Bar Humbug

I went in here for a few drinks with a friend i hadn’t seen for years. Quite nice inside. It was fairly quiet but it was a Tuesday evening, and i like that anyway! The guy at the bar was friendly too.

A decent alfresco boozer, Bar Humbug!
Obvioulsy it has an inside, but there’s not much too it. And what there is doesn’t feel that well designed. But it’s comfortable enough! I just wouldn’t choose to come here unless it was to enjoy the terrace out the front in the summer.
The front terrace area really stands on on Whiteladies Road. Set amongst a number of restaurants, Bar Humbug has an awesome summer feel good vibe and is a perfect people watching perch!
Drinks wise you’ll get a few draft beers and ciders, but it’s wines and cocktails where Bar Humbug really excels. Unfortunately the small bar does mean that when it’s busy it can take a while to get served.
In the evening Bar Humbug changes into more of a club/​bar and while it’s definitely not for me, it does tend to pull in the crowds.
It’s a great place for an afternoon drink in the sun, but I’d personally avoid it at any other time.

One of the more genuinely stylish of Whiteladies’ strip of oft-​proclaimed ‘stylish bars’ (case in point, the horrifically tasteless BSB — Bristol Stylish Bars — next door). Humbug has a pleasant outdoor terrace, an amusing iguana statue by the entrance and a decent soundtrack — what more could you ask for?
Well, perhaps a tiny bit more personality. At last check the food wasn’t particularly fantastic, although this was a while ago so I imagine it’s changed since then. The atmosphere inside can be a little bit on the cold side, this isn’t a spot for friendly drunken conversations.
The décor is fine, the drinks are all right priced, there just seems to be a little something missing from this place. It’s tasteful enough but I can’t see how it would ever be anyone’s favourite bar as everything it does well, somewhere else does it better.

Whiteladies Road is a fantastic area of Bristol for a night out but it is certainly in the high maintenance category — by that I mean there are very few pubs and far more bars that require dressing up, posing and drinking wine.
Bar Humbug is definitely the latter but that’s no reason to discount coming here. The outside seating is a great suntrap and the proximity to restaurants such as Las Iguanas and Pizza Planet makes it a popular post-​dinner watering hole.
Inside the ceilings are low, as are the lights. The interior is a little dull but in a trendy kind of way and this place attracts plenty of passing trade with students on a Whiteladies pub-​crawl. Not my bar of choice but there are worse on this road and if you can get a seat outside then you wont even have to bother with the lack of atmosphere inside.

Whiteladies is such a brilliant strip of bars and has a buzzing nightlife most nights of the week, there are some great places to grab a few drinks before heading out clubbing, or just to have a chilled out and trendy evening. Bar Humbug does Whiteladies proud — and fits in with the surrounding buzzing atmosphere.
The music here is brilliant and very up to date, it’s the sort of place that gets you in the mood to go out. The interior is very comfortable as well as trendy, with big sofas that you sink back into. As well as this, prices are affordable which attracts students and locals a like. Bar Humbug is also open during the day and serves good value food — so it’s also a great place to grab something to eat with a friend.
The one thing I would say on a slightly lower note is that I’m never overly impressed with their customer service — the staff are fine and happy to help most of the evening but when it gets close to the end their moods change quickly and they become very pushy to clear everyone out of the bar. I mean, I know they must want to get home quickly, but still, this doesn’t give a great impression on the public! This is however the only downside — and in my opinion this is a great bar and worth a visit — I keep going back again and again!

There was a time when you would regularly find me here, mixing drinks that should never be drunk in the same sitting, arguing pointlessly with my boyfriend and then forgetting all about it the next minute and attempting to dance to some über-​cool music. I havne’t been here at night for a while but I still find it a great spot to bask outside when the sun is shining. They do fab cocktails and yes it is apparently run by members of Massive Attack which may explain its slightly pleased with itself vibe. Inside it’s like a cosy sitting room and there are always good tunes playing. But it can be a bit pretentious at times, especially when chock-​full of really sloaney students and their vast disposable incomes. But it’s a Bristol institution and therefore worth a visit. And a mojito. Or three.

If the sun is even remotely poking out from behind some thick clouds, expect to see the outside section of Bar Humbugs full of cool people trying to soak it up (all wearing huge sunglasses of course). In fact I find it hard to remember the last time I sat inside. I do remember that it looks really great in the evenings with a good use of lights and funky low seating; it creates a really chilled out, friendly place to be.
Although, because their cocktails are so tasty and such good value, don’t expect to get yours in a hurry. It is a popular bar.
It is also a popular place to have lunch because the prices are so good and you can catch the sun for pretty much most of the day. And if, like me, you like to have a choice of things to read if you are having a quiet beer or coffee, they have a huge selection of magazines, which is a nice touch.

