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La Cocina at The Volunteer Tavern – ‘A little taste of Latin America’ – pop-up review
There can be few better places to escape the wind and cold on a dark February night than The Volunteer Tavern.
Even the garden, with its warm pink hue, fairy lights and solid, protective covering, offers a cosy respite – and one that many drinkers are more than happy to settle in – while stepping inside is like being enveloped in a big, warm hug.
Here, the drinks are flowing behind the bar and every wooden table is occupied with groups of friends enjoying a post-work Wednesday night catch up under the twinkling lights and picture-filled walls.
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Even the scent wafting from the kitchen provides a warming lift and the promise of South American-inspired flavours.
La Cocina is the latest pop-up to takeover the Volly’s kitchen. Boasting an entirely vegan menu, it keeps things simple with a choice of four different tacos and four side options, plus a range of sauces.
With tortillas from The Little Tortilleria, a family-run business in Backwell, some ingredients from Otomi in Clifton Village and cooking oil that is collected to be recycled into biodiesel, it’s clear time and effort has gone into sourcing ethical and local producers.
Even the garden of The Volunteer Tavern brings a cosy vibe to a cold winter night
Food and drinks are quickly ordered at the bar, where the person serving is only too happy to pour a number of sample ales and offeri recommendations along the way.
We retreat to a cosy corner of the pub with our pints and wait for the food to arrive, which it does with a flourish and warm, zesty aromas.
A platter of four tacos is placed ceremoniously in the centre of the table – at three tacos for £10 or £4 each, in hindsight ordering six for two people would have been more sensible. The steaming bowl of fries and poblano bites (each £4 a dish) help to bulk out the meal.
The latter is perhaps the most intriguing. Vaguely resembling two old boots left to rot into ruin, the crisp salty taste of the poblano bites more than makes up for their appearance. Simple but infinitely moreish, these are the perfect vegan pub snacks to accompany a pint.
La Cocina at The Volunteer Tavern brings a taste of Latin American-inspired food to St Jude’s
The tacos are a bit of a mixed bag. The Baja ‘Fish’ is the star of the show, offering a good crunch of battered tofu that is brought to life with a generous helping of creamy avocado mayo and tangy lightning pickles. This is everything you want in a taco and more.
The Nasu Dengakku brings the fresh, zesty flavours of Latin American cooking through the cured cucumber and citrus koshom, which pair deliciously with the soft, earthy miso-glazed aubergine.
The fresh corn taste of the tacos also deserve a mention as some of the best of their kind in Bristol.
The Al Pastor filling – cauliflower with pineapple and cactus salsa and salsa roja – falls a bit flat, literally as well as metaphorically as the damp filling soaks through the soft taco. The Yucatan-style jackfruit meanwhile is a tasty bite, with the mango and scotch bonnet salsa and pickled scotch bonnets providing a pleasant kick that doesn’t quite live up to its fiery promise.
Hot fresh chips are devoured with gusto and a good dollop of chipotle mayo (£1).
Overall, it’s a fun and tasty meal that has the added bonus of transporting you away to sunnier climes – if just for a short while.
It’s great to see the kitchen at the Volley back up and running and bringing a little taste of Latin America to St Jude’s.
The Volunteer Tavern is an ideal place to escape the winter weather
La Cocina at The Volunteer Tavern, 9 New Street, Bristol, BS2 9DX
www.instagram.com/lacocinabristol/
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All photos: Ellie Pipe
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