Bristol cocktail venue Milk Thistle has scooped ‘bar of the year’ in a national readers’ poll.
The cocktail bar on the city centre was shortlisted with six others from around the UK, including the legendary Connaught Bar in London, in the Food and Travel Reader Awards 2021.
Milk Thistle opened at Quay Head House on Colston Avenue in 2011 and it is set across four floors of a building built in 1850 as a meeting place for merchant venturers.
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The cocktail bar is part of the Bristol-based Hyde & Co group set up in 2010 by Nathan Lee, Jason Mead and Kevin Stokes.
Since then, the team has opened a number of highly successful bars and restaurants across Bristol including The Ox steakhouse in Corn Street, Japanese-influenced Seven Lucky Gods and Bambalan at the bottom of Beacon Tower.
Their most recent Bristol opening was Flour & Ash on Whiteladies Road and they are also launching two sites in Newport over the coming months.
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Milk Thistle’s award-winning cocktail menu takes drinkers on a journey through a fictional 19th-century Bristol, complete with its weird and wonderful characters.
The skilled bartenders have developed a menu which ranges from tall and fruity through to short and smoky, with many of the drinks showcasing Milk Thistle’s wide collection of whisky.
Cocktails include Falling Flowers (Toki, cherry blossom vermouth, Aperol and yuzu sake) and Wild-Lily Fix (Aviation, Belvedere, elderflower, pear, white wine).
Milk Thistle General Manager Ben Peacock said: “Winning the Food & Travel Magazine Award for the UK's best bar means so much for myself and my team after such a strange few years in the industry.
“It’s always lovely to win an award, especially one which is voted for purely by the customers, and it certainly motivates us to keep pushing to be even better.
“Alongside being named in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars Awards this year, 2022 is certainly shaping up to be one hell of a year for The Milk Thistle.
“We're so grateful to all our loyal guests for the amazing support they showed us both through the pandemic and as we navigated the challenges of reopening, and we’ll continue to make The Milk Thistle the best it can possibly be!”
Co-owner Nathan Lee said: “We’re really happy to receive this award. It’s great to get some recognition from the readers and it’s testament to the skill and dedication of our staff.
“They take such pride in their work and go out of their way to deliver a great experience to all our guests. Hopefully we’re flying the flag a little for Bristol’s innovative and exciting cocktail scene!”
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