The 12 best places to eat in Bristol on a budget
These restaurants offer the most bang when you've got limited buck
This article was a request from a reader, who lives in Cardiff but visits Bristol frequently and is looking for places to eat without spending an arm and a leg. The more I travel — I write to you today from Hong Kong — the more I find that guides like this are one of the greatest ways to explore a city from a local perspective. I hope that this guide will be useful not only to the person who requested it, but to locals and visitors to Bristol alike. If you think it is useful, I’d be very grateful if you’d share it — either directly with someone who you think might like to read it, or on your social media. Thank you! ~ Meg
With the cost of living growing ever higher (and that’s before the orangutan plunges the world into a depression) eating out is becoming more and more of a luxury. But there are some fantastic spots in Bristol where you need not take out a bank loan to be able to afford a delicious dinner. In fact, many of these places will fill you up and leave you with change from a ten pound note. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Coincidentally, four of these recommendations are in Wapping Wharf, though I have endeavoured to include my favourite spots for a cheap eat in different parts of Bristol - so that you’re never too far away from an affordable meal.
So, in no particular order, the best budget eats in Bristol:
Magari, Wapping Wharf
Sometimes you just need a big bowl of pasta. The menu at Magari, written on a big roll of brown paper, is short and simple but features everything you want to see from a pasta restaurant: headliners include Ruby & White sausage ragu and a proper carbonara - both of which are just £12.50. Entertainment in the form of watching fresh pasta shapes being curled out of the machines is free. Go on a weekday lunch to get a bowl and a soft drink for just £10.
Magari, Unit 18, Cargo, Museum St, BS1 6ZA
Chez Candice, Boiling Wells
The heart of Bristol is not in the centre. It’s not Clifton or Stokes Croft. It’s not a bridge nor a piece of art. It’s a converted horse box on a working farm in Boiling Wells. For it is there, while eating an open sandwich (usually around £10) from the truly excellent Chez Candice, that you will feel you truly know and understand Bristol. The menu is brief enough to tell you succinctly to put all your trust in the chef, which you won’t regret, and whatever Candice is cooking that day is best washed down with a mug of surprisingly excellent coffee. Oh, and always, always get dessert. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
Chez Candice, Watercress Farm, Boiling Wells
Nice Spice, Denmark Street
Nice Spice makes all of my lists: I think this must be the sixth or seventh time now that I’ve written effusive praise for its simple brilliance, which should tell you everything you need to know. It’s the best place in Bristol for proper Cantonese roast meats, a large plate of which will cost you about £12. It’s cash only and there’ll likely be a queue out the door — there are few waits quite as rewarding.
Nice Spice, 24 Denmark St, BS1 5DQ
St Nick’s Market, Corn Street
Whether it’s the charcoal-tinged lamb wrapped in a pillowy naan from Matina (£8.30) that has taken your fancy, or a Tardis-esque salad box topped with golden balls of freshly fried falafel from Eat A Pitta (£7.79) you can always guarantee an excellent lunch for under a tenner when in the vicinity of St Nick’s Market. Cravings for award-winning gyoza, curry, noodles, paella or pie can all be satiated under this one Georgian roof in the heart of Bristol, and without feeling the pinch on your pocket. Lunchtimes only, not open on Sundays.
St Nicholas Market, The Corn Exchange, Corn St, BS1 1JQ
Bertha’s Pizza, Wapping Wharf
Bertha is the cavernous hunk of an oven that Bristol’s best pizzas are cooked in. For the uninitiated; meat and heat (£16.50) or perhaps a Napoli (£14.50). For those in the know, it has to be the umami bomb (£13.50) or one of the many innovative rotating specials. The very hungry might just make room for a marmite cheese bread (£8) too.
Bertha’s, The Old Gaol Stables, Cumberland Road, BS1 6WW
Squeezed, Wapping Wharf
The jewel in the crown of Bristol’s burger collection has to be Squeezed, though there are some close contenders. The St Werburgher, the meaty darling of Bristol, will cost you £11.30, or you can get it with fries and lemonade for £17.50. My preference is always to check out the specials — ingenious inventions like the one below which come straight from the slightly bonkers mind of Squeezed owner and head chef Alex.
