“We are really serious about a life of good food and great wine. Our staff are very enthusiastic about everything on Bell’s menu, from the locally sourced produce to our wines, which are carefully chosen from small producers with help from our local buyers. We only source fish that are approved by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, ensuring that they are caught within season and with the knowledge that the fishermen involved in the catch are playing their part in sustainable fishing methods.”

Tempura Wye Valley asparagus with romesco sauce; radicchio with blood orange, pickled red onion, and basil; Cornish sardines with muhammara and pangritata.

With its history of good food and service stretching back to the 1970s, its vinyl-only music policy (played on a Bush Dansette), its resident artist and forager, and its newish management with a background at Rocinantes and the sainted Quartier Vert, this place just couldn’t be more Bristol. Add to that the robust Mediterranean cooking with inspiration from Spain, North Africa, Italy, and France and the local sustainable sourcing that this city has nurtured longer than any other in Britain, and you’ve got, well, a hell of a diner and bar