Dining out can often be a gamble but especially if you visit Bristol’s Bar 44 this month. The Spanish restaurant in Clifton Village has kicked off the new year by offering diners a unique offer that could mean up to 44% off your bill.
When asking for the bill, waiting staff bring a custom-made dice to the table which has different percentages on each side – 5%, 10%, 22% and 44%. If your dice lands on one of those numbers, that’s what will be taken off the bill.
Other roll-of-the-dice prizes include a Bar 44 cookery book and a £5 voucher to use on your next visit during January. On the evening we visited, the sound of rolling dice and winning cheers became a soundtrack to our meal, with several happy diners getting hefty discounts off their bills.
And let’s face it, any reduction in bills is welcome in the harsh month of January. And it seems even more appropriate to make savings at Bar 44, which occupies a sprawling site that was once a bank.
There’s a brand new menu at Bar 44, too, which has coincided with the arrival of new head chef Alex Brownrigg. His CV includes stints at high profile restaurants such as Bristol’s Casamia and Thornbury Castle.
With challenges in the hospitality industry coming thick and fast over the last few years, the chefs at Bar 44 have been working hard to come up with a menu which offers great value for money.
Co-owner Owen Morgan says the menu includes a number of new dishes and many of the Bar 44 staples.
“The biggest challenge has been turning the very best produce from our suppliers in Spain and the UK into innovative but affordable dishes. But, we are very happy with the results – a menu on which every dish is a “must-have”, but with the majority also priced between £3.50 and £11, so really it is an affordable treat in the current climate.”
The proof, of course, is in the eating, and we ordered several dishes to road test the new menu. This is tapas food designed for sharing and portions are generous enough to do that without leaving anybody hungry.
We kicked off with a plate of silvery Cantabrian boqueron anchovies (£8) dusted with sumac and surrounded by a pool of fruity olive oil. Next, a platter of acorn-fed pork loin coppa Ibérica (£6.50) was top drawer charcuterie, the ribbons of fat as sweet and flavoursome as the rosy pink cured meat.
From the ‘vegetables and salad’ section of the menu, a soft and sweet roasted Murcian pepper was paired with creamy goat’s curd and drizzled with aged sherry vinegar (£8). Crisp triple-cooked potatoes were served with a spicy bravas sauce and a sherry-spiked alioli (£6.80).
From the seafood section, baby squid with fino, garlic and herbs (£8.50) was a stand out dish – the squid cooked with care so it wasn’t like chewing a pair of plimsolls and an abundance of garlic and fresh parsley in the dressing.
Other highlights were the Morunos marinated chicken (£8.50) – juicy thigh cooked with lots of roast garlic and a sticky sherry glaze – and large plate sharer of slow-cooked Ibérico pork shoulder (£29). A hearty winter warmer, the ridiculously tender pork fell apart into the rich, dark sauce packed with creamy butterbeans and black pudding.
To finish, a moist and not overly sweet Valencian orange and almond cake (£8.50) was soaked with more sherry and a mousse-like chocolate dessert spiked with sea salt and olive oil was served with delicate slices of ‘toast’ for dipping.
Of course, sherry is the thing to drink, too, – there’s even a pink neon ‘sherry is sexy’ sign on the wall – but the wines are excellent too, with plenty by the glass to encourage diners to try as many different types without having to commit to buying bottles.
I particularly enjoyed the full-bodied and rich red Finca Constancia Seleccion 2019 from Castilla, and the restaurant’s own Uva 44 Tinto 2021 from Jumilla – a cherryish blend of monastrell, syrah and petit verdot grapes.
Authentic, serious Spanish food and drink at affordable prices – and even more so if the roll of the dice lands in your favour. Either way, a meal at Bar 44 is a new year gamble that pays off.
Bar 44, 18-20 Regent Street, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4HG. bar44.co.uk