In the great age of pub refurbs the new-look Bristol Arms is gunning for the title of most improved and significantly less sticky than you remember. There’s a jolly dining room and kitchen on the lower ground floor decked out in rainbow bentwood chairs where they cover all bases by offering a Niçoise salad next to a triple-decker BLT with chicken, plus a free-range schnitzel for ethically sensitive carnivores. Up a level the public bar is an experiment in Scottish whimsy with white picket fences outside and green tartan carpet inside. But they pour a cold beer and that’s what counts. Unless you are dying of thirst, or desperately afraid of heights, we recommend you keep on trucking to the fifth floor. They have a lift but it carries four passengers, max, and has been known to be unreliable, so embrace incidental exercise and hoof it up the stairs. “What is on levels three and four?” we hear you ask. If you feared for the future of the themed-party loving, woo girl dominated Club Retro, we bring good tidings. Friday and Saturday nights from 9.30pm it’s in full swing in the heart of the Arms. But back to the giddy heights you have now reached. The rooftop here is the pubs crowning glory. You’ll feel like the king of the castle under the ropes of pearl bulbs with a wagyu minute steak sandwich in one hand, a Peroni in the other and a little Florence Welch on the stereo.
