There is magic that runs through the foodie lay lines to Chandos Road. I believe they start at Cotham Hill, run through Hampton Road and finish at The Kensington Arms. These lay lines have sprouted some of Bristol’s best hotspots for food and drink including my new favourite, Snobby’s wine bar.
The name is off-putting to a degree, but once you get chatting to owner Nick Bethell, you realise it’s a jolly pisstake on the wine scene and himself. With a CV in wine that stretches 8 years and a stint as the assistant manager at The Shakespeare in Redland, we knew we would be in good hands.
As sad as I am to have lost No Man’s Grace, Snobby’s has filled a bit of a void on Chandos Road, serving incredible wines, their own beer brewed by Croft brewery and affordable, Italian inspired small plates to soak up the vino. I am admittedly pretty wine illiterate and stick to what I know, dry whites and chewy reds so put all my trust in the staff to pick something I would enjoy. Sadly, I didn’t write down the name of the first (or second) we had (very poor food writing skills here) but everything they recommended went down a treat.
The menu here is split between pizzas and the aforementioned small plates. We opted for most of the small plate menu, being greedy and of course for research purposes and were delighted at the size of the portions. This is somewhere to quaff wine and eat handsomely, not nibble like birds.
The nduja scotch egg arrived with a soft, runny yolk and a slow burn, soothed slightly with the earth mushroom ketchup. The asparagus was sweet and well seasoned with a bitter radicchio salad and creamy mozzarella. The meatballs were an absolute scene-stealer, the meatballs being dense and juicy swimming in a sweet, arrabbiata sauce that was absolutely mopped up with anything and everything available. The only downside of the entire meal was chewy calamari, but the squid-ink aioli was fantastic.
The menu is set to change seasonally with a new re-incarnation coming in September to reflect the days becoming shorter and colder and I for one can’t wait to quaff a big, handpicked Malbec to go with it!
Find Snobby’s at 6 Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6PE.
Bedsit Bonne Vivante 