Restaurants / Reviews
Faraway Tree – restaurant review
Someone had a dig the other day that our soirée into BS5 in search of the elusive borders of gentrification missed the point.
It’s not cafes, sourdough and facial hair that are the most important indicators, they said. It’s serious things that come with it like the housing crisis carving up communities, stupid.
Of course, I don’t need to use this review of the next pleasant and genteel cafe to creep its way into the postcode to make a point about how the food and drinks scene is sometimes one of the firsts signs that a neighbourhood is changing.
is needed now More than ever
It speaks for itself.
Faraway Tree opened earlier this year as a cafe in what was formerly The Olive Tree on Church Road.
Sitting almost opposite the busy, newly-reopened grocers, exactly opposite the vacuous Wetherspoons (where you can get a pint for £1.99 still. £1.99) and just around the corner from where our esteemed critic lives, the cafe has been doing a decent daytime trade.
It’s been regularly filled with young mums and dads (first-time buyers, I’ll surmise) who can leave their kids in the play area which forms part of the pretty and modern little joint.
But the cafe has now moved into restaurant territory – given the green light to offer evening meals after a small battle with the council to extend gentrification past 5pm.
When we arrived there was a small group of friends and a few couples dotted around the six-table floor of the main dining area.
It’s cosy in there and some of the tables almost jut up against each other underneath the white walls, dimmed, hanging light bulbs and gold picture frames with the daily specials on them.
I took the Cajun pork belly, a fair old whack of succulent, spiced meat, about the size of a small baby’s arm, laid on a bed of sweet apple salad with large chunks of crunchy purple cauliflower.
My man-date had the seafood linguine which came with mussels and prawns in a rich and creamy white sauce. The fresh fish were spot on.
Both cost £9, with a small, child-friendly portion coming in at £5. Also on the menu was spiced butternut squash with a lentil and herb salad for £8 and £4.50,
Sides of sweet potato fries (£1) and buttered, wilted greens (£2) were a nice addition to our mains, which were well-cooked, generous in size and a snip at under £10.
The Apricot and rhubarb crumble and the dark chocolate and brioche bread and butter pudding (both £3.50) also looked tantalising.
The bromance of our candle-lit meal was only briefly interrupted when a man leaving Wetherspoons crashed over the flower beds at the front, the second time this has happened in recent weeks our waiter told us.
“You should put that in the review,” my date said. So there it is. Welcome to the front line.
The Faraway Tree, 136 Church Rd, Redfield, BS5 9HH
0117 955 7298