If there’s one person that captures the youthful spirit of Bristol, it’s Elly Curshen – columnist, cook and owner of the tiny but mighty Pear Café. This cosy, hole-in-the-wall affair serves up steaming soups, hefty frittatas, legendary brownies and sandwiches overflowing with ingredients from the surrounding countryside. We fell for this place when Elly (also known as “Elly Pear” by her fifty thousand Instagram followers) offered us piping hot sausage sandwiches and melty butterscotch brownies as soon as we stepped through the door. Everything is made fresh in the tiny kitchen, with no space for sitting hunched over a laptop. In here, it’s all about good, honest food – and a very cool owner.

Sustainable food warrior Tom Hunt is the chef behind Poco, which scooped up Observer Food Monthly’s “Best Sustainable Restaurant” award a few years back and has retained its reputation ever since. Tucked away on a buzzing street corner in Bristol’s art-splashed Stokes Croft district, this glowing nook serves up colourful, eclectic small plates using hyper-local ingredients and creating as little waste as possible. Expect seasonal dishes like deep-fried oysters, braised venison with mulled wine and broad-bean falafel, alongside natural wines and cocktails muddled with artisan British spirits.

Located in residential Easton, stepping inside Dela is like taking a gulp of fresh Scandinavian air. The bright, open space occupies a former art studio, with a reclaimed wooden bar stocked with natural wine and local beers, herringbone wooden floors, sharing tables topped with fresh flowers and a baby-blue tiled open kitchen. Co-owner Lara Lindsay also happens to be a talented leather maker, and you’ll find her handiwork all over the room. Dela means “to share” in Swedish, so the constantly evolving menu is all about food to squabble over, from a Scandinavian fish board (sea bass crackling, mackerel pate, hot smoke salmon terrine) to golden hasselback potatoes with goat’s curd or “top-to-tail” cauliflower. Expect Moorish flavours, the freshest ingredients and a welcoming day-to-night atmosphere.

Founder Jim Pizer fell in love with India’s cuisine after travelling around the country, launching a food truck at Glastonbury that would eventually become The Thali Café. This locally adored café is one of three outposts around Bristol. Founder Jim Pizer fell in love with India’s cuisine after travelling around the country, launching a food truck at Glastonbury that would eventually become The Thali Café. Each one is bright, makeshift and welcoming, with hot-pink paint splashed on the walls, sepia-toned family portraits and hand-painted wooden signs. With a focus on sustainability and locally sourced produce, The Thali Café serves a rainbow of dishes inspired by all corners of India, from Goan beach snacks to Bombay street food. They’ve recently teamed up with the celebrated Indian cook Meera Sodha to create a menu celebrating India’s most sizzling “hero dishes”.

If an evening of American whiskey and high-grade meat sounds like your bag, head to this elegant steakhouse on St. Nicholas Street. If an evening of American whiskey and high-grade meat sounds like your bag, head to this elegant steakhouse on St. Nicholas Street. Chomp began life as a pop-up restaurant, proving their commitment to the best ingredients to crowds of carnivorous fans. All of their meat comes from West Country butchers Walter Rose & Sons, with each cut dry-aged for around 20-30 days. The result? Some of the most succulent steaks and hamburgers in town, best washed down with one of their house cocktails. Make yours the amber-hued old fashioned made with artisan bourbon, or their very own Chomp House Brew beer by master brewery Wiper and True.

Bulrush is one of Bristol’s best restaurants – a neighbourhood fine-dining spot that has had critics drooling over its seasonal tasting menus ever since it opened in 2015. Head chef George Livesey creates modern British dishes, using local produce and foraged ingredients from the surrounding area. Expect artfully plated local meats, West Country cheeses and organic veg alongside biodynamic wine and seasonal cocktails served in a serene room of grey wooden floors, bare bricks and copper accents.

Follow the scent of freshly baked bread to the emerald-green doors of this Victorian railway arch at Temple Meads station. This constantly buzzing artisan bakery has a couple of wooden sharing tables at the front, while a flour-dusted army of bakers knead away in the open kitchen at the back. Grab a coffee and choose from an irresistible selection of sourdough toasties, sausage rolls, pasties, cakes and sticky pastries.

Bristol Harbour has become a breeding ground for experimental restaurants, with some of the city’s most talented chefs setting up shop on the riverside. Wapping Wharf is home to CARGO, Bristol’s first retail yard made up of converted shipping containers, and Root is housed in one of them. The vegetable-focused fine-dining restaurant was brought to life by the team behind Eat Drink Bristol Fashion festival. Expect beautifully presented small plates featuring locally sourced produce. Choose one of the kitchen-facing seats to watch head chef Rob Howell work his magic or, if the weather’s good, grab a table on the wraparound terrace overlooking the water.

This sunny little restaurant shines like a beacon on a nondescript residential street in Southville. It’s been a local favourite since opening in 2015, and it’s easy to see why. The room is understated and stylish with a small bar, Formica tables, tin lights and biodynamic wine posters lining the walls. Owners Sam Leach and Beccy Massey (who are, incidentally, probably the nicest people in southeast England) get the majority of their ingredients from their field on the southern edge of the city. The “regional British” fare is simple, comforting and lovingly made, with a daily changing menu of dishes like Jerusalem artichoke and poached egg, pumpkin dumplings, sage butter and ewes’ curd, or beef shin with pickled red cabbage and potato. All go down well with a few glasses of their homemade cider. Sam is a trained butcher and baker – ask nicely and he might just wrap up a slice of sourdough with a golden slab of salty homemade butter for you to take home.