Squeezed, Unit 4 Cargo, Gaol Ferry Steps, BS1 6WE
Salt & Malt, Wapping Wharf
Summer in Bristol is fish and chips with a tinnie on the Harbourside, legs dangling over the side, worrying you’ll drop your phone or your sunnies in the water. One of my favourite life hacks (and I’m sure they won’t appreciate me spilling these beans) is to order a very respectable kid’s meal of fish and chips from Salt & Malt which will set you back just £6.50 and is more than enough for me, particularly if it’s lunch time.
Salt & Malt, Cargo 2, Gaol Ferry Steps, BS1 6WD
Desi Dera, Stapleton Road
Those who venture east down Stapleton Road will be rewarded with a whole host of Indian, Pakistani, East and West African restaurants that will fill you to bursting while leaving you with change from a tenner. Honourable mentions go out to Jeevans Sweets, Zhyan, Zara and Easton Grill House - all of which are well worth a visit and represent incredible value. But the one that I keep going back to (twice in three days is my record) is Desi Dera. The tandoori chicken wings are some of my favourite in Bristol (five for £3) and the whole masala fish (£4.50) paired with a naan makes for a stand-up meal. Desi Dera is no-frills, all-thrills. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
Desi Dera, 106 Stapleton Rd, St Jude's, Bristol BS5 0PR
Sam Master Grill, Cheltenham Road
If you’re able to singlehandedly finish a kebab and rice at Sam Master Grill, I salute you. There’s so much to love about Sam Master Grill — from the staff all wearing Britney-style headsets,* to the water fountain at the back — but the fact that you can get a mixed grill of chicken and lamb kofteh with a mountain of rice or naan that’s easily enough to feed two for £17.50 is definitely up there.
Sam Master Grill, 215 Cheltenham Rd, St Andrew's, BS6 5QP
SunRa Kitchen, Nelsons Parade
SunRa is perhaps Bristol’s smallest restaurant and one of our most characterful. Your falafel wrap will no doubt be accompanied by an eclectic conversation with the owner, Dominic, and will only set you back £8.50. Or if you're craving something meatier, swap the falafel out for chicken schnitzel or halloumi — the price is the same. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
SunRa Kitchen, 1a Nelson Parade, Bedminster, BS3 4JA
Thikaana, Southmead
The bright walls and intoxicating smells of Thikaana will make you forget you’re in Southmead quicker than you can say vada pav. And you should say vada pav — preferably to a member of staff — so that you may experience the greatness of a fried potato patty in a bun with chutney for all of just £3. Then, if you’re still hungry, ask for an arjit singh ke chole bhature for £10.50 for a metal tray loaded with curried chickpeas with fried bread. Read The Bristol Sauce review.
Thikaana, 329 Southmead Rd, Southmead, BS10 5LW
Wilsons, Chandos Road
Okay, we’re stretching the definition of budget here, but if we bring value into the equation there are few places offering bang for your buck quite like this. Wilsons £35 lunch menu was laughably good value before they got a Michelin Star, and when I tell you they haven’t put the price up since you really will think I’m joking. Please note - the lunch menu is only available on weekdays, but it’s well worth taking the day off to go. Wilsons is Bristol’s best restaurant, and everyone should visit at least once.
Wilsons, 24 Chandos Rd, Redland, BS6 6PF
All words and photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour
*I have to credit this hilarious observation to my fellow Sauce writer, the talented Jason Jay Pridham.
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Where to eat Chinese food in Bristol
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Wapping Wharf seems to be the budget location spot.
Wowsers, £17.50 is a budget burger meal!? It's one of the best in town, definitely, but that's a fair unbudgety wedge. I'd say 3Bros for burgers if you're looking for a budget patty, centrally.