Pasture – restaurant review

In a corner of the city that hasn’t yet become much of a mecca for food and drink, but which could be about to change with the development of Redcliff Quarter and its food court run by Michelin starred entrepreneur Josh Eggleton, Pasture has put down roots. Owner Sam Elliott will be hoping to stay ahead of the curve in his first venture as a business owner, following a decade working for Jamie Oliver, opening Jamie’s Italian restaurants and rising through the ranks to chef-director.

Pasture occupies a high-class renovation of an old industrial building within spitting distance of St Mary Redcliffe. On a sunny lunchtime, the lower storey with its long bar and casual tables remains plunged in darkness, while up the sweeping staircase to the first-floor dining room, light pours in through the big front windows. An impressive black iron chandelier, looking somewhere between sex dungeon prop and an intricate barbecue, dangles in the purgatory between.

The dining room is spacious with tables alternatively slate topped and wooden, accompanied by chairs in all hues of leather. On the roughly-plastered walls, the only decoration is a big wicker Highland cow’s head, save for the packed wine fridge and a big chalk board displaying the cuts of meat, including porterhouse and tomahawk. Hunks of meat sit in a chilled cabinet in front of the open kitchen, where three chefs busy themselves for a lunchtime service soon after opening.

A handful of tables are occupied by groups of men from the nearby offices who have rolled up their pale pink shirt sleeves and are enjoying a plate of meat and a cheeky lunchtime pint, with local offerings from Moor Beer, Lost & Grounded and Wiper & True on the leather-bound drinks menu.

Meat is firmly on the menu: steaks and house cuts take prime position (from £14.95 for a rump steak), accompanied by burgers, pies, sides and sauces. I select a Pasture Burger (£12.50) and a side of Dripping Chips (£3.95) and the wait staff, whose service is as smooth as can be, ask how I’d like the burger to be cooked before whisking the order off to the chefs.

After a short wait, the towering burger arrives accompanied by pickles and a side of chunky chips. The meat is cooked to medium perfection with just a hint of pink, and oozes juice with the first cut. The lightly-toasted buttermilk bun is fluffy and fresh with a generous slathering of decadent black truffle mayo and crispy air-cured coppa. The burger patty of ground dry aged beef is lean and clearly excellent quality, and although it tends to crumble back into mince, making it a bit of a challenge to eat, it’s another sign that it’s made from real ingredients rather than processed mush.

The chips are lightly seasoned, skin still on, and are perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. One or two are bordering on dry and even crumbly, but speared on a fork and dipped in some of that truffle mayonnaise, they are delicious.

At the end of the meal, plate cleared, there’s barely a sign of any grease from the feather-light food, despite the fullness of my belly for hours afterwards. It’s a very good, very grown-up burger and couldn’t be further from a greasy, cheese-dipping belly buster that has been flavour of the month in some Bristol restaurants. Food fads come and go, but there will always be people looking to gnaw a great hunk of meat and who are prepared to pay for the quality they receive. They’ll find a natural home in Pasture, and plenty to graze on.

Pasture, 2 Portwall Lane, BS1 6NB
07741 193445
www.pasturerestaurant.com