There’s nothing quite like a zero hygiene rating to whet the appetite before reviewing a new Bristol restaurant for the first time.
Downend restaurant Forage opened at the end of last year and it received rave reviews from locals but not from South Gloucestershire Council, which gave the upmarket eatery a zero star hygiene rating, declaring that there was “urgent improvement necessary”.
For a newly opened restaurant still finding its feet, that’s the sort of news that can quickly damage the reputation but by the time I visited this week, the hygiene rating had been upgraded from zero stars to five stars.
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Apparently, according to owner Jesse Jones, the original score was based on a broken boiler, a missing door handle and a dodgy light switch, all of which were quickly fixed and the correct paperwork duly filed.
It was, claimed Jesse, an administrative mistake, not an issue with the food hygiene.
'You could eat off the floor here,' Jesse told Bristol Live, sharing his confidence in the cleanliness of the kitchen and freshness of the food.
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Thankfully, I managed to book a table, rather than a place on the floor, and I could see straight into the kitchen, which certainly looked more organised than mine at home.
In a row of shops, Forage is a compact restaurant that opens more as a café by day, and serves roasts on Sundays, but the evening menu takes things to a much higher level.
With starters from £8.50 to £12 and main courses ranging from £18 for the vegetarian option to £30 (for the 8oz fillet of beef and triple cooked duck fat chips), it’s not cheap.
For a small restaurant not in the city centre or Clifton, some might say it shows confidence and ambition in its pricing structure.
Twinkling chandeliers, dark green leather banquettes and walls clad with artificial foliage make this converted shop a place that Instagrammers will love.
Even the door to the toilet is covered with so much greenery that one customer couldn’t find it, much to the amusement of laughing friends whispering ‘you have to go behind the bush!’.
The food here is essentially modern British and the menu is peppered with on-trend culinary terms such as ‘sous vide’, ‘fermented’, ‘compressed’ and ’24 hour slow cooked’ - possibly a first for a small restaurant in Downend.
One dish lists ‘goats cheese snow’ in its description. Another promises ‘braised lemon verbena mussels’.
There are lots of gels and emulsions, and in keeping with the restaurant’s name, many dishes include wild ingredients and edible flowers. Lots of edible flowers.
I started with the tiger prawns, which was ambitiously priced at £12 for five prawns on a slim slice of toast with a ruffle of watercress and a few colourful edible flowers.
The plump, firm prawns were nicely cooked and had a hint of the advertised roasted garlic but I couldn’t really detect the promised ‘fermented Upton Farm chillies’ or lemon balm and ginger beer emulsion, more’s the pity.
I followed it with the lamb (£28) which arrived on a huge wooden chopping board bearing the heavy-handed knife marks of previous diners.
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The chops cut from the rack of lamb were pink, juicy and boasted a deep flavour, as did the ‘bonbons’ of 24-hour slow cooked lamb belly.
What were described as ‘kale chips’ were basically crisp, deep-fried tufts of kale, beneath which lurked various leaves, more edible flowers, braised Roscoff onions, black olive puree and a neat block of potato gratin.
There was also a jug of varnish-like gravy to bring it all together, although some of it slipped off the edge of the wooden board. Give me a plate any day.
To finish, a slice of nutmeg-speckled duck egg custard tart (£8.50) with buttery pastry and prunes in Armagnac, the richness lifted by a raspberry compote and candied lemon. But I could have done without even more edible flowers. Talk about overkill.
Forage is an interesting new addition to Bristol’s restaurant scene, displaying some creative cooking and plenty of ambition.
As the name suggests, it's a restaurant well worth hunting out.
Forage, 31 Badminton Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 6BB. Tel: 0117 9569582.
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