Grosvenor Casino, Bristol Review
As we were feeling lucky, we decided to call into the Grosvenor Casino for a light supper and a turn or two at the tables maybe. There’s aways a bit of a buzz about going to a casino, a frisson of anticipation with its connotations of James Bond and the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo; although in our case we were just as happy with a flutter on the fruit machines. The Grosvenor always makes it a special night with a warm welcome from the friendly staff and its plush and hushed atmosphere, with multiple TV screens showing there’s always a sport happening somewhere that could be wagered on.
Their supper menu is excellent; an inflation busting £26.95 for three courses (Sunday to Thursday) with a good choice of dishes. To start I chose Pankco-crusted crispy chicken strips, coated in coconut crumb, with red pepper chutney and tangy katsu dipping sauce, and for my James Bond of the evening, sautéed king prawns; zesty lemon and chive prawns served on chargrilled ciabatta bread with a sweet and sour red pepper compote. Whilst looking through the main courses, we came across the ‘platters to share’ which consisted of three starters, two sides and a bucket of beer or a bottle of house wine which was greatly appealing but we couldn’t agree on whether it should be the bucket of beer or bottle of house wine. Instead, we ordered fish and chips, Grosvenor style with chips, mushy peas, pickled onions, chip shop curry sauce and homemade tartare sauce, and a house classic, Asian style crispy beef salad with angel hair rice noodles, the crispy beef being cooked in a spicy plum sauce.
We rather liked the humorous descriptions on the menu – who doesn’t love chip shop curry sauce except Mr Bond in this case whose constitution isn’t as hardy as the original and asked it to be left off his fish and chips – and looked forward to our starters. They were both exceedingly good, especially the prawns which were lightly sautéed to perfection, losing none of their sweet taste. The main courses arrived, hearty in size and certainly not lacking in flavour. Beautifully battered cod atop fat and crispy chips wolfed down in a second, and the lightly spiced beef threaded through a lovely mixed salad with spring onions, chilli and coriander, the crisp rice noodles being the perfect foil.
Replete and having enjoyed our supper tremendously we got organised with tickets for the gaming machines; we had great fun for an hour or so on a game called Fruity Fruity (yes, there were three cherries in a row and much more), but as the Grosvenor encourages sensible gambling we managed to leave with our shirts.
Jacquie Vowles
266 Anchor Road, Bristol, England, BS1 5TT
https://www.grosvenorcasinos.com/local-casinos/bristol
