The Kingsdown Wine Vaults

With its lovely quiet back garden and local (rather than studenty) feel, this pub is a good place to choose for a quiet drink and some good quality eats. There for a small birthday gathering last week, I was very impressed with the sharing platter of meats, cheeses and bread that someone ordered for the group. Nicely presented on a wooden board, it just looked really stylish, and was a lovely thing to have in the middle of the table for everyone to dip into.
We were treated to a funny little violin ensemble — quintet, I think — who set up in the main area inside the pub and played for a few hours, which was nice, though there wasn’t a stage or podium as such, so it did seem a bit as though a table of people in the middle of the pub had just suddenly got a bit musical.
Quieter, lighter and gentler in atmosphere than its studenty younger cousin The Highbury Vaults, this is a classy venue, good for groups.

I like this cosy little pub but I struggle to find an adjective that fits it other than the word ‘nice’. And nice it is. Is that a bad thing? Not at all, it just makes it harder to describe as there is nothing particularly unique about this place.
The interior is all dark, distressed wood, benches and brightly painted chairs, the shabby-​chic vibe fits the clientele perfectly — a relaxed mix of students and locals who are after dependable service at a decent price.
It looks like the have a small sandwich deli towards the right of the bar but I’ve only ever sampled the pub’s liquid assets. There is a huge pile of board games in the window but if that’s not your thing then why not pull up a seat at the bar? The staff are friendly and welcoming and happy to chat. The bar does accept cards but there is a £5 minimum spend.

This is no relation to the nearby Highbury Vaults but it is just as nice and a little more light and airy though still retaining the traditional pub feel. When I first moved to Bristol with my partner, we put a bid in for a flat next to the Kingsdown Vaults and I’m not kidding when I say it was the pub which clinched it. We didn’t get the flat but we ended up renting nearby and so frequented the lovely quaint pub pretty often. As with all good pubs it has local ales and ciders, board games and a pub quiz night (which gets very busy). It also does really nice food though at a weekend this can be prepared by the lone barman who is also serving customers so it may take a little while to arrive. Worth the wait though I’ll say. Opt for the hunk of Applewood with crackers and you will not be disappointed.

A little more sophisticated than the average local’s pub (case in point: The Cotham Porter Stalls up the road), The Kingsdown Wine Vaults occupies the middle ground between pub and wine bar.
And pull it off it does too. Atmospherically lit by candles, bookshelves filled with musty tomes and antique tables, Kingsdown Wine Vaults is pleasant indeed. The drinks selection is great and what really sets it apart for me is the excellent food on offer. Obvious though it sounds, not that many wine bars seem to emphasise their cheese, a winning combination with the red wine selection
I’ve heard good things about the open mic nights and quizzes. If drinking doesn’t prove attraction enough, there’s a selection of board games as well, not that they seem ever to need used…

A little pricier than you might hope for for a few drinks on a weekday evening, but this pub is simply fantastic. The décor inside is beautiful, with vintage ornaments on the mantelpiece and dusty books tossed on shelves lining the walls. The dim light seeps out of the windows (the pub is set on the corner) making it a gleaming beacon on the Kingsdown Parade. Look out for pub quiz and Irish music nights!

Nice pub with, as the cunning name suggests, a wide and interesting selection of wine but also has some nice rum and vodka. It has a smart wooden interior which is a little on the side of trying too hard to be rustic, the atmosphere is relaxed and staff friendly. Hard to describe, I think maybe the sort of place you would bring your parents when they visit and they would call it ‘charming’. Best thing is dogs are allowed in if they are well behaved.

The oversized wine glasses somewhat desperately scream ‘We’re a classy wine bar, honest!’, so having our drinks come in them I was a bit dubious at first. However, this place turned out to come up with the goods.
A standard glass of wine (slightly less than a third of their giant glasses) is about three pounds fifty, which is fair given the quality of the wines on offer. The selection isn’t as big as you might expect, given the name, but you should be able to find what you want. Its got a good atmosphere, feeling busy but never claustrophobic. Kingsdown Wine Vault is good enough to be somewhere you don’t just go for the wine.
I’ll finish with a bit of advice. It’s located on a very quiet stretch of a road (I don’t expect the neighbours complain about it though, this place doesn’t attract the sort to start fights in the street) so don’t feel like you’ve gone down the wrong road if you can’t see anything that looks like a pub, just look for their brightly lit window. it’s probably worth it anyway if you do get a bit confused looking for it anyway.