By Laura Elvin, Food Writer
The clue is in the name. This is Sunday dinner with a difference, and the difference is the fact that you are in a great big Mongolian yurt.
Now I can’t really big up the setting because rather unusually the great big tent is sat in the middle of Bristol’s financial district, which on a Sunday is absolutely dead.
BUT as soon as you’re inside with a blooming lovely log fire in the middle, rustic log tables around the sides and an inviting bar, you soon forget you’re sat in a car park surrounded by office blocks.
We were first there at 1pm, but don’t be fooled – this place gets really busy and soon we were surrounded by families, housemates and couples.
We started off with a nice local wheaty beer to help us decide what to have.
The menu is designed by Michelin starred chef Josh Eggleton but things are kept simple at Yurt Lush, which I think is always a good sign. The choices were grass reared beef or free range pork – both from the nearby Chew Valley – with nut roast for the veggie types like me.
Once we made our decision the super friendly staff surprised us with a little amuse buche to tide us over – a shot glass of pumpkin soup with a cheesy top and a pork terrine. Both came out on a slate – the official sign of decent grub – and it was pretty yummy.
The main course was a huge plate of goodness. We had a big bed of super-bright kale – not the rubbish stuff you see wilting on supermarket shelves – with a mound of roasties, a HUGE Yorkshire pud and, rather oddly, a whole carrot and lots of gravy.
A blackboard behind us told us it all came from within a few miles, from local butchers, community farms and bakers, so if you are the kind of person who worries about food miles, wipe your brow and tuck in.
The veg is lovely and crunchy and fresh tasting and the nut roast isn’t just a dry after thought, but is really moist and tasty – especially with the gravy. My other half, like any sensible person, went for the beef. It was perfectly cooked and slightly red in the middle. Just right.
We weren’t rushed in any way. It seems that if you book a table it isn’t booked for a second service and you can stay until you are done. So when we stuffed our faces, the staff were happy to let us sit and wait for the food to go down before our puds.
There were two on offer – a chocolate tart and a berry crumble – and like any sane couple we went for one of each. The chocolate tart was really rich and bitter with a lovely dollop of sweet cream. The red berry crumble, with a creamy vanilla custard was delicious. It was like the puddings you WISH your mum made. Yum.
So by the time we walked (rolled) out of our yurt we had already decided to come back again soon. At just £12.50 for one course and £16 for two, and all for locally sourced ingredients – in a YURT – we were pretty impressed.
Only let down is the surroundings, but once you’re inside, it equals any village pub.
Yurt Lush can be found at YURT LUSH – Creative Common, Isambard Walk, Temple Quay, BS1 6DG
https://eatdrinkbristolfashion.co.uk/yurt-lush/menus
