'It would make a gorgeous wine bar'
~ To the tune of Hallelujah ~
Now I heard there was a new(ish) restaurant,
That opened up where Pipal Tree was,
You want to know if it’s good or not, do ya?
~
I’m sorry but if you name your restaurant after a song lyric you’ve walked into it, as far as I am concerned.
On my third and most recent visit to the Baffled King, we booked the table muttering idioms about luck, having heard news of a new chef and spotted a rather inviting menu on social media. Sweetbreads, lobster bisque, tartare and moules marinières; it read like the kind of dream from which you wake swiping drool from your mouth in confusion.
~
The menu was strong, but we needed proof,
The only way was to go and review
~
The Baffled King is a proper neighbourhood bistro. It’s on the corner of two residential streets and has bar seats in the window for fogging up with good chat and nice wine. You’ll come to know the owner, Campbell, if you visit regularly and the decor feels like an extension of a cosy living room.
The menu on a recent Wednesday evening was missing a lot of the reasons that we booked. Nevertheless, this was soon forgotten over an aromatic and incisive bottle of orange wine, one of the best I’ve had in a while.
~
The bread was good,
but the butter hard,
couldn’t spread it
- not a good start
~
The bread was from East Bristol Bakery, a spot which is undeniably a highlight of living in Easton. But the smoked butter it came with (£5) was utterly defiant. Bread with tapenade (£5) was slightly better.
Chicken liver mousse with brioche and fig and onion jam (£8) had me thinking that maybe there’s a God above, but beef and oyster tartare (£11) with which the hard butter made its second appearance swiftly turned me atheist again.
Two terrines later - one because we actually wanted it (fish, better, £8) and one because I was foolish enough to just say ‘terrine’ without specifying what animal I wanted it to be made from (venison, worse, £8) - and I was quite done with the entrées.
I still couldn’t tell you why we decided to order ricotta, spinach and mushroom cannelloni. We’ll have to put it down to a moment of madness. Perhaps it’s that the other two options for a main were beef, beef or ling. Vegans, stay well away.
As it turns out there is nothing for the vegetarians either. You would have to tie me to a kitchen chair to make me eat that cannelloni again.
The rare bavette with dauphinoise and peppercorn sauce (£18) on the other hand brought a smile to my face.
The desserts at The Baffled King appear to be made up of minor falls and major lifts. I’ve had some brilliant desserts there before; chocolate mousse with raspberries and salted hazelnut crumb last July and more recently a white chocolate iteration in January. Both were inspired.
The too-soft pastry of the tarte tatin (£8) this time left it struggling to compete with its predecessors.
It took three visits to ascertain what I now know to be true. The Baffled King would make a gorgeous wine bar. A wine bar with French-inspired small plates. But in its current form, the Baffled King has not quite managed to compose a hallelujah.
Words and photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour
The Baffled King, 28 Chelsea Rd, Easton, BS5 6AF
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