Pubs and Bars / Reviews
The Doghouse
There’s a book by Sally Watson called Secret Underground Bristol which documents many of the city’s most mysterious places below ground level.
Those concrete pyramids near the old Bank of England building in the corner of Castle Park for example: entrances to vaults where goods were once stored.
Anyone who has been to Mezze on Small Street or the Beer Emporium on King Street will be familiar with the feel of The Doghouse on King Street.
is needed now More than ever
According to owner Chris Nutland, these were once cellars where merchants stored not just the likes of sugar and tobacco but perhaps even human cargo.
A door from in front of the DJ booth leads to an identical network of arches, the entrance to which is now the Backpackers Hostel the other side of St Stephen’s Street.
Nutland met his wife here while they working at what was then Bar Latino. Most recently Crash Mansion, inches of artex have been painstakingly chipped away to reveal the centuries-old stonework.
At the bar, the drink of choice are cocktails, served by staff with CVs showing experience in some of the best bars across Bristol – Hausbar, Hyde & Co, Milk Thistle and the Rummer.
Unlike all but the latter, there is no doorbell here, only currently a pair of bouncers as part of a current licensing condition, the duo soon to be replaced with a concierge-style service.
Open until 3am, Nutland’s aim is for The Doghouse to be a venue for those slightly older (this is an over-25 establishment) can come after a few cocktails elsewhere.
A DJ plays every night and customers are free to stand, sit or dance.
Future plans also include a way to incorporate the kitchen upstairs – with Nutland owning the Lido Kitchen in Portishead he has more experience of food than drink, though Nathan Lee from the Milk Thistle and Hyde & Co propping up the bar when I visited shows he is well connected to who he calls his mentors.
With doorbells done and telephones taken, a question in the last year has been where Bristol’s cocktail scene could go next. The Doghouse might be the answer.
Underground has just got overground.
The Doghouse, 12 St Stephen’s Street, Bristol, BS1 1EL
0117 925 5207
Photos by Joseph Pymar
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