Amoeba Lounge Bar

No question, 5 stars from me. I love Amoeba!
If you’re unfamiliar with Amoeba (shame on you) then it is a little hidden gem tucked away in a backstreet of Clifton Village. They have an incredible beer selection, but for me, this place is all about the cocktails — and boy do they do good cocktails!
Amoeba is small. It is set over 3 levels; ground level with a few tables, the bar is upstairs and then downstairs you’ll find a few more tables and nice terrace area. The décor is dark red and it’s nice and dimly lit. They have a large blackboard on the wall with a list of all of their beers and an amazing selection of spirits behind the bar.
I’ve felt instantly comfortable and every time Ive been to Amoeba. It always has a great atmosphere and it isn’t what you’d expect from a cocktail bar in Clifton. It’s nowhere near as pretentious or uninviting as Hausbar up the road. There’s no door knocking here!
They had a decent DJ (although he was sat down, ha) and the staff were great. I said I wanted a gin based cocktail with some kind of berry influence — I got exactly that! I’ve no idea what it was called, but it was GOOD!
This is one of the best bars in Bristol, in my eyes!

Seeing as it’s national poetry day I thought I’d do my review as a poem.
Amoeba is a cosy café bar
If you’re in Clifton you would go far
To find a better cocktail
Or even a tea would never fail
The décor is dark red and antique
Fabulous and oblique
There’s plenty to look at
And not only that
The bar staff know every liquor
And they’ll make a perfect drink quicker
So if you were um-​ing and ah-​ing
Amoeba has the perfect thing!

I had a party here last Saturday night based on reviews I’d read I decided to book the place (a little last minute). The staff were accommodating and attentive. The music was great. The DJ excellent. Drinks all good. The caterer they recommended was brilliant. So all round, a great night, fab location and great atmos. Highly recommended.

I am such a fan of the Clifton area for going out for drinks or enjoying a nice meal, and the Albion is a really nice place to enjoy a few drinks with friends in a good environment — perfect in my opinion for a couple of relaxing pre-​drinks before heading out to a club!
The place itself is fairly low key, but still with a trendy edge, which I love because I feel very comfortable and at ease chilling out here. The staff are always in great moods too, and service is good — it does however tend to get very busy on Friday and Saturday nights so you might find queuing up for drinks slightly longer then, but you can’t complain about the buzzing atmosphere. In the summer months it’s definitely a hotspot, with a little outdoor seating area which is lovely to sit in as the sun sets sipping over a cocktail.
One thing definitely worth adding about this place is that they often do offers such as 2for1 on their cocktails, and I am such a lover of cocktails so when this is on I can easily while away an evening here with a few friends! Try the Strawberry Daiquiri if you’ve got a sweet tooth like me — they do it brilliantly! They also put on some open mic nights, which are worth going along to for some good local entertainment — or perhaps trying out your hand at performing! Amoeba attracts locals and students alike, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to try out a new eating and drinking venue.

This is a great bar in Clifton village, near the Clifton Arcade just off Victoria Square. It has a lively atmosphere, particularly on their Open Mic Night, but the great thing about Amoeba is that no matter how loud it gets you can always do what you came for; talk with friends. This is largely due to the set up of the place, lots of tables and chairs and a large corner sofa upstairs — very comfortable!
The bar service is fantastic and they have great cocktails, throughout the week they offer 2 4 1 cocktails and an extended menu if you fancy something a little different. They also have some great real ales and the elusive strawberry beer!
Amoeba also offers a lovely tapas menu, I have been back many times, I recommend the chilli — a real challenge — but worth it! Their menu is great value for money and every course is really tasty. The food can be followed up perfectly with one of the liquor coffees on offer, the Irish Coffee is delicious, but for a real treat try the hot chocolate with Brandy!
The bar staff are always great and willing to help you choose from their really fantastic bar.

A pleasant enough Clifton café-​bar, Amoeba purveys coffee, cake and light meals by day, cocktails by night.
By day previous visits have found the place a little eerily quiet, although at least that means you have your choice of seat (and there’s a fair choice — barstools, cushioned banquettes or leather cubes), which is more than can be said for weekend nights.
Amoeba is a fine, if very Clifton, venue. At least here the class is only mildly overpriced. The cocktails are good, the atmosphere is usually buzzing on weekends and there’s even a courtyard round back.

