Cafes / Reviews
Brigstow Lounge
If the sun shines, Brigstow Lounge could become one of the best spots in Bristol. In cold and wet weather, however, it’s difficult to see many people choosing to pay a visit to what has traditionally been a desolate area with more ducks than people.
Yet in recent months more residents have moved into new flats, more flats are still being built and the area is slowly getting some life that is not just suited office workers, with the cafe also located at the end of the newly completed Brunel Mile.
Brigstow Lounge on Harbour Square (not to be confused with Cafe Brigstow on Clare Street) is the first business to open in a dozen or so potential units in and around the harbour inlet opposite the ss Great Britain – ideally situated for the cross-harbour ferry.
There was most definitely a continental feel when I visited on a sunny Friday afternoon, especially with the table service and more seats outside than inside, with views of the glistening water of the Floating Harbour.
is needed now More than ever
Open at 7.30am on weekdays, Brigstow’s owner Natasha Pierce also has plans to open on the occasional evenings for special events.
Unusually for a cafe, it has an alcohol license and alongside the tea and coffee are a few bottles of beer, wine and Six O’Clock gin made by Thornbury’s Bramley and Gage.
I enjoyed a well-made flat white with beans roasted by Brian Wogan and a wonderfully named and equally tasty “choccywoocydoodah”, a more refined take on the classic refrigerator cake from Cakesmiths of St Philip’s.
There is a small kitchen likely to do more in the future but for now providing simple salads and sandwiches, with pies from Pieminister and bread from Bertinet Bakery over in Bath.
The little space there is inside is light and airy, with the wood of the bar painted duck egg blue and illustrated hot air balloons featuring on the walls and menus.
Like balloons need very specific weather conditions to fly, so will Brigstow Lounge to thrive. But it deserves to be a success.
Brigstow Lounge, Unit 2, Invicta, Millennium Promenade, Bristol, BS1 5SY
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