then been a long time coming that I dragged some people along to Bristol's new Beer Emporium. This is no ordinary bar with a couple of extra 'guest ales'. This place takes that term to a whole new level. The range on draft alone was impressive, the Portobello Porter a particular highlight, but the bottled menu was crazy.
Split across the USA, Belgium and the UK this place showcases the best of beer drinking more extensively than anywhere I have seen in a very long while. As always bottled beers appear less cost effective than draught, but here you are not paying for packaging and brands that have all been made in the same factory in Burton on Trent, you are paying for a quality product that you probably have never tasted before.
The setting is equally as interesting as the menu, using an old storage facility for wines built in the 1860's, the vaulted ceilings adding to the atmosphere. The room is expansive and there are plenty of tables, nevertheless at around 9.30pm when we arrived it was near full.
If you are serious about your beer drinking I would highly recommend giving this place a try. Even if you are not then you can't go too far wrong with a pale ale or even an Orchard Pig cider (it is in Bristol after all). There is a British Tapas menu if your peckish and live music and quizzes throughout the week. Overall, it seems whether your a cider drinker or beer swiller Bristol has got a hell of a lot to offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment