Restaurants / Reviews
Salt and Pepper – restaurant review
The most recent wave of Polish migration to Bristol brought about 7,000 new residents to the city. Yet I only count one, very new, restaurant (correct me if I’m wrong).
I can think of three Mexican eateries off the top of my head. And there were definitely less than 7,000 Mexicans here, last time I checked the census data.
Granted, Polish cuisine isn’t the sexiest around. Albino-looking dumplings were the best I could find when I last went to Poland. They were as characterless as the former communist industrial heartland town of Katowice we stayed in by accident on our way to the beautiful Krakow.
Salt and Pepper, which has sprung up in an unlikely spot on Lawrence Hill surrounded by bustling Somali cafes and newsagents, has a whole section on the menu for those dumplings – or pierogi, to give them the Polish name. And they look delicious, carefully presented in a wheel with a garnish on the restaurant’s lively Facebook page (I checked before I came).
Presentation is clearly a statement here – and not just with the food. The exterior and interior is trendily clad with chipboard. You could be in New York, Shoreditch or even North Street, Bedminster. Dimmed, jazzy-filament light bulbs hang down against the exposed white-painted brick walls and the furniture is minimal. Tables are simply dressed with old milk bottles holding fresh flowers – a nice touch.
It’s not fancy. But it’s not over trendy either. Some of the chipboard finish may well be cost over style, and parts of the restaurant, which has been converted into two main dining areas, are, let’s say, still a bit rough around the edges – or possibly unfinished.
It was quiet on a Tuesday night when we were given the pick of the tables by our waiter who offered us an English menu. Next to the door to the kitchen there is a blackboard with the specials of the day written in both languages.
I ordered the homemade sour rye soup (£4) for starter which came with fried polish sausage, mushrooms and a quartered, perfectly boiled egg (somewhere between hard and soft), like you find in a bowl of Japanese ramen. Deliciously balanced and incredibly filling. The Dragon had the homemade pate (£4.50), which was dry, but dotted with sour cranberries. Neither of us were adventurous enough to try the pigs’ trotters in aspic (£4).
Feeling pleasantly full already by the generous portions, our main courses looked daunting when they arrived. The daily special of meatballs (£9) came sitting on a pile of (slightly lumpy) mash and smothered in a rich, creamy mustard and onion white gravy. A small coleslaw-like salad gave the dish a pleasant, cool crunch and a sprig of mint drew the eyes in.
The old Polish style sauerkraut and meat stew (£8.50) was a hefty addition. Stewed Polish sausages – one regular and one thin, smoked number – sat with hunks of pork lardons and cabbage in a rich and salty tomato sauce with a kick of paprika. Both courses came with enough bread, presumably from the Polish bakery a few hundred metres up the road, to feed a small family.
The other dishes on the menu, which included traditional goulash, pork knuckle in beer and potato pancakes, looked equally as heavy, meaty and filling. They are also a snip for the amount you get, with no dish coming in at more than £10.50.
After almost finishing our main courses, topped with a cold bottle of Tyskie to share, the waiter offered to pack the remaining food into a takeaway box without us even asking. I didn’t get that in Wahaca.
Salt and Pepper, 137-139 Lawrence Hill, Bristol, BS5 0BT
0117 329 6200
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