The Coppa Club Bristol is based in Clifton Village, one of my favourite areas of the city.
Clifton’s got some lovely green spaces, but is also well known for its independent boutiques and upmarket cafes and restaurants – all housed in gorgeous Georgian architecture. This makes it a lovely part of the city to spend a lazy day exploring.
Unsurprisingly, Clifton Village is home to many great restaurants, including the Ivy Clifton, and this summer the Coppa Club joined its ranks when it opened its first restaurant in the UK’s south west here.
The Coppa Club Bristol
Housed in what used to be an old linen workshop, Coppa Club turned this cavernous space into a luxurious, yet relaxed, bar and restaurant.
In a nod to its heritage, the designers have incorporated many of its original features, such as floor-to-ceiling colonnades, and kept the exposed brick walls, but then warmed the space with furnishing and décor that give it a welcoming, cosy vibe.
And it’s working – we visited on a Tuesday evening, and the restaurant was heaving. Guests packed the bar and both floors of the spacious eatery, creating a great, bubbly vibe.
As we were seated, we were offered water and then left to peruse the menu. We did have to wait quite some time before somebody came to take our drinks and food order, and the speed of service was really the only thing that let our experience down. however, this was acknowledged by the staff, which I did appreciate. It was also quite understandable too, as the place was packed and staff were constantly on the move.
Coppa Club starters
I’m very happy to say the food was worth the wait. For starters we had seared king prawns (£9.50) and the ham hock and pork terrine (£7). The latter was served with toasted sourdough, cornichons and a delicious onion chutney, which really complemented the hock, but we did feel the dish has been slightly over seasoned with the herbs. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t tasty however, just that we personally felt the seasoning overpowered the flavours from the meat.
The prawns were exceptional though, served on a large slice of gluten free bread (on request) and slathered in thinly sliced garlic and chilli. The latter added more sweetness than spice, creating a flavourful starter with just a hint of heat. Perfection.
Five-star mains
Our mains were the highlight of our Coppa Club Clifton Village meal – both had us nodding and pointing in delight as we chowed down.
Justin loved the parma ham sourdough pizza (£13.50), which was very impressive since he’s half-Italian and a pizza snob! A waft of garlic came from the pizza as he sliced it up, and it passed the ‘is it moist enough to roll up’ test. Topped with rocket, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella, J asked for an additional topping of olives (£2) and was glad he did so, as they were packed with flavour.
I have to admit I had to have a bite or two as it smelt so good and did start to get a little bit of food envy, but that was until I tucked into my roast lamb rump (£18.50).
This came served with mash potato and rosemary and pan juices but no veg, so I ordered a side of green beans (£4). They were very average to be honest, perhaps a bit undercooked (but better that than over) and had little flavour. However, to be fair I ordered mine plain. They’re supposed to come with sea salt and toasted almonds, so would likely have been very different if served as designed..
However, my words can’t do the main meal justice – it was absolutely amazing. The meat was perfectly cooked – pink in the middle but with a perfectly seared crisp edge. I always feel cheated with lamb as you only ever seem to get a tiny amount – this was three small pieces, but for a change this was pure meat, no fat or bone, which made me happy.
The mash potato was smooth, creamy and somehow packed with flavour as was the jus, – I’m sure both must have been really bad for me because they tasted so good!
Room for dessert?
With eyes bigger than our bellies we moved onto dessert. Justin went with the sticky toffee pudding (£6.50), while I chose the flourless chocolate cake (£8.50). The pudding was warm and moist, served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, toffee sauce and crushed honeycomb. Very tasty, but it could have done with a little more sauce.
The chocolate cake was not at all what I expected – out came a huge slice of dense, rich chocolatey goodness. Win!
Usually, the flourless chocolate cake comes served with coconut ice cream, but as that’s not to my liking, they were happy to swap that out for a scoop of vanilla and some bonus cream. These came served in their own little side dishes, I particularly liked this, as this picky eater doesn’t like her cake and creams mixing!
It was delicious, but unsurprisingly I wasn’t able to make my way through it all, and so our waiter kindly boxed it up for me to take home and enjoy all over again the next day.
What I thought of the Coppa Club Bristol
Although the service was a little slow, I did enjoy my visit to the Coppa Club Clifton Village – the waiting staff were friendly and helpful, and the fact that they acknowledged they were a little run off their feet made the majority of customers understanding.
Overall, the food was very tasty, and we’d definitely return for another date night meal. I’d really like to try one of the sourdough pizzas myself, and well I just have to come back and have the lamb a second time to make sure its greatness wasn’t a fluke – I do this all in the name of research, of course!
