Recess in Bristol, City of

I met a colleague staying at the hotel for a breakfast meeting. I experienced lovely self-service food and hot and cold drinks which were made even better by the friendly and calm atmosphere, warm reception and the excellent service from Arc.

This restaurant, which is part of the Hilton Garden Inn, really surprised me with their dinner options. An Indian curry, lamb shank, Caesar salad, were just some of what was on the menu. Also had some impressive desserts. If you are staying at the hotel and don't feel like walking to one of the restaurants on the harbor, you can eat here and get a very good meal.

Breakfast at Recess are very variated, large hot and cold dishes, from traditional british beans & scramble eggs to the homemade fresh waffle, with nice juices and fruits. Special mention and thank you to Cristina, always dynamic, available and nice even early on the morning.

This restaurant together with the hotel is generally very poor. Eaten here a few times now and service is lacklustre. Food is way overpriced for what you get and the last meal I had was terrible. Look at the state of the chips! Clearly they re-fried them in a hurry before closing as the burger came out within 5 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend staying here or eating here.

Quality breakfast buffet style. Bacon and sausages were really nice

A great breakfast after a very good night's sleep. The hotel itself is clean, tidy, warm and well staffed. All with smiles and all too happy to help. Highly recommend a visit.

Food was excellent. However, the floor was being mopped whilst we were eating. Not hygienic. Maintenance were working near the bar too. Even though we said we would pay separately, when we tried to pay the bill had been put together. The lady on the till for payment to me didn't know what to do. So, we were kept waiting until another member of staff was available. Plus a service charge was added and I didn't see anything saying this would happen. All in all very disappointed and not what I expect from a Hilton

OK, the atmosphere was bright LED lights and a comfy love seat, so, not great. Very nice bartender, but at a total loss when we asked for two Old Fashioneds. I pointed out they were on the bar menu. A very nice waiter came over as the bartender fiddled with a recipe book, he took it from her and said he would look at it, with a little coaching he threw out the sugar packets he was going to use and I showed him the simple syrup. He put a couple of pretty mediocre drinks together and they were very nice, so there was that.

Great staff, in particular, Ethan. Fine young fellow.

I like to go here on my work lunch as its so near. The staff have always been very friendly and the food has been so nice. Ive also tried the pepperoni pizza and the steak and chips which were both fab. I think my favourite so far has been the chicken thighs and rice.

Had afternoon tea very nice food good friendly service.

No chicken wings available on an already limited menu. Unripe avo, from a jar guacamole, dessicated chicken. Cold espresso. Expecting a decent simple sandwich is not outrageous. Avoid.

Just brilliant, great food and great staff. Thanks

Gary is amazing funny, charming and just so so lovely. Terrace is gorgeous and the place is very clean

Roadworks in Bristol make finding this hotel a challenge. The room was very warm when we opened the door - and although the aircon was on it didn’t actually work. The fridge light went on, but fridge didn’t work, and no biscuits for coffee on the morning. Completely different experience from the Hilton in Cheltenham I stayed at last week. Good food in the bar and nice service staff.

Unplanned late lunch, nice place to sit and talk while we ate. Not particularly busy, so we didn't have to wait long. Professional staff, good service, tasty food and hot drinks after sightseeing in the freezing cold all morning.

Its a nice place to take a date or a quiet lunch, with smartly dressed staff and lots of natural light. Sadly the menu has become very limited and very expensive, £15 for a burger, £8 for a sandwich, £7 for soup and two slice of (nice) bread, most drinks come in at the £3 mark. Its quite eye watering if I am honest. Its a nice classy place, but you are much better served with wider, cheaper menus at a number of good local restaurants nearby.

Great food, beautifully presented, and thirst-quenching, palate-teasing mocktails in a quiet contemporary setting....perfect antidote before catching the train home after the sensory overload of the Van Gogh immersive experience🌻 My only slight quibble was we had to wait to be served, but I was very hungry 😉

Stated here for work lots of time! Ordered roomservice from this restaurant and its great! Had the salmon and avocado toast. Salmon beautifully cooked and avocado toast very tasty! Only just bit to salty for my taste but delicious anyway. Solid 5/5 for the prize!

Amaazing food! The whole experience from start to finish is great, Waitresses are always so friendly, helpful and kind. The food can’t get better and the prices are fair for the portion size. Always a great spot to get great food.

Had afternoon tea which we enjoyed.

Food wasn't good, I ordered the burger which came very overcooked. I asked for sauce for the chips and was given little sachets that were extremely difficult to open, when charging 16/17 pounds for a burger and chips you really expect more. The whole menu looked overpriced.

Great dinner option, especially if you're staying at the hotel. Lovely staff and an excellent Guinness as well

We had afternoon Tea on Tuesday, 28 December 2021 with family, the whole experience was lovely. Staff were very attentive and could not do enough for you and the afternoon tea was wonderful, excellent value for money.

