Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the Week: The Adam & Eve, Hotwells
Regulars at Small Bar have grown so unaccustomed to drinking out of pint glasses – such is the King Street bar’s inimitable style – that holding one has become an unusual experience.
The Adam & Eve in Hotwells has been taken over by the Small Bar team and visitors here will have to get used to beer being served in either one-third or two-third glasses.
There are no pints available and nor are there any lagers. Instead, this free house half way up Hope Chapel Hill will be serving beers from some of the best small breweries across the UK.
is needed now More than ever
On a recent Thursday night, chalked up behind the bar were nine ales on keg and four ciders – Harry’s Medium cider was on tap alongside three 500 ml bottles.
Ales included Pacific Pale and Lactose Intolerant from Left Handed Giant, brewed in St Philip’s by the Adam & Eve’s new landlord Bruce Gray, a former director of Brewdog who helped oversee its rapid expansion before moving to Bristol.
Other choices ranging from 3% to 7.2% included beers from as near as the Cotswold Brewery Co. in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, and as far away as Pilot in Edinburgh. Each drink is served in a glass with the Adam & Eve written on it. It’s all about those little touches.
“Can I have two-thirds of whatever is the weakest,” asked one customer, being presented with a Sun’s Up from Hanging Bat, another Edinburgh brewery, with a scotch egg on the side.
Joe, former landlord of the Portcullis, was sat on a stool at the bar, saying hello to various former locals of that establishments just a short stumble up a very steep hill towards Clifton.
On the other side of the bar shortly after it opened its doors at 5pm was the chef in his whites, bearded with an undercut and a small ponytail, still tying up his apron strings.
“I’m ready to rock and roll in the kitchen,” he said before making his way downstairs, making sure that menus were on every table on the first night that food was being served.
Small plates include bread from Hobbs House Bakery in Chipping Sodbury and sausage rolls. There are also 12 different burgers from the Simple Simon (£7.95) to the Big Lebowski (£11.95 for a 6oz beef pattie, pulled brisket, mac n’ cheese, crispy bacon, bacon jam, spicy onion ring and jalapeños).
This pub has seen various incarnations over the last few years. Even a couple of Italians who seemed to fill the place up with car parts and then leave.
At first glance, much has remained the same in an establishment that with the pedigree behind it and Bristol’s taste for craft beer should last longer than its recent predecessors.
The nooks and crannies of this higgledy-piggledy pub remain but a lot has also changed if you look closely – from newly painted and sanded walls, reupholstered furniture, and various bits of chipboard that might be design features but might still be patching up holes.
The new Adam & Eve is the most significant pub to open in Bristol this year. Just don’t order a pint.
Adam & Eve, 7 Hope Chapel Hill, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4ND