The Kensington Arms

35-37 Stanley Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6NP. Tel: 0117 9446444

If The Kensington Arms were situated in west London, rather than west Bristol, it would most probably be known locally as The Sloaney Pony – the affectionate nickname of The White Horse in Fulham.

The Kenny (as it is actually known by the locals) is a pub that feels like a little slice of Chelsea or the Cotswolds, depending what time or day you visit.

I ate at The Kenny twice last week – dinner on Thursday and Sunday lunch – and there was a very different crowd on both occasions.

On Thursday evening, the bar was packed with drinkers and students, many of whom were ordering food from a bar menu that includes sausage rolls, crispy pigs cheeks and the popular Kensington burger.

In the more relaxed restaurant, there were 30 or so diners (more than 20 of which were young women) tucking into the a la carte dinner menu.

The Kenny has achieved the correct balance between "gastro" and "pub" and tables in the bar are always available for drinkers, even at weekends when the place is packed to the gunnels and reservations are essential.

It still has high stools on which people can perch at the bar, and the high-ceilinged dining room is informal and furnished like a Victorian parlour with walls of framed pictures, antique chairs and glass, tulip-shaped wall lamps.

A window at the far end of the dining room gives a good view of the kitchen run by new head chef Liam Cooper, who has arrived after working for a number of notable chefs in London, including Gordon Ramsay at the Boxwood Cafe.

This was the first time I had sampled Cooper's menu but I had heard some very good reports since his arrival.

The menu is packed with interesting dishes and punchy combinations that suit a pub setting – wild mushrooms on toast with poached duck egg; roast belly of pork with black pudding fritters, red kale and dauphinoise; steak and ale pudding with roasted root vegetables; lemon posset with poached rhubarb and shortbread – and prices are well-pitched with main courses averaging about the £13.50 mark.

After a board of excellent, warm homemade bread rolls (one with fennel seeds, the other with poppy seeds), a starter of steamed black pudding, poached rainbow trout and mustard sauce (£7.50) exceeded expectation.

On paper, I couldn't quite work out how or why this combination could or should work, but it did. Because it had been steamed rather than grilled or fried, the wheel of black pudding was moist, light and almost mousse-like. It was topped with a scoop of flaky trout tartare and circled by a very mustardy, herb-flecked sauce.

Part of the success of the dish was the lightness of touch and the contrasting textures but there was an earthiness to the flavours, which also worked.

Cooper's Ramsay background was even more evident in a main course of roast saddle of rabbit, Agen prunes and rabbit "hot pot" (£14.50), which displayed a degree of technical skill.

Rabbit is a tricky thing to cook once it has been taken off the bone as it has a tendency to dry out. Here, it had been rolled around a central pocket of sticky prunes before being cooked and then sliced into thick discs on the plate.

The meat had retained more juiciness than I expected and although the meat itself wasn't packed with flavour – rabbit would still be confused with chicken by most people in a blind tasting – the prunes added a chewy sweetness. The main component of the dish was actually overshadowed by the brilliant "hot pot" delivered in a small dish. Beneath the thin, crisp layers of thyme-flecked potatoes, there was filling of moist, tender strips of rabbit leg in a herby sauce that had an almost cider fruitiness. It was utterly delicious and it could be a main dish in its own right.

Cooper trained as a pastry chef and this grounding was evident from his dessert menu, which includes apple tarte tatin and the exemplary chocolate tart with orange sorbet (£6.50) I ordered.

The pastry was thin, sweet and crisp and the intense richness of the dark chocolate was countered by the refreshing, zesty sorbet. A brilliant combination.

A few days later, I arranged to meet my friend Julian at the Kenny for a couple of Sunday lunch pints and a natter. He spends five days a week in London and has been known to frequent the original Sloaney Pony.

Appropriately, he turned up wearing a rather natty new dark blue quilted Barbour jacket – the sort city types wear when they retreat to their country pad at the weekend.

As we supped our beers (before wading into a stonking bottle of Argentinean Malbec), we looked around the pub to see a sea of Barbour jackets and Hunter wellies, among the chocolate Labradors, Uggs and 4x4-sized pushchairs draped with Cath Kidston baby blankets.

Tucking into my excellent roast flank of Highland beef with horseradish sauce, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, kale, carrots and red cabbage (£14), it was further proof that the Kenny is the closest Bristol has to a London gastropub, along with the Victoria Park south of the river.

At a time when most pubs and restaurants are trying anything they can to get people through the door, the Kenny has never been busier and with the new chef at the helm, it looks like the pub has just moved up another gear.

Wheelchair access: Yes

Prices: (dinner) starters from £6.95; main courses from £10.50; desserts from £3.95. Bar meals from £3.50.

Food: 8

Atmosphere: 8

Value: 8

Service: 8

Overall: 8