Even if you are not staying at the hotel, The Chophouse Restaurant at the Future Inn is ideally placed close to Cabot Circus where you can relax and find a good supper after a bit of late night shopping, always supposing you haven’t spent all your money on the shopping. Not that the Chophouse doesn’t supply excellent value for money, so it’s worth stepping away from that last pair of tempting killer heels that you know will decorate the back of the wardrobe for months before making their way directly to the charity shop.

We did just that, got a table for two by the window, ordered a couple of pints of lager (they have a fine choice of six including Amstel and Staropramen) and looked through the menu, which has something for everyone: from the grill, steaks, chops, rack ribs, burgers etc., together with several types of pasta and three special dishes of the day. Slow roasted duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, caramelised orange and grilled asparagus was top of the specials list and sounded delicious, but in the end tagliatelle with mushroom and sundried tomato in cream sauce flicked my switch. My shopping companion decided on sirloin steak with French fries and béarnaise sauce; there is no supplement for accompanying sauces offered, including peppercorn, mushroom and stilton, something I like to see.

For starters we took homemade spicy meatballs with plum tomato ragout and garlic bread and traditional ham hock terrine with Melba toast and piccalilli. The starters arrived nicely presented and with very generous portions – I counted at least nine good-sized meatballs and since I couldn’t leave the rather nice garlic bread alone I failed to polish them all off. The ham hock terrine was outstanding, with plenty of tender, tasty ham and definitely earned the gold star award for starters.

There was a decent interval between starter and main course where we chatted a while and discussed our purchases of the day (were there doubts already creeping in?!); then the main courses arrived and we tucked in. As expected the pasta was delicious, with a robust cream sauce and plenty of mushrooms, and the steak served rare, with its garnish of onion rings and tomato went down a storm for its great flavour and juiciness.

The restaurant was lively and busy with a mixed clientele of hotel residents and others like ourselves giving a jolly atmosphere. We enjoyed our evening very much, the service was excellent, both professional and friendly, and together with the reasonable bill (around £32.00 per head including drinks) we felt the loss of one pair of killer heels was definitely worth it!

 To view the full menu & book a table visit: http://www.futureinns.co.uk/bristol/restaurant-bar