Thursday, January 27, 2011

A supper club way out west: The Montpelier Basement, Bristol

Montpelier Basement, Bristol

I've never been a big fan of writing about Supper Clubs. The thing is, the majority are borne out of somebodies passion for food, and you never want to say a bad word against someone else's endeavours. Taking that, and the fact that most of the Supper Clubs I have attended are run by people I consider friends, I always dread being in the position where I may want to say something bad about them.

Montpelier Basement, Bristol

Thankfully, I have never been put in that situation as all the Supper Clubs I have attended have been excellent. Last weekend in Bristol, visiting the Montpelier Basement was no different. Run by two lovely twitter (and real life) friends, Dan and Elly, they put together a beautiful menu of local ingredients which wouldn't have looked out of place in a high end establishment. An amuse, scallops for the fish course, palate cleansers? Not your everyday supper club at all.

Montpelier Basement, Bristol
Baked diver caught Cornish scallops with a tarragon crumb

I was really impressed by how professional it all was, and even when the oven refused to play ball when trying to cook the frankly excellent steak and kidney suet puddings, they handled it like pro's with a calm demeanour. If you get to Bristol (or if you already live in the neighbouring area), you would be a fool not to reserve a place. Get in early, and at a mere £25 a head, you are guaranteed great local food and local hospitality from Dan and Elly.

Montpelier Basement, Bristol

For more pictures, check out Flickr here.

Montpelier Basement - Email montpelierbsmt at gmail.com for more details

2 comments:

Gin and Crumpets said...

£25 for that menu? Are they trying to bankrupt themselves? It looks incredible – and the room is so pretty too. A minibreak in Bristol is suddenly very, very appealing.

The Basement said...

Nice write up. Really glad you enjoyed it mate. Was great to see you in Brizzle. Gin and Crumpets hahahaha thank you, we'd love to see you. Come down for a visit!