There is no point in me pretending that Bar Humbug is really aimed at my consumer profile. I am not really a wino, unless it is with really nice food, and the food here is good but no more than good. I don’t really like low lit stylish bars as they strike me as slightly too pretentious.
However, these are more of a reflection on my character than on this little spot, and on the two occasions I have been here it has surprised me how much I enjoyed it. This might be something to do with the cocktails and Humbug do them very well.

Bar Humbug at the bottom of Whiteladies is one of Bristol’s most impressive looking wine bars. For me, it’s the ideal place to unwind with an after work drink, or warm up for a night of boozing before hitting the city centre.
Inside you’ll find a very trendy looking bar with a Sex and the City vibe, a range of wonderful wines and spirits and welcoming bar service. I’ve been several times and always had a pleasant time — but that’s probably as exciting as it gets here. Bar Humbug is reliably good and reasonably priced.

I came here on possibly my first trip to Bristol around a year ago and had lunch with a couple of friends. The food was pretty good, quite cheap and there was a pretty wide selection. My friend’s nachos were, however, quite dry and cheeseless. The drinks were pretty cheap too and although the place was empty, we sat outside and enjoyed the wireless internet in the sun. The front terrace is essential for daytimes, otherwise no one would come inside the gloomy bar. Come along at night for drinks deals and cheap cocktails. Student heaven!

Just at the bottom of Whiteladies Road, perfect location for a quick drink on the way further into town, bar humbug is a stylish cocktail bar. It’s got a bit of what I think of as London feeling to it — it’s decked out in such an über stylish way that it could easily be a big chain. It’s actually only got one other place in Nottingham, so far from a mega chain.
I think the best thing about bar humbug is the cocktails, which are averagely under £5, and good quality for the price — you can often get cocktails that are slightly watered down/​stacked to the brim with ice in other places, but this doesn’t happen here. They’ve got a decent menu as well, with both starters and mains circling the right side of a fiver/​tenner respectively. There’s nothing too exciting on the menu though, expect pretty standard bar food. It’s definitely worth a look in, but not a place to go out of your way to visit.

Bar Humbug is a super trendy wine bar and restaurant on white ladies road serving delicious cocktails and fairly decent food. Despite this though, there does seem to be something missing and I think it is that added special ingredient we call atmosphere.
It might just be me, but at times a lot of effort seems to go into making a place look really cool, with sophisticated low lighting and stylish designer furnishings, but in doing so something is lost. It might be a sense of character or personality and I think this applies to Bar Humbug.
I haven’t got any complaints about the food as I’ve eaten here twice and it was pretty good on both occasions. I’ve also been here for a few drinks before going further into town and the bar itself is well stocked, but whenever I’m in here I just feel like I might be having a better time someplace else.

Bland food but not a bad place to go for a drink, this place tries a bit too hard to be funky though.

Good funky bar. Nice and cosy but it can get a bit crowded on a weekend.

One of the trendier places on Whiteladies this place was actually quite a let down. But first the good points or point. The food is nice and prety inexpensive. A good selection as well, the lamb tagine is especially tasty.
Unfortunately the drinks are not cheap. Two pints and an apple juice cost £10. No wonder there’s a credit crunch with those prices. Also the staff are very rude and unhelpful. I found two long hairs in my pint as soon as it had been served which upon informing him, the bar man found hilarious. Not only would he not replace it with another pint, he suggested that I had put them in there.
Perhaps this is a one off but I would expect better service from a porta-​kitchen serving truckers on the side of a lay by.
If you’re on whiteladies road and looking for a drink I’d recommend you go pretty much any where else then here.

The best thing about Bar Humbug is that is does very cheap meal deals during the day. For only £5.95 you can get any main meal on the menu with chips, garlic bread and a bit of salad. The only thing is, the quality of the main meal isn’t very good on the whole but you get such a lot of food you could just eat the chips, garlic bread and salad. It’s quite nice inside and has a nice outside terrace, the drinks are a reasonable price.

This is the place to go to enjoy a chilled daytime bevy or a cool, smooth evening. Your night is not going to be spoilt by drunks screaming and shouting or generally being rowdy but a relaxed evening listening to chilled music can be enjoyed. You dont have to shout to make conversation and everything is easy. You can also enjoy the outdoor seating and watch the world go by. Its just a very pleasant experience.