EatDrink24/7 2022: Alex Hayes’ faves

After a break of three years, EatDrink24/7 is coming back!

As in previous editions, we hope that the 100 per cent independent publication will be Bristol’s definitive guide to food and drink, featuring the best restaurants, shops, pubs, bars, cafes and street food in our city.

At the heart of the guide are the recommendations from our panel of industry professionals, who share their favourite places to frequent.

EatDrink24/7 2022 is a free guide put together by Bristol24/7 thanks to the support of our members

One of our panellists this year is award-winning burger chef Alex Hayes of Squeezed in Wapping Wharf.

For reasons of space in the printed guide, we could not include his recommendations in full, so here they are in all of their unedited glory:

Izakaya, College Green

The Chirashi Don is a fresh selection of a variety of different sashimi and seafood served on a bed of sushi rice – photo: Izakaya

“There comes a huge satisfaction when you begin your meal by ramming a marble down into a bottle to release age-old chaos in the form of sweet effervescence. Apparently, Ramune has been around since 1884 and that’s an impressive test of time. Izakaya has stood the tests of many visits from me and my family. Perhaps it’s the warm and speedy service in this most casual of restaurants or perhaps it’s those intensely umami Okonomiyaki skewers on which the bento flakes draw you in like beckoning fingers. Either way, this is an affordable and easy going spot. And if you don’t wish to finish your meal with a Mochi or two, then Swoon is a few doors around the corner. You cannot lose.”

Pizza Bianchi, Queen’s Road

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_OUm9s2Yh/

“I love this spot. I loved it before its recent transformation into the rogue, giant shard slinging pizza palace that is Pizza Bianchi. Rocatillos certainly knew how to make a good peanut butter shake and I’m glad that the Bianchis’ team have carried on this tradition. They’ve also paid homage to the former diner feel, which has the essence of New York pizza dives, but here it’s clean lines and Vans checkerboard tiling. As for the food, well hats off to Ben and the team because the pizza is outstanding. It’s everything I wish for on a slice; deep sauce, thin but robust enough dough that cradles the topping and those gnarly puffed and punctured edges where the heat of the oven has charred those blistered pockets to bursting. Wash this down with the aforementioned shake and a side of beef shin fries. Start spreading the news…”

The Hillgrove, Kingsdown

The Hillgrove is one of half a dozen Dawkins pubs in Bristol – photo: Martin Booth

“I’m getting older. By the time I’ve ascended Nine Tree Hill my thighs are singing a song that my knees don’t know the words to and my calf muscles are just humming. But all is rewarded when the road levels out and you swing through the doors of the Hillgrove. Aside from the beaten up wooden tables, the array of old beer mats which align the walls and the decks which nestle in an alcove next to the bogs and sometimes see a record or two on the weekend, you’re hit with a multitude of taps on the central bar which offers a cracking range of pints. There’s some tradition here, in the style of Dawkins beer which offers a charm from before the craft beer explosion of the late Cambrian. There’s also jalapeno pretzel snacks and pickled eggs. It’s where you’ll find me, clutching a well-kept beer, chewing on an egg and letting my lungs recuperate. And the best part – it’s all downhill on the way home.”

The Clockwork Rose, St Stephen’s Street

The convivial society cocktail at Clockwork Rose – photo: Kym Grimshaw

“The Clockwork Rose uses a lot of words and a lot of colours I don’t understand. But each and everyone is forgivable when you’re serving cocktails of such finery that you can be transported in a sip. An Earl Grey Martini can take you on a bender of emotions – the slight fizz of lemon sherbet to when your nan handed you a white paper bag on a Wednesday, filled with those glassy yellow tooth-crackers, and you, impetigo mouthed and grazed of knee would scurry off to sit in a bush and devour them. The smoke and citrus of the Earl Grey throws you forward twenty years, to your basement flat near Bournemouth beach, when all you had in your cupboards was tea bags, cigarettes and a bag of satsumas. If we are nothing but a ganglion of electrical impulses, then the steampunk interior of the Clockwork Rose and the excellent drinks within it, is enough to make your synapsis flex.”

Mokoko, Wapping Wharf

Mokoko was one of the first businesses to open in Wapping Wharf – photo: Martin Booth

“I miss Katy & Kim’s. As long as I write this section I shall declare it. It was where my now, heavy abuse of aioli was first recognised. It was fearless. But there is one particular cafe that has crept into my adoration and it’s my neighbour at Wapping Wharf: Mokoko. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t always been this way but something has changed, a gear has shifted and now the levers have been thrown to max and they are refusing to power down. It’s the pastries, one in particular, the almond croissants. These things should be banned. Let’s talk about lamination. There’s enough layers here to embarrass an onion. Thin, whily, never ending layers which are perfectly crisp and give way on a bite to a centre which resembles frangipane – glorious clouds of marzipan and flecks of toasted almonds. It’s a landscape Turner would be proud of. And when you’re thinking about breakfast at dinner, you know you’re on to the good stuff.”

Ka:Fei, St Augustine’s Parade

KaFei is a popular spot on the centre – photo: Martin Booth

“I’ll keep this one brief. Arrow and Fency at Ka:Fei are utter legends and they serve, in my opinion, the best coffee in Bristol. I mean, who doesn’t love a shipping container?”

Sweet Mart, St Mark’s Road

Sweetmart is at the heart of St Mark’s Road – photo: Martin Booth

“Tactics. That’s what you need here, because gliding through the aisles at Sweet Mart is a journey on which you could open up your purse and spill its contents at till point, including your Everyone Active card – you want everything. The range of spices would be enough to keep me coming back. Powders, blends, colours – it’s a cook’s paradise. Once you’ve worked your way through the Tardis and managed to collect the best weekly shop you could ever dream of obtaining, you arrive at the food counter, where they serve fresh dhal, curries and snacks. Head out, sit on the curb and watch the slow movement of life pass you by whilst eating your lunch. Bristol, you have my heart.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Pig trotters, chicken feet and duck blood on the menu at Tasty To Go

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: