Cosy Club Bristol

When three friends turned an old opticians on North Street into a small cafe and bar, never in their wildest dreams could they possibly have imagined that 12 years later they would be opening one of Bristol’s most extravagant venues ever, right in the heart of the Old City.

If the Lounge chain is a dress down Fridays kind of guy, Cosy Club is its catwalk cousin dressed to impress for the weekend.

It’s an all-day affair, serving breakfast from 9am and then open until late, with table service from immaculately coiffured staff.

Pan au chocolat in the morning then and champagne in the evening, alongside a well-priced food menu which sees sandwiches and paninis alongside more substantial main courses such as roasted rump of lamb (£15.95) and 10oz 35-day aged Hereford grass-fed rump steak (£19.50) and a generous selection of puddings.

Cosy Club Bristol bar

Cocktails seem to all have cake themes: cheery Bakewell, jaffa cake martini, lemon drizzle cake, raspberry and vanilla shortbread martini and gingerbread bramble.

Currently on tap are the Loungers’ own Cruiser ale, Piston Broke from the Box Steam Brewery, Glastonbury’s Love Monkey and Bath Ales Dark Side, and Orchard Pig and Stowford Press ciders.

Bottles include Brooklyn Lager, Underdog Atlantic by Flying Dog, and Haze and Gold ciders made especially for Cosy Club by Westons cider.

Cosy Club Bristol deer

Cosy Club Bristol seats

There has been no expense spared in transforming the former banking hall of 31 Corn Street – a branch of Lloyds bank until the 1970s and later The Toad pub and a couple of unmemorable bars – into Cosy Club’s showpiece operation.

Behind the neo-classical facade is a majestic ceiling. I could have spent my whole time inside just looking up. It is extraordinary and shows the wealth that once flowed through Bristol.

There are also dressed stone walls, marble floors, mahogany panelling, domed glass roof lanterns, and richly embellished and decorated plaster cornicing in this Grade II listed structure.

Even the sign featuring Bristol’s coat of arms has been hand-crafted:

Cosy Club Bristol sign

Look around inside and you’ll spot quite a few lampshades alongside painted portraits of long-forgotten ladies and gentlemen, a few deer heads and plenty of other quirky touches, including Country Life covers in the gentlemen’s loos, something also found in the Battleaxes in Wraxall (a Loungers pub).

A mezzanine floor has been added at the far end, with the best vantage point in the building.

Cosy Club Bristol from mezzanine

Underneath, and no pun intended, there is cosier seating with another smaller area looking out the front windows with bright blue armchairs and expensive-looking wallpaper.

Cosy Club Bristol towards mezzanine

Cosy Club Bristol front room

After a few years in the doldrums, the arrival of businesses on Corn Street such as the Birdcage and The Ox have given this grand old road a new lease of life.

With the opening of Cosy Club, Corn Street has been further revitalised and this could well be the most significant opening in Bristol this year.

Cosy Club Corn Street Bristol

The Cosy Club, 31 Corn Street, Bristol, BS1 1HT

0117 253 0997

www.cosyclub.co.uk/bristol