Casamia

Good place to go to for a special occasion. Food had lively spirits as it had creativity. Casamia shows how the chef loves his/​her food. They cook from their hearts. The food used the freshest ingredients and you could taste it. The desserts were the stars of the tasting menu.
Please keep in mind that I am reviewing according to the area. For Bristol, this is a 5 star; but if graded according to London, this place would be around 3 – 4 stars.

Wow! Just simply, wow! And maybe another one for good measure. WOW! Myself and my boyfriend came here for my birthday meal as a special treat, and what a treat it was. This is a place for foodies. 12 courses, 7 glasses of wine and 1 glass of champers does equal one wincing credit card, but one fantastic and unforgettable dining experience. It’s a set tasting menu, it’s pricey, it owns and deserves that michelin star, it is what it is and that is fantastic. That staff and their service were spectacular. For anyone looking for a really special meal this is the place in Bristol.

Took my dad here about a year ago for his birthday, along with my mother.
We were pleasantly surprised and quite shocked to find only a choice or 8 or 12 courses. I think this may have been my first proper tasting menu and I absolutely loved it. Every dish had an element of theatre and a story behind it, something I always like to accompany a dish.
The atmosphere was good with only a few tables but not too little that everyone was listening in on conversations etc.
would recommended as a treat and theatrical experience, I aim to go back but with a bill of £400 maybe i’ll save up for a little longer.

I can’t stand it when I come away from a restaurant feeling I could have made the food at home. You’ll get no such disappointment from Casa Mia. Whatever you think of the approach — tasting menu only so the only choice is how many courses to try — the place challenges and surprises. I don’t know about you but I would never pour dry ice over lemons to flavour panacotta in my own kitchen.
I thought it was fun — food tasted superb, and if at times it went too far (a slip of paper needed to explain the story of the last course for example) it didn’t take itself too seriously. Can’t agree that it lacks atmosphere or warmth; the service we recevied was first class and incredibly friendly. Wine was enthusiastically and knowledgably served, and was a very good selection. We left stuffed and tipsy.
Only downsides are a lack of choice and truly astronomic price. You can’t expect to do this any more often than as an occassional treat. And if you want your meat cooked a certain way or you prefer fish cooked through you might feel your tastes aren’t catered for.
Perhaps an a la carte menu in future will address this, but for now, it’s something you put in the diary, recognise that it’s not for every taste and, by God, save up for.

Ok look, this place is different, expensive and fabulous if you are open minded and looking for something a bit different. We ate here before it was on Gordon Ramseys Best Restaurant (which it won). I totally admire the boys for sticking to their guns and being prepared to do something different. Well done. They only do two taster menus, one for meat eaters and one for veggies. So I guess it depends on what they are offering at the time, hence a bit pot luck if you’ll like it. The atmosphere if pleasant and the family welcoming. Worth going for a special occasion, and just soaking up the ambience of the place. Put simply; You will love it or hate it! We loved it. Er, you may need to save for a bit to go though as it ain’t cheap baby!

Having transformed into a Michelin starred restaurant from a little local pizzeria, Westbury Village’s Casamia has found yet greater fame recently thanks to the restaurant’s victory in the Ramsay’s Best Restaurant series in November. Casamia take the (some might say slightly risky) approach of not offering an a la carte menu, but opting to offer diners the choice of two tasting menus of either five or eight courses. Vegetarians and those with food allergies can substitute certain dishes — which change on a seasonal basis — for others that suit their dietary requirements.
Before we ate, we were treated to homemade star anise grissini, macadamia nuts and marinated olives to enjoy with our drinks, and were then shown to our table after ordering the eight-​course menu (and, in my friend’s case, the wine flight to accompany the meal).
The first course alone was spectacular: a duck egg shell filled with an incredibly fine cardamom foam that disappeared in the mouth without the need to swallow, and hid warm and perfectly runny scrambled duck egg, the flavours of which were infused with tiny flecks of cardamom leaf and the rich saltiness of the back fat from a pig (sounds appealing, I know) which had been cured with thyme, salt and pepper for four months.
Remaining courses included a rich and gamey venison tartare, roast best end of lamb with a fantastic lamb crackling, and the Casamia brothers’ traditional Tiramisu as the crowning glory — the perfect end to the perfect evening.
The food was imaginative but mostly styled on existing, well-​known dishes and flavours, the wine flight that my friend opted for was perfectly matched with the food, and the service was outstanding — to the extent that whenever one of us left our seat, our napkin (which we’d flung onto the table) was refolded in preparation for our return.
Price-​wise, I can’t believe that a restaurant of this quality is so reasonable. At only £68 for the 8-​course option and £45 for the 5-​course option, it won’t break the bank. The atmosphere is ridiculously relaxed and informal for such a restaurant, with the staff welcoming and diners not being made to feel uncomfortable or out of their depth.
Many thanks to Jonray, Peter and everyone else for a fantastic evening — we’ll certainly be back when the menus next change!
(see here for full review:
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A trip to Casamia is not just a meal, it’s an experience.
Pea jelly, artichoke froth, almonds and coffee garnish wood pigeon rather than dessert, reductions of god knows what… there are some truly weird experiments in ‘molecular gastronomy’ going on here. Which is all part of the fun.
Never have I been so fascinated by what’s on my plate as at Casamia. Which is a good thing too — if you’re not willing to spend time over your food, it’ll be gone in thirty seconds, the portions here are minute.
This is a Michelin star restaurant after all. However, despite its accolades, Casamia manages to feel relaxed and informal. The service is impeccable without seeming stuffy or pretentious, and waiters are openly knowledgeable about food and wine.
My meal probably constitutes one of the most memorable restaurant visits I’ve ever had, everything was perfectly cooked and the most incredible mix of flavours. It was a while ago so I’m unable to elaborate on it further, but not a single dish of the three course meal my boyfriend and I had disappointed.
For an exciting and original taste experience with a price tag that’ll make your eyes water, if you enjoy food at all, Casamia has to be done once and it will be oh so worth it.