We had Xmas dinner here for the second time, the food was excellent, served with a nice atmosphere. My only criticism would be of the coffee, from a machine and not hand made like from a coffee shop. But, our party of four were very happy. We'll be going again next year.

Very expensive for what it is, same menu every night, its the hilton garden restaurant, need I say more

Great place for a beer or something to eat, especially when the sun is out

+ Nice terrace and staff - they don't have a huge variety of drinks

Very well presented great service

The waiter was really kind and easygoing, BUT there was no chicken, the pizza seemed one of those from the supermarket and the ham and cheese sandwich came almost cold, no melted cheese whatsoever and it took around +15min to get the food in an almost empty restaurant. I wish our waiter could take his great service to a better restaurant...

We stopped here for a night cap, very nice and the hotel had a 25% discount of the first drink if you were stopping there so we used this as well. The morning breakfast was very well ordered with the cutlery and napkin etc already on the allocated table/time slot in sterilised "clear envelopes". Breakfast was served up by a very lovely lady who was also very busy but didnt stop smiling; all good and tasty and hot.

Good food but they were short staffed so service was a bit slow but still acceptable

Had family xmas day lunch today 2019 first class food, service, and fantastic staff nothing too much trouble the santa was great surprise for grandchildren thank you from myself and family. John Feeney

A great selection of food and quite a strange range of recipes! I visited with my family on Christmas 2019 and it was fantastic! Awesome entertainment (especially the santa giving gifts out to the children!) Thank you very much Recess, hope to see you soon.

Food and service were good, with a reasonable choice. It can be noisy but the location on the green is good, and the convenience for the hotel is excellent.

Didnt have breakfast here, but had a bar meal on the first night we arrived, and then drinks the other 2 nights. Pleasant and airy, plenty of comfortable chairs, and friendly staff. Nice to come back to and unwind after alot of walking/shopping.!

Great selection of food and good service

The quality of the food is great and the service is very nice as well!

Loved it great dining experience

Delicious boneless grilled chicken thighs with rice! Very good coffee!

On the whole I enjoyed the food, good portion size and really good quality mayo free coleslaw!

We stayed at the hotel for 2 nights and had breakfast the second morning - it was £9.99 if booked in advance. Great cooked breakfast, large choice, but ran out of pastries and took too long to refill.

Great food, reasonable price, loved the fact they did jacket potatoes. I spend a lot of time in hotels, so simple food like jacket potatoes was nirvana for me 👍🙂

Excellent food, excellent service

Had a lovely Afternoon tea today with my sister. We had brilliant service from all of the very friendly staff.

I was staying at the hotel and decided to eat in. There is a good choice on the menu from snacks to main meals. Food was excellent served quickly by brilliant staff. There is also an outside area which would be nice in the summer.

A group of us ate here while staying in the Hilton. Food was lovely. Served very hot. Staff were very good and attentive.

This is a slightly above average hotel restaurant. The menu offers a good and fairly wide choice of all the usual hotel staples, so there is likely to be something for everyone. Whilst this is not exactly fine dining, the standard of cooking is good and the food is tasty as well as offering a little more flair than most.

Limited choice of main course. It was still early in the evening, the restaurant has already ran out of ribeye or sirloin steak. The rump steak they replaced with was rubbery and very chewy. Not to mention the price is almost Miller & Carter level but does not have the quality to match it.

Love the menu here + v nice vibe

All good. I have eaten here on several occasions and have no complaints at all. The staff are friendly and the food is good

We ate breakfast here. You can get cooked to order eggs and I got a nice big omelette which went down well with some hash browns. The restaurant had good quality croissants but the coffee machine was below par, it was just watery. You could also make your own waffles.

7 of us for an informal Christmas lunch. Comfortable friendly efficient tasty and generous but not overloaded portions. Turkey or trout or a cheese combo. Had the turkey and couldn’t have been better. Very enjoyable laid back lunch. Recommended.

Recently stayed at the hotel, so went to the restaurant serval times in my stay! Great food, Great atmosphere and polite friendly staff !

Just had a brilliant meal at Recess. Absolutely excellent service from my waitress Maria. Fast service and the food was amazing. Perfectly cooked, seasoned well and super tasty!

This was my first visit to the restaurant with friends. It is located within the Hilton Garden City Inn. They have a special deal Monday to Friday of 40% off a main meal. I had the fish and chips which was good. They came with...

I work near to this hotel and regularly use it for lunch with clients and mid day meetings in the bar/restaurant area. I visited for exactly this reason last week and it wasn't until a few days later I found my receipt and realised I'd...

I ate at this restaurant while staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. Every interaction I had with the staff was both professional, yet friendly. There is an extensive drink selection, and I ended up with a glass of wine. I had one of their dinner...