Flow – restaurant review

Spare a thought for Alex Poulter and Polly Frost. As if rising with the lark every morning to start baking bread at East Bristol Bakery isn’t enough, the pair have now opened a new restaurant, Flow, where they currently both fulfill admirably cheerful front of house duties.

Unlike other bakeries like Hart’s and Mark’s Bread, Alex and Polly’s Easton bakery doesn’t have enough space for tables and chairs.

So that’s where Flow comes in, continuing the relaxed feel of the St Mark’s Road business but transported in restaurant form to Haymarket Walk between the Bearpit and the bus station, Bristol’s unlikeliest new foodie destination.

It’s a small room with bare whitewashed walls, seating about a dozen at tables and half a dozen more on stools at the bar and in one corner. More tables could easily be squeezed in, but then the flow would be constricted – and that just wouldn’t fit with this moniker.

Everything is vegetarian and seasonal here, with many dishes also vegan and gluten free. The sourdough, of course, comes from East Bristol Bakery; greens from The Severn Project; and cheese from the brilliant Bristol Cheesemonger.

Peruse the menu with the the help of snacks such as a seasonal pickle plate (£3) and Cajun peanuts (£2) in a restaurant that used to be a well-loved graffiti supplies shop owned by the much-missed Mibsy.

On the evening that we visited, a graffiti artist was adding a piece on a neighbouring wall – the smell of spraypaint handily obscuring the smell of urine still unfortunately found in this corner of town.

Forgoing the tartines (£3 each or a choice of two for £5, the pick of which looked like beetroot and red onion hummus, pickles and fresh herbs on sourdough) and the two large plates (beetroot and walnut tacos, and spinach-stuffed aubergine), we went for a selection of small plates, priced from £4 to £6.75.

The best of these was a salad made up of summer leaves and pickled ewe’s cheese with the delightful addition of juicy Cheddar strawberries.

Another highlight was the spiced sweet potato fries with a chilli and lime creme fraiche.

The roasted elephant garlic would have benefited from a touch of seasoning, and in fact a little bit more oomph all round would have raised these small plates from good to very good.

A seasonal cocktail of rhubarb infused vodka, lemon and homemade syrup was highly appreciated across the other side of the table, while I enjoyed a bottle of Arbor Ales’ Basta Rosse, a collaboration with Italian brewery Mezzo Passo, as we worked our way through the three puddings.

These all cost £4 and were a generous scoop of dark chocolate and banana sorbet with ginger shortbread, Clifton Coffee affogato with homemade vanilla ice cream, and some delicate petit fours.

Bristol has been looking for a top notch new veggie restaurant for some time. With the arrival of Flow, the search is over.

Flow, 9A Haymarket Walk, Bristol, BS1 3LN
0117 3296226

www.flowbristol.co.uk