Having arrived in Bristol for a midweek break, we decided to have lunch whilst waiting for our room to be ready at 3pm. Firstly, we tried the nearby Cosy Club, which was full with an unexpected wedding group. A Wetherspoon didn’t look appealing, the App at the Slug and lettuce took so long to download that we left on 64%, and another independent pub looked a bit run down. I was starting to despair, when we spotted a pub with a Fuller’s sign, “The Old Fish Market”:https://www.oldfishmarket.co.uk/.
Having recently had a good experience at the “Hung, Drawn and Quartered”:https://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review/restaurant/208986-review-hung-drawn-and-quartered in London, we went in. We downloaded the NHS app and were invited to choose a table. By now it was nearly 2pm, but the pub appeared relatively full for a Monday lunchtime. We were just about to sit at a table in a busy area, when we spotted a number of empty tables in a narrow passageway further along their one-way system. The parquet wood floor, wood paneling and olive green walls were lovely and with only two tables for four, one for two and two large leather chairs at another, it was really cosy. Each table had a lit candle, which created even more atmosphere.
The guy who greeted us spotted where we’d sat and told us it may be difficult to get Wi-Fi connection because of the low ceiling and recommended downloading the Fuller’s Wi-Fi. We were struggling to access the menu from QR code, and he helpfully came to the table, and we ordered a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc, reasonably priced at £22.00.
As we were eating in the hotel later that evening, we decided on two sharing plates: a chorizo Scotch egg and sausages in honey. By this time, we’d managed to use the App to order and pay. When the wine was brought to the table we asked for water and a carafe arrived quickly along with two glasses with ice.
The food was excellent. The tiny sausages had been sliced on the diagonal and were extremely tasty with a mayonnaise dip, as was the Scotch egg, with its slightly runny yolk and chilli dip. When the young guy delivered it to our table, he said how good it smelt, and that after a late shift ended, he often indulged in a Scotch egg and pint.
The staff were young and friendly and told us that the pub was so named, because it was actually in the former fish market. Black and white photos of the market in its former glory, adorned the walls.
We had hoped to return as we had had such a good experience, but unfortunately time ran out on our trip. However, it is definitely somewhere that we would recommend and, on leaving, we noticed that the building is absolutely stunning from the outside.
