Great venue, terrible food

Rating - Overall: 2  Food: 2  Service: 4  Ambience: 5

James
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 09
Rating: 0

22 Oct 2009

This was my third visit to the Lido. The location is superb, millions must have been spent on the refurbishment and the staff are lovely. The food however simply does not do the venue justice. It is overpriced, tastes odd and often the end product is very different from what the menu would suggest is going to arrive on your plate. What I assumed (and was told) would be a shoulder of lamb turned out to be a small bowl of luke warm minced lamb stew.

Visited: October 19, 2009
What I ate: lamb

This review has no responses yet
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down

Nice, but not quite there

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 4  Service: 3  Ambience: 4

Ollie
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Jun 09
Rating: 1

9 Jun 2009

I had wanted to try the Lido for a while and had read the other reviews on here before I went. My partner is a vegetarian so asked in advance if they were well catered for and was told "Yes".

In the end there was only one vege option and it was that old stalwart of restaurants everywhere, Risotto.

Come on chefs, try something a little more appealing and original.

Having said that, I had the lamb with deep fried aubergines (as illustrated in the image at the top of this page!) and it was very tasty indeed. The portion was a little on the small side for the (rather high) price but overall it was very good.

The small risotto portion looked lost in the middle of a large plate and my other half said it was slightly undercooked but tasty nontheless.

The ice cream pudding was fabulous, but again, two small scoops for £5 is bordering on silly.

Overall I would say the Lido is a lovely place to eat, the surround is great and the menu changes regularly. If they were to lower their prices or raise their portion size then it would get a return visit from me but until that happens I'll probably go elsewhere.

Visited: June 8, 2009
What I ate: Wood roast lamb shank, deep fried aubergines. Strawberry ripple

This review has no responses yet
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down

Mostly enjoyable but costly

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 5  Ambience: 4

brownie
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

17 Apr 2009

It seems that I visited Lido's restaurant on the same day as welshexpat, above, but I didn't recognise it from their review! A friend and I went along to try the restaurant out as I'd read a glowing review in Venue. I wasn't disappointed but the food wasn't perfect either...

We thought the restaurant had a lively but cosy atmosphere, I was impressed at our waitress's knowledge of the menu, service was timed just right for us (maybe they are less good at dealing with larger groups?) and we enjoyed most of the food immensely.

Yes, the portions were on the conservative side, but that's normal in high-level restaurants (they want you to be able to eat 3 courses), but the flavours were most satisfying, with some unexpected combinations.

For a starter, we shared the mussels with pancetta, wild garlic and cream. Rather than being a huge bowl of mussels in their shells as we expected, this constituted a smallish bowl containing a slab of sourdough bread sitting in a sort of creamy soup containing the aforementioned ingredients. It might sound somewhat unappealing but it was intensely flavoured and delicious. If I did have a complaint I would say there weren't enough mussels.

For main, I braved the sardines with courgettes, capers and mint. This was simply presented - 3 wood-roast sardines accompanied by a pile of (stir-fried?) courgette strips flavoured with capers and mint. This I thoroughly enjoyed. When it arrived I did wonder where the carbs were but in the end I found it adequately filling as it was.

My companion ordered wood-roast rump of lamb with tomato, cabbage & walnut bulghur wheat pilaf. She had to send the lamb back to be re-cooked as it was extremely pink and not to her taste but, once rectified without fuss, the unusual dish was enjoyed.

Now, on to dessert. There are 2 dessert sections on the menu: Ices and Puddings. My companion chose butter caramel ice cream, which came in a disappointingly tiny Moroccan-style glass. There was obviously quite a bit of salt in the caramel (as is currently fashionable) which made the ice cream rather too salty overall. Not the kitchen's greatest accomplishment, I would say.

I chose the chocolate and salted caramel tart (do you detect a theme here?!) which was presented in a rather small slice. The chocolate of the tart was dark and intense but the caramel wasn't so detectable and I found the strong flavour of the crystals of salt sprinkled over the top rather overpowering. I think this is a case of taking fashion a little too far!

So overall we really enjoyed our evening at the Lido but were a little disappointed with our choice of desserts (although it made for an interesting experience if nothing else) and the bill, including one bottle of wine, came to £78 for 2, so not the best value for money. Having said that, I would come here again. The menu changes frequently and claims to be seasonal, so I think there will be plenty to enjoy here on future visits.

Visited: April 4, 2009
What I ate: Mussels, sardines, chocolate & caramel tart

This review has no responses yet
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down

Disappointing

Rating - Overall: 1  Food: 1  Service: 2  Ambience: 2

welshexpat
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Apr 09
Rating: 0

6 Apr 2009

As a Bristol resident I've been meaning to try the Lido resturant for some time now, being a particularly fond of N African style food and attracted by the unusual location. Finally went on Saturday to celebrate a friends birthday. Sadly it proved a real let down.

The menu is ludicrously pretentious and totally fails to live up to it's billing. Our party of 4 tried 8 different dishes between us - only 2 were good, 2 were inedible, the rest filled a hole but nothing more. The wine list is reasonable - but we had to drop to our third choice before they actually had stock in. Service was cheerful, and informative but dreadfully slow. We left before even trying desert to fill up on cheese and biscuits at home.

We won't be going back. Bristol has MUCH better dining on offer than this elsewhere

Visited: April 4, 2009
What I ate: Aubergine dip, Roast Pork

This review has 1 responses
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down

good, but expensive

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 5  Service: 4  Ambience: 5

Maud
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Jan 09
Rating: 0

18 Jan 2009

Nice ambience, with lovely views over the pool, which gives it a bit of a holiday feel, even in winter. Excellent service, though a bit too quick. Starters arrives within minutes of ordering, even before our wine had arrived and mains arrives shortly after we'd finished our starters - why the rush? Food was excellent, but overpriced: 2 starters, 2 mains and a bottle of (their cheapest) wine set us back £58 excluding service. I'd like to go back, but only if they slash their prices or have a deal going. There are similar good places for less money, even in Clifton.

Visited: January 17, 2009
What I ate: chorizo with toast, broth with dumlings, lamb, fish with salad

This review has no responses yet
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down

Great food, Poor value

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 5  Service: 4  Ambience: 4

krbristol
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

4 Jan 2009

The newly opened Lido in Clifton is a health spa and swimming pool with poolside cafe and restaurant.

I visit the cafe frequently and they serve great cafe latte and lovely home made cakes and pastries. The empenada (pastie) however is tiny and certainly not worth £3.

I had Sunday lunch in the restaurant. The food was superb although portions were too small for me and overly expensive. In these times of recession and credit crunch I think the menu needs to be repriced to make it affordable and of sufficient quantity. The Lido is owned by the Glass Boat company who also have the Glass Boat and the Spyglass floating restaurants on the docks.

Visited: December 15, 2008
What I ate: Lamb beautifully cooked.

This review has no responses yet
Have something to add? Login to respond

Do you like this review? 0 thumb up 0 thumb down