Bristol Cider House

Thursday 1st October 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of BRISTOL CIDER HOUSE. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Family friendly: 6 / 10.
Range of drinks: 8 / 10.
Atmosphere: 8 / 10.
Food and drink: 8 / 10.

There are so many pubs closing their doors for good at the moment that I sometimes wonder just how long this column will go on. At this rate, there won’t be any pubs of the week left.

Readers with good memories will recall I featured The Surrey Wine Vaults in 
this column at the start of the summer.

Tucked away off Portland Square, a stone’s throw from Cabot Circus, there has been a pub on this site for almost 150 years but business started to tail off at the start of the year so much that owners Charlie and Tracey Jarvis decided that a radical change was needed.

They mentioned this to their son, Jack, who is doing an accountancy and management degree at Cardiff University.

Fortuitously, Jack had just written a dissertation on the rise of the cider house and this was enough to make his parents decide that if they were to continue running the pub then it had to have a ‘hook’ rather than being a general pub.

After closing for a light makeover that included moving the old wine barrels to the back of the bar to house the new cider taps, the pub was reopened as the Bristol Cider House. Cider is enjoying its greatest resurgence in sales in a decade, with the apple tipple shedding its old park bench image as forward-thinking cider producers introduce new varieties for a younger market.

Bristol Cider House has at least 20 different ciders with a firm focus on quality and price. Real farmhouse ciders have been sourced from Somerset farms and draught products include Ben Crossman Dry, Broadoak Medium and Thatchers Traditional Dry – all at just £2 a pint.

In addition, there is the strong Old Bristolian cider which is only available in half pints. Black Rat cloudy will be on offer and to complete the draught range there is Thatchers Gold, Weston’s Stowford Press and Thatchers Pear Cider.

There is an impressive line-up of quality bottled ciders including several fruit ciders and perries.

For those who like a change from cider there is draught ale (Moles Best when I visited) and lager plus a wide range of spirits and soft drinks. House wine is on offer at £2 a glass (175ml) and there is a small wine list to complement this.

To match the cider, there is a short menu of rustic food including the cheekily-monikered ‘Gert Big Baps’ (roast beef, smoked ham or farmhouse cheddar and pickle baps all at £2.95), doorstep sandwiches, ploughman’s and specials such as beef and vegetables in Moles ale stew.

After the enormous success of The Apple in Welsh Back, it looks like Bristol has another place to worship the pomme.

Mark Taylor

This is a Crackerjack review of BRISTOL CIDER HOUSE. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.