Our visit in December 2009 can only be described as «an experience» simply because there’s no other way to describe it!
If you are looking to fill yourself up on a glut of large portionned heavy stodge, then do not go here. Casamia use many Heston Blumenthal-​esque «experimental» cooking techniques and presentations (lemon beads of jelly?! airs, foams, liquid nitrogen, etc) to show the flavours of the different ingredients to make up the food.
Also, if you are looking to choose your own food, beware — as there are only two menus to choose from, the Vegetarian Tasting Menu and the Chef’s Tasting Menu.
If you are looking for something a bit different exploring the tastes, textures and blends of flavours and are willing to try something new, then this is definitely the place.
All of our party opted for the Chef’s tasting menu — over 14 courses (3 of which were chocolate-​based as the dessert) we were shown different techniques of making sorbet (with liquid nitrogen), different tastes from cooking pork cuts in different ways, and small amouse-​bouche salads with interesting toppings — parmesan ice cream, anyone…
The flavours in each small portion were intense, thoughtful and very well balanced. Presentation was excellent, as was the waiting staff’s knowledge of the contents of the food, how it was cooked, and were able to answer a constant stream of questions from where everything came from, to how many people were in the kitchen!
Stand-​out dishes were a hot beetroot risotto with pickled crisped fennel and frozen yoghurt, pork selection (cheek, shoulder and sesame-​seed cut), wood pigeon with coffee and almonds and the pear and parmesan salad.
The rest of the menu was not without interest — the sour cherry and balsamic vinegar smoothie was rather an amazing pairing of tastes, as was the amalfi lemon cream with popcorn, and the chocolate 3 courses at the end were fun, exciting and totally different from «a meal».
The cheeses were also amazing, as were the crackers served on. We were also served with some light, crisp and gorgeously tasting fresh bread — of which we requested more as the evening went on, it was that tasty! If you are desperately hungry, you can always order more, as a previous reviewer has said.
Service was continually friendly and faultless. Some tables were empty at the start of our meal, however many were full by the end — a full 3.5 hours in its entirety! The restaurant had mentioned that as they were the only eaterie in the Bristol area serving Foie Gras, they had been targetted by anti-​Foie Gras campaigners, who had reserved tables at the restaurant and then not shown up — and held protests outside the restaurant as well. We could not see any evidence of any protesters at our dinner!
I’ve noticed the menu and prices change from the experience some reviewers have had. Our menu was £55 without the cheese course — not including drinks — but was definitely worth the money, simply for the experience that was had by the whole group in trying new flavours, combinations, textures and ways of presenting the food.
In total, it’s more of a tasting experience than a meal. Not recommended for someone who wants something plain or a quick meal (why didn’t the previous commenter just go and get his fish and chips instead?!) but totally recommended if you want to try something different. It’d be great for a special occasion, but probably not to take Granny out for a slap-​up tea.

To be honest this was one of the most unpleasant meals out I’ve ever experienced. The food was pretentious and expensive and the service condescending. When I sent something back I was told I just didn’t appreciate what they were trying to achieve.
Anyone who needs to explain their food has lost the plot some time back. I believe the awards and accolades have gone to these boys heads.

Sorry — can’t agree. Emperor’s new clothes this place. Tasting menus are a pretentious rip off. Turnip foam, I mean turnip FOAM? (a la Catherine Tate). A smear of this on your plate alongside a pinprick of that. And half a glass of wine with each course. An expensive joke. We left stone cold sober and hungry — and worst of all the Westbury Fish Bar had shut because it had taken so long to serve us each miniscule portion. Meh!

This restaurant is an absolute gem, bringing a Michelin Star to Bristol with its innovative food and impeccable service.
On a recent visit, we indulged in the six-​course tasting menu, with accompanying wines. Highlights included the beetroot risotto and quail, but above all was the salmon, which simply melted in our mouths. I never ask waiters about the cooking methods used, but in this instance I couldn’t resist the temptation to ask, and I noticed that many of the tables near us did the same.
Service was prompt, courteous and very friendly, and the wines that accompanied the dishes were exquisite, in particular the dessert wine.
One of the best surprises was the bill — a six course tasting menu, including accompanying wines, was only £45 each. As someone used to London prices, I found this positively bargainous, and would expect to have hit at least the £60−80 mark if this was in London.
My only criticism would be the interior décor, which we found to be a little plain and unexciting — you could have been mistaken for feeling as though you were in a nice café.

Since my wife and I last visited this restaurant it has been taken over by the sons of the previous owners and has ‘gone upmarket’ in terms of menu and presentation. When we ate there last night the service was excellent and the menu interesting and not excessively priced. The décor is so-​so but not unpleasant and the restaurant is nice and quiet for conversation. We had the 6-​course taster menu with the selected accompanying wines. The dishes were very tasty but were small even for a taster menu. The wines were ok but not always up to the standard of the food. We’ll try this restaurant again but next time will opt for individual dishes (hopefully a bit more substantial).