Lockside

So far my favourite breakfast/​brunch place in Bristol (although I’ve only lived in the city for 3 months, so I’m still exploring). The food and drink is excellent — I’ve tried the «full English» cooked breakfast which has everything you’d expect, including the black pudding. However this is no greasy spoon, my favourite item on the brunch menu is the smoked salmon and rocket bagel with scrambled eggs. Simple but delicious food, attentive service and a cool location. They even have a wooden deck outside for dining when it’s sunny!

Lockside is situated underneath the Cumberland basin right next to the river Avon just as it enters Bristol docks. It’s location is right in the heart of several of bristols cycle paths. It’s also tucked just outside of the city centre, still easily walkable from the centre but boasts a small car park. The café itself definitely feels like a hub of activity and they offer the food to match. What I love about lockside is they’re aren’t trying to dress themselves up, or push experimental concoctions on you.
What they do offer is decent, humble breakfast food, done extremely well using quality ingredients.
That’s not to say it’s basic, the breakfast menu is pretty extensive in fact. It’s just they keep it relatively simple. From poached eggs on bubble and squeak to the humble bacon sandwich. There are also dishes like the avocado, bacon, beef tomato & mayonnaise with basil oil on toasted tiger bread, or roasted tomatoes on toast with rocket, pancetta & basil and pine nut pesto for hose that do want to push the boat out (pardon the pun)
It all has a very honest feel to it and it really is perfect whether you are having a lazy, late breakfast, a bike ride with your family or travelling through and wanting a quick bite.
It’s set in a stunning, unique location and offers quality food without so much as a whiff of pretentiousness.

Instead of breakfast (and because we had a lazy Saturday morning watching Weekend with Waitrose), we decided to have lunch at Lockside, which we’ve never done before. It’s a great breakfast place, so how could it go wrong?
It didn’t go wrong. Coffee arrived, coffee got drunk. Sausage butties were devoured, and garlic rosemary potatoes were devilishly consumed as we soaked up the sunshine and traffic fumes on the café balcony.
What started as a well-​intentioned ‘light’ lunch turned into a huge helping of good, simple food that didn’t cost a small fortune. Our only mistake was in paying at the till, which meant we didn’t get jelly beans with our check.

From the outside it’s easy to remember this used to be a truckers café, but step inside and its clean, modern and has a lovely decked outside seating area that catches the morning sun.
The breakfast/​brunch menu has all the usual favourites and some not so usual lovely dishes. I had toasted tiger bread with avocado, bacon, sliced tomato and drizzled in basil oil and its delicious.
All the other dishes looked great and from the silence at our table i’m pretty sure they tasted great to!
The coffee is really good and although i didn’t have any there was an amazing looking cake on the counter.
The prices are more than your usual greasy spoon, but then the food is far greater quality so for me it was really good value for money.
The places accommodates children well, they did a lovely scrambled egg on toast for a mere £2.50.
The staff were all really friendly and helpful.
This place is tucked away under the flyover in cumberland basin but definitely worth hunting out. You can also combine it with a walk/​cycle along the path under the suspension bridge which is just round the corner.

Great little gem of a café underneath a flyover beside the Bristol Harbour lock. Good food, reasonable service, friendly people and a bit of a buzz about it.

Great friendly place for coffee and bacon sarnie after the Hotwells School run! Highly recommended all through the year.

This was a mystery restaurant that you’d miss if you weren’t looking out for it, situated underneath a flyover. An old truckers café that was transformed into a chic eatery, inside the décor is all elegance. The service is equally elegant. I was impressed by the very attentive service. The food is definitely more than you would pay for in your local café but again the quality of the ingredients and beautiful presentation do show. The outdoor seating area is a lovely place to have lunch with lovely views over the river. Haven’t been here in the evening but its definitely an excellent lunch spot.

Excellent. One of the best breakfast/​brunch places around. The patio around the back is fabulous on a sunny morning.

This place used to be a truckers’ greasy spoon back in the day and if you look at it from the outside it isn’t hard to imagine it still being one. This is due to the location, which is a bit odd as it sort of looks like it’s squashed under a busy flyover. From the inside however, the views out of the main window are quite spectacular as it looks down the gorge towards the suspension bridge. Today it is a stylish modern café/​restaurant with chic retro furniture and pastel coloured walls.
As it probably was when it was a greasy spoon, the breakfast is still the main attractio, but gone are the big greasy fry-​ups and in there place are fresh locally sourced produce and nice clean dishes that suit the young professionals working close by.

An ugly flyover is an odd place to put a restaurant. It’s housed in a portacabin sort of building that looks like it has been squashed into the gap between the road and the ground. Even odder, there is nothing around it apart from the harbour and empty roads feeding into the flyover system, hardly the place to put a restaurant.
So, this place doesn’t trade on its location or its looks. One would expect the food to be something special, then. And it does manage to live up to expectations. With a comprehensive menu (impressive given the small space they’ve got to stuff a kitchen into) you should be able to find something you like. The meat in general is very good, and they do amazing things with chicken. X is worth the less than desirable surroundings
When I get here, there were Smarties on offer as an odd sweet appetizer before your meal. Everything here is a bit eccentric; I guess it’s to be expected from the people who decided to put a restaurant under an on ramp. Don’t let any of it, or the location put you off. Lockside is a gem and proof that it’s the food that makes a restaurant

The café used in the hit TV comedy Only Fools and Horses (season 2 onwards) has since been refurbished, going upmarket.
It is open for breakfasts and lunch through the week (to 4pm) and in the evenings at weekends (Friday and Saturday).
There are numerous breakfast options and the prices reasonable, though a little on the high side as you’d expect for a posh café.
The decking with seating at the back is great on a sunny morning. Despite being right next to a car park and a fly-​over, sitting outside is actually a pleasant experience.