Casa

Our dinner was a traditional antipasti-pasta-fish-meat-dessert flow of classic Italian flavours. There was no show-stopping creativity, just a focus on top quality ingredients, tried and tested flavours and perfected techniques. The beef was pretty much the best I have ever tasted, but unfortunately our mussels were on the verge of mush. The filled pasta were perfect but I don’t know what all the fuss is about with the Tiramisu. While Casa commendably offers its menus in three tiers from a £35pp menu del giorno to a £95pp chef’s menu - and we didn’t quite leave hungry - I don’t really feel it represents decent value. We also had a sense that it was all too easy for the restaurant to trade on its past reputation. The staff seemed oddly in awe of the owner and interactions with them were very mechanical as others have noted. Perhaps this lack of rapport would be helped by turning down the obnoxiously loud club music (beware the massive bass bin as you walk in). Not recommended for those with any hearing difficulty! The clinical Clockwork Orange decor also meant we could have been sat anywhere but Bristol… Overall generally good, if pricey, food detracted from by a focus on ‘vibes’ over genuine warmth.