1000 Tiny Birds

Muino

Bristol, 2023-01-20

A perennially late friend is delayed by 30 minutes for our two hour Friday evening dinner slot at Muino, up in Cotham. Never fear, though. Muino, being a favourite in my recent experimental phase of tapas restaurants (I didn’t even go full on emo as a teenager, so this is what this phase has to be), means that I can make an executive decision and just start ordering. Soph applauds me for this. The olives are gone before she arrives; she need never know. From a menu that stays both reassuringly familiar but also ever-shifting, I pick out some dishes one could compare to starters - grilled focaccia with jamon butter, butter roasted carrots with hazelnut dukkah, triple cooked potatoes with aioli - in order to allow her to influence the major dishes. The harissa marinated chicken skewers are an obvious highlight, beautifully tender and cooked in brown butter, with the mint yoghurt setting it off nicely. The staff very kindly let us move to another table such that we might stay long enough to enjoy the sweet chestnut cheesecake and the white chocolate arroz con leche, a rice pudding like dish topped with boozy figs. A night of sensory overload of the best kind.