A Bristol restaurant has been named Restaurant of the Year at this year’s Bristol Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards. Totterdown-based neighbourhood restaurant Bank Bristol was awarded the title at a ceremony held near Weston-super-Mare last week.
Created to celebrate excellence within the tourism sector, the Bristol Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards assessed areas including Bank’s ‘commitment to accessible and inclusive tourism, as well as ethical, responsible and sustainable tourism’. Having impressed the panel during the early rounds, Bank came out on top in the Restaurant of the Year category, following an unannounced visit from the judges, who wanted to experience its famed wood-fired menu first hand.
The award was collected on the night by owner and founder Dan O’Regan and head chef and co-owner Jack Briggs-Horan, who have together built a reputation for the restaurant, which is now known for its contemporary fire cooking, with an emphasis on social feasting. This latest award follows Bank being named in The Good Food Guide’s Top 50 Sunday Roasts in Britain last month, as well as SquareMeal’s Top 100 Restaurants in the UK earlier in the year.
Dan said: “It was great fun to step away from the restaurant last night and celebrate the best of our tourism sector, and a real honour to come away with the top award in the restaurant category. We’ve got massive respect for all those restaurants across the region who are pushing for excellence during pretty challenging times for hospitality, so it means a lot for us to be recognised by the judges in a field of so many impressive names.
“2024 has been an incredible year at Bank, with a few trophies to show for our amazing team’s efforts, and our win at the Bristol Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards will be a nice boost for us all as we fire up the grill for some of the busiest weeks of the year.”
Having recently extended the restaurant’s opening hours, Bank Bristol is now open from Tuesday to Thursday 6pm – 10pm, Friday & Saturday from 12pm to 10pm and Sundays from 12pm – 7pm. What’s more, the restaurant is bringing back its popular brunch for one day only this Christmas.
The team are preparing to fire up the grill early on Sunday, December 22 to kick start the festive season. With a nod to the popular brunch offering that helped make Bank’s name when it first opened, this special menu will ‘bring the best of the wood fired grill to bear on a selection of comforting brunch classics’.
The Bank Christmas Brunch will begin with a welcome drink, offering Bloody Mary, Mulled Cider, Mimosa or alcohol-free alternatives, while head chef and co-owner, Jack Briggs-Horan, puts the finishing touches on a choice of smoked haddock with kedgeree arancini & café de Paris hollandaise; barbecued mushrooms with smoked potato pavé & Dorset red custard; and Bavette steak with chipotle, bacon & can com tomate – all served with poached eggs.
With the season of feasting now in full flow, the meal with finish with some big, bold dessert options, including cherry pie with smoked chocolate ganache, salted almond and Amaretto ice cream; and whipped pumpkin cheesecake with bread + butter pudding, miso apple caramel & pumpkin praline.
The Bank Christmas Brunch will take place from 11am – 2.30pm on Sunday December 22. Tickets cost £42 and are available to book here.