THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON! HIP HIP HIP HOORAY…..Which means the majority of Bristol will be congregating outside Arnolfini, legs a dangling over the water, grabbing the last of those rays with a cider in hand.

To add to this joy, Arnolfini are now extending their kitchen hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings – so you can soak up some of that booze with a delicious seasonal treat and feel a smidge better the next morning. Music to my ears – as personally my body cannot cope with the “eating’s cheating” rule (those who have seen me the day after an accidentally pure drinking session can attest to this – it’s not pretty!)

I was one of the lucky people to try the evening menu last week. After a quick cider in the sun, we ventured in to kick-start our appetite with a sharing board of hummus, olives and delicious bread. Perfect nibbles to help crave off the hunger pangs and focus on what you want to eat.

The specials board tempted me in, with scrumptious, seasonal dishes such as knedle dumplings with wild garlic butter, cherry tomato & crispy stage (YUM!)

After much deliberation, I chose the sea bass – served with panzanella salad it sounded like the perfectly fresh dish to match the sunshine outside – and it did not disappoint! Sea bass is one of my favourites, and matched with the zingy tomatoes and crunchy bread to soak up those juices, I could easily imagine I was on holiday in Italy. Dreamy!

Thanks to the powers of the separate sweet stomach, we also managed to sample a variety of their delicious cakes. I could have quite easily eaten a large piece of the lemon polenta cake to myself. Scrummy.

OH and I got my Aperol Spritz fix! YES!

Disclaimer: I was invited to try these dishes free of cost, however I was not asked to send any copy in advance and this didn’t affect my opinion of the meal – all thoughts are my own.