Côte Brasserie

27 The Mall, Clifton Village, Bristol, BS8 4JG. Tel: 0117 970 6779

The fact that Côte Brasserie has pretty much been fully booked for lunch and dinner since it opened last weekend could be an early sign that it has already been embraced by the people of Clifton Village.

There has been a bit of a buzz about the opening of the first Côte in the South West for several months.

A hugely successful London operation co-owned by the original founder of the Strada chain and backed by restaurant entrepreneur Richard Caring (who owns many legendary London restaurants including The Ivy, Le Caprice and J Sheekeys), Côte is an all-day brasserie specialising in simple, classic French dishes.

As a London friend who eats regularly at Côte in Fulham puts it: "It's like a very good, upmarket version of Café Rouge but with an Ivy feel."

The Bristol Côte occupies a vast site on what was a petrol station at the top of The Mall on the edge of Clifton Village.

Arranged across four levels, it is one of the largest Côte sites to date and caters for 120 diners. It has also clearly had big bucks thrown at it and the decor is contemporary with a classic twist.

There is a striking black and white striped awning outside and one suspects there will be tables on the pavement in the summer.

Inside, it's all wooden floors, blood-red leather banquettes, dark wood bistro chairs and Art Deco lamps and mirrors.

A sweeping, heavy red curtain behind the door of the corner entrance adds a degree of exclusivity and theatre to proceedings as soon as you step inside.

Attractive waiting staff are smartly dressed in pale blue shirts, black trousers and long black aprons. The more senior female managers wear the sort of shift dresses Audrey Hepburn used to favour.

Tables are unclothed to keep the simple brasserie theme and there was a chatty buzz in the packed dining room when I visited on Monday.

Being lunchtime, there were a lot of ladies who lunch, as well as local office workers checking out the latest Clifton opening. On the table opposite me, there was a white-haired gent with a cravat and an arched "Roger Moore" eyebrow for the waitresses. It was all very Clifton Village, basically.

Much as the set lunch menu appealed both in terms of choice and price (two courses for £9.95 or £11.90 for three), it was my duty to order off the main menu.

The menu is extensive without being too overwhelming and the only real problem is that there are far too many good things to choose from.

You could start with foie gras terrine and follow it with beef Bourguignon or roast sea bass with braised fennel and Champagne beurre blanc.

Alternatively, kick off with moules marinieres and move on to duck confit or half a chargrilled Breton chicken with garlic butter.

My finger was hovering over the prawn gratinée (king prawns in white wine, garlic and tomato sauce with toasted garlic and parsley croutons) on the starters section when the waitress appeared, but I plumped for the seared scallops (£7.95), and was very glad I did.

The three quivering scallops were fat, juicy and precisely cooked. They had been dressed with a restrained but punchy dressing of Puy lentils, tomato and garlic with plenty of snipped parsley and tarragon.

A few thick bacon lardons added a salty bite and the nest of frisée leaves was well dressed.

All the steaks at Côte are from a farm in the Peak District and aged on the bone. The 10oz sirloin (£16.50) was beautifully cooked – intelligently seasoned and chargrilled to give it a nice crust. The meat was cooked medium rare as requested and it had that deep, aged flavour, without being too gamey.

The frites were salty and crisp without being too greasy and a ruffle of perky watercress added a peppery freshness to the dish.

A side order of tomato, shallot and basil salad (£2.95) was attractively presented with the slices of tomatoes overlapping like the Olympic logo. The tomatoes boasted quite a bit of flavour, helped along by the torn basil and finely chopped shallots.

The dessert menu is a roll-call of French classics – chocolate mousse, crepes with Grand Marnier, crème brulée, apple tart and so on. There is even the famous Ivy pudding of iced berries with white chocolate sauce.

I settled for the crème caramel (£4.50), which was as good a version of that dish as I have eaten outside France – a soft, wobbly set custard with plenty of vanilla flavour and a moat of dark, sticky caramel sauce and cream.

Although I was only drinking wine by the glass – the Muscadet and the Cotes du Rhone were both very good – there is a very decent list of entirely French bottles, which warrants further investigation.

Apparently, the Côte breakfast and Saturday brunch are very popular in London and I would imagine this will also be the case in Clifton.

Open all day, Côte is a relaxed restaurant providing classic French food at affordable prices. It's one of those flexible places where you could pop in for a light lunch and a drink for about £12 or really go to town with the a la carte menu and the higher end of the wine list and remortgage your house in the process.

And it's this flexibility and quality that sets it apart from its competitors.

On this first visit, I was impressed enough with Côte to return as soon as I can. It is a major new opening for Bristol and judging by the reaction so far, it has already impressed the locals. File under "hit record".

Wheelchair access: Yes

Prices: Starters from £4.35; main courses from £8.55; desserts from £3.95

Food: 8

Service: 8

Atmosphere: 8

Value: 8

Overall: 8