A board of proper West Country cheddar with bread, pickle, apple and cider on the side, eaten in Bristol's pubs within sight of the county that gave the cheese its name.
Cheddar cheese takes its name from the Somerset gorge village 45 minutes south of Bristol, where cheesemakers matured wheels in the caves from at least the 1100s. The ploughman's lunch as a pub fixture is a 20th-century invention, but Bristol sits closer to the source than any other big city, and its cheesemongers and micropubs treat cave-aged cheddar with the seriousness other cities save for wine.
3 editor picks for Cheddar ploughman's in Bristol, ranked by editorial score. All Bristol signature dishes · Cheddar ploughman's across every city.
The Drapers Arms ★ 4.2
Gloucester Road · 447 Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol BS7 8TZ
The Drapers Arms is Bristol's first micropub, a one-room former draper's shop on Gloucester Road serving cask ale and conversation, nothing else.
The Cheese Connection ★ 4.1
Wapping Wharf · Unit 8, Cargo 2, Museum Street, Bristol BS1 6ZA
The Cheese Connection curates South West and British artisan cheese from a Cargo 2 container, Bristol's harbourside cheesemonger with tasting events.
Snuffy Jack's Ale House ★ 4.1
Fishponds · 800 Fishponds Road, Fishponds, Bristol BS16 3TE
Snuffy Jack's pours gravity-served casks in a Fishponds micropub named after a snuff-mill ghost, east Bristol's destination for proper quiet ale drinking.