Menuwatch: Pony Bistro, Bristol

01 March 2022 by

High-quality produce carries the flavours on the menu of Bristol's Pony Bistro. Lisa Jenkins talks to head chef Hugo Harvey about sharing creativity in his no-frills approach

Hugo Harvey, head chef of Pony Bistro in Bristol, designs dishes that you want "to inhale", saying that he prioritises flavour over appearance.

On a busy Saturday evening in January, the Bristol Beer Factory (BBF) Tap Room next door was rammed with rugby and craft beer fans. The BBF Tap Room, part of the Pony Restaurant Group, headed by Josh and Holly Eggleton, houses the Pony bistro. BBF non-executive director Josh Eggleton makes clever use of reclaimed warehouse space and the car park, which has been covered with an enclosed marquee to create a dining area. Within this dining area the chef showcases his high-quality produce, saying that this means he doesn't always need to "jazz up dishes with garnishes".

Image: Shotaway
Image: Shotaway

His speciality is seafood, influenced from his time working at the French Saloon in Melbourne, Australia. "Their style was very much to just plate the top produce of the country as it was. I always refer to that restaurant when deciding certain things and think ‘what would they do?'"

A particular favourite of Harvey's is velvet crab: stunned before being spiked and instantly cooked over a wood fire, the crab is taken apart while still hot. The legs are used to make a light stock/vinaigrette, which is added into the head cavity alongside some lemon, butter and lots of black pepper. This is all stirred together over the fire with everything from the head beaten into the sauce and then served immediately, in its shell, either as a shot or on a little round of roasted garlic bread to soak up all the flavour.

"This is exactly my style as it's very simple, but it harnesses all of its freshness. Although not necessarily technical, it provides customers with an experience," he says.

Seafood dishes include a snack of smoked taramasalata, salmon roe, rice cracker and seaweed, a starter of wood-fired cuttlefish, barbecue chilli sauce, ajo blanco, guindillas and coriander, and a main of Chalk Stream trout, Atlantic prawns, prawn sauce, celeriac and pickled ginger rémoulade with apple. Their supplier list is long, says Harvey, but includes Flying Fish, "who has been a very reliable supplier for us." Wild Harbour has also recently come onboard, and the chef is impressed with its ethos in trying to reduce the negative side effects of fishing by not using large trawlers or polystyrene boxes, and by reducing its carbon footprint significantly each year. "We use Portland Shellfish too, who fish locally and send us whatever they catch," he adds.

Meat is supplied by local specialist butcher Popti and Beast, which sends "the most premium, locally reared meat that's around, with full traceability, which is very important to us. They let us know what volume of something they can get, and we will adapt around that, which just means nothing is being forced and the consistency is always high."

Harvey says the variety on the Pony Bistro's menus comes from the creativity of everyone in his brigade. "Anyone can get a dish on the menu, and everyone has input. This approach towards the menu creates an atmosphere of equality among the chefs and therefore a much stronger positive vibe."

Hugo Harvey
Hugo Harvey

The kitchen is also equipped with a firepit instead of a regular gas grill and a large smoker, which encourages the team to think about dishes that lend themselves to this style of cooking, such as wild pheasant breast, confit leg spring roll, wood-fired swede, fermented leeks and jus, as well as the Cornish crab and horseradish served with wood-fired Pony brioche.

Harvey says the bistro's ideal customers are non-pretentious and open minded to some of the more alternative dishes on the menu. "The main thing for me is that customers understand the quality of the produce and the amount of work that goes into it all. We don't cut corners on anything."

The front of house team convey this message well and bar manager James Penson has curated a well-matched drinks and wine list.

Pony Bistro is located out of the main town, in Bedminster, but this doesn't seem to matter, with spend per head upward of £58 per person. The Eggleton family seem to have backed another winner in the Pony Bistro.

291 North Street, Bristol BS3 1JP

0117 947 1290

theponynorthstreet.co.uk

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