Another star of the Wapping Wharf circuit is this 14-cover modern British restaurant. It has been praised by the nation’s toughest critics for its inventive seasonal dishes, attention to detail and passion for produce. Their Cadillac of a stove (her name’s Sandra) shimmers in the open kitchen, while the stamp-sized dining space is made up of chipboard surfaces, hanging light bulbs and large windows overlooking the deck. For the full works, book a spot at one of their four kitchen counter seats, where you’ll get to watch head chef Elliot Lidstone whip up an unwritten seven-course tasting menu for £45. We recommend going in for the wine flight too.

While you’re perusing the street art and independent galleries of Stokes Croft, drop by this anti-supermarket which stocks a range of products from local businesses. Look out for local artwork, fruit and veg from Bear Fruit, homeade preserves, coffee from their in-house roastery and freshly baked bread. You can’t miss it, just look out for the looming purple dragon on the roof.

Right in the heart (or should we say yolk?) of Stokes Croft, this toasty café serves up heart-warming fare helped along by cheerful staff and endless cups of artisanal coffee. Pull up a window seat and choose from a locally sourced menu of toasted bagels, fluffy pancakes, “crafty” cooked breakfasts and baked eggs, washed down with spicy masala chai or craft beer.

Canteen boasts its own Banksy mural, a vast beer garden and live music and DJs every night. Oh, and the food’s pretty good too. Embracing a slow-food movement that’s “good, clean and fair” it serves delicious plant-based dishes such as broccoli jambalaya. Ask where its fish is from and the waiter will even tell you the name of the fisherman who caught it.

Eat. Drink. Meet. Think. Spicer & Cole’s catchy strapline and its ethos are all about delivering good, unhurried food. Sophisticated Clifton Village isn’t short on swanky little cafés, but this cosy place is our favourite for a weekend brunch. Order the field mushrooms cooked in thyme butter and served with sourdough bread, and watch the sophisticated Cliftonites stroll by.

Don’t leave Bristol without sampling some Jamaican food. Rice & Things is a tiny 12-seater place on Cheltenham Road that dishes up the food from chef Neufville‘s childhood to a soundtrack of reggae and soul. Try the Mitchell Town curry goat or Faith’s Pen jerk chicken served with rice and peas. On Fridays, there’s an all-you-can-eat buffet.

With a Michelin star and harbourside location, this is one to either save for a really special occasion or go just for the hell of it. The menu on Casamia’s website reads like the fanciest of shopping lists – it’s actually what the chefs are currently cooking with. Expect lovely sounding things such as GrowBristol nasturtiums, Tahitian vanilla and copper Maran eggs.

Okay, it may not have the best location, near the Bear Pit (the name locals give to the underground roundabout in downtown Broadmead). However, the Korean food from chef Hwi Shim (known as Wizzy), who previously worked at both Nobu and Hakkasan, is worth this un-scenic detour. Dinner is whatever is organic and locally sourced (often from Wizzy’s own allotment), so expect creative bento boxes for lunch and innovative Korean paella for dinner.

Doubt you can get authentic Spanish tapas from the English husband-and-wife team behind this restaurant? Think again, because Kieran and Imogen Waite take their research seriously, often nipping to Spain to meet producers and source new recipes. On the menu you’ll find salt-grilled wild red prawn, Catalan lamb bombas with mojo rojo and alioli and, with a nod to their Bristolian roots, chorizo cooked in cider. Small plates start from as little as £3.20.

Located beneath a splendid Victorian wrought-iron vaulted glass arcade, St Nicholas Market is flanked by queues come lunchtime, when locals are hungry for couscous aux sept legumes from The Moorish Café and jerk chicken with coconut spinach at Caribbean Wrap. Browse boozy, botanical and downright naughty-looking cakes at Ahh Toots art-focused bakery.

Secreted down a narrow alley near St Nicholas Market and housed in what was once a historic inn, The Rummer Hotel (which isn’t a hotel) has a micro gin distillery in its medieval cellar. Book in for a tasting before heading upstairs to the cocktail bar and restaurant, known for top-notch British pub grub with a twist (try the salted duck). The minder on the door is an indication that you’ll need to book ahead.

If we could only visit one restaurant for the rest of our lives, Souk Kitchen would be up there as a seriously strong contender. The Middle Eastern menu gets top marks for its locally sourced ingredients, with standouts including a falafel and beetroot salad, chilli chicken thighs and tomato-drenched keftedes. Brunch fans should save their visit for a weekend, when banging veggie fry-ups are served alongside extra-spicy bloody Marys. Insider tip: Souk Kitchen has a smaller sister restaurant in Clifton, where a dazzling deli stocks some of its own spice blends – pantry upgrade, pending.

A love letter to the flavours of founder and head chef Noda Marvani’s childhood, Koocha Mezze Bar made its way onto Bristol’s foodie scene in 2018, as the city’s first fully vegan restaurant. Bringing a different meaning to eating green, the menu, which gives traditional Persian recipes a contemporary twist, offers the likes of veggie fritters, spiced cauliflower and sweet potato parcels. Ask any Bristolian what their order is and they will no doubt sing about the saffron and tahini kebabs – we can confirm that they’re just as spectacular as they sound. Truth be told, we’d visit this place just to gawk at its dramatic facade – all whimsical animals and florals.