The term ‘hidden gem’ can sometimes be thrown around rather spuriously when it comes to food reviews (and particularly so on Instagram)… So I am loathe to use it myself – but this little place could be on the precipice of deserving the title.

ad 📍 The Baffled King, Easton, Bristol

So is it ‘hidden’? For me it was in an area I wouldn’t usually have thought to head for food. Until I had the invite to visit, I (rather shamefully) hadn’t even heard of it. That’s despite it being their first birthday on the 30th of June – check out their page for details of their party inc wine offers this Sunday 🥳

As for being a ‘gem’? The staff were very friendly without being over baring. The European wine selection is thoughtfully curated, sourced from local business @spiegelandpeach, and recommendations expertly provided. (I’d never tried Austrian rosé before and I’m now a total convert!)

The interior is gorgeous – with much of the beautiful woodwork handcrafted by the owner. The blue and white crockery made my heart sing and I loved the glasses for our dessert wine.

It’s the kind of place you just loose time, because it’s relaxed and lovely. We actually ended up being rather late meeting friends afterwards as we’d been enjoying so much! 😅

What about the food you say? The evening menu consists of French inspired small plates. We took the:

The beef tartare was without doubt a highlight and I’ve thought about my dessert (obviously the chocolate) fairly often since visiting. Which I think is an accomplishment, because quite often mousse can be rather forgettable, this one was anything but!

That said a few dishes weren’t totally to my taste. The brioche felt too soft and sweet to go with the chicken liver, so whilst the flavour was good the texture for me wasn’t enjoyable. Also the gravlax was overpoweringly salty, making the lobster mayo and chilli oil barely detectable on the palate despite, being very visible (and very pretty) on the plate.

That said I still thoroughly enjoyed. The team clearly have the best of intentions and have put a lot of love into their business.

Dishes that I think may be better with a tweak could already be perfection to someone else, so I say go try it and see for yourself what you think? You certainly won’t regret it.

As ever, thank you for reading!

Lizzie x