If you know where to find it, this bar is well worth a visit. The upstairs area as you go in is very small, but downstairs is a bit more spacious with a cute decked garden.
Our friends had hired the whole downstairs for their joint birthday. They were able to bring all their own food and a cake. There was enough rooms for quite a few people, and even thought it’s tiny, the dancefloor was really popular.
There’s no bar downstairs, so you have to go back upstairs to get drinks. The bar staff seem quick and attentive. The drinks seem reasonably priced for Clifton.
The toilets in this place are great too. Fancy flat/​wide sinks full of gravel.
Hubby liked it here so much he wants to have his Birthday there too. But I told him no because we’d be copying our friends!
4 stars only because it’s so tiny that if there’s a private party downstairs, there’s hardly any room left for regular customers upstairs!

This is a charming cosy little coffee house, tucked away in the heart of Clifton village, that also keeps it’s doors open for the evening, at which point it sort of turns into a cocktail bar.
During the day is when it is more popular in my mind though, as it serves delicious homemade cakes, sandwiches and light tapas type meals that attract the lunch time crowd. Of course, it also serves coffee’s all day long, so in general it remains fairly lively throughout the morning and the afternoon. There’s also a very pleasant terraced garden area that is very popular in the summer and a great place to sit and have a nice cool beer or a refreshing cocktail.
The prices are just on the uncomfortable side of moderate, but this is Clifton we’re talking about. So to be fair it’s fairly reasonable considering the location.

A swanky bar at the back of a main road in Clifton, Amoeba is typically home to rich Bristol Uni students and the equally funded residents of Clifton. The bar is excellently stocked, and the building itself is deceptive; when you first walk in you expect the small initial impression to be the entirety of the place, but descend the stairs in front of the bar and there’s a whole other level of seating area, and a smart outdoor smoking patio with decking. As a recent addition, they’ve added a hot-​tub in this outdoor bit, donated by Lido, which wasn’t in use when I was here, but I’d quite like to see the mix of hot-​tubs and cocktails in a bar — I can’t imagine if it would be good or bad.
The cocktails are reasonably priced and very good — it’s on par with Goldbrick House in levels of entertainment as you watch the bar staff make your tipple. Weekend evenings are always pretty busy, if you like your place crammed and hustle and bustly then come then, otherwise choose your timings.

Really nice staff and great cocktails. Cool interior design with a very relaxed feel.

Down a back street, this Clifton bar is small but perfectly formed, with neat rows of bottles and glasses greeting you on entry. For me it’s all about the cocktails here. They do a good mojito (not to sweet, like so often is the case) and have staff who know their stuff and put a little flair into the making of it. Enjoy one of these on the bar stools they have and feel a little more classy than if you were standing at some packed pub with a pint.
Unlike a lot of places in Clifton it hasn’t been swamped by students but it can get a bit too busy — it’s not hard for somewhere this small. Try and avoid it at busy times as this it loses its charm then — this is somewhere you need some quiet to be able to appreciate. It’s still always calmer than other places nearby — the Hop House feels rowdy by comparison. If you have a bit more time (and a bit more time, it’s not cheap) stop for a meal — they’re good for lunch or a light dinner.
A lesson that good things come in small packages, Amoeba is a tidy little place with great cocktails that offers a bit more style than just flopping down in a pub.

Swamped by the surrounding bar-​fest of Clifton, tiny little Amoeba is a lucky find. It ain’t rowdy, it ain’t too studenty and sure as hell ain’t a pub. A classy establishment serving classic cocktails alongside Pieminister pies and pints of icy Staropramen with slivers of parma ham tapas.
My fave time of day is the post-​work/​pre-​evening lull — I always get a seat on one of their square leather stools. Add plenty of fairy lights, beeeyyooootiful bar staff and the quiet hum of trip-​hop and there you have it — one of the most understated places in the village (and hence coolest — everyone know it’s about not trying too hard, right?) I have been here when they’ve run out of all but the worst flavours of Pieminister, or when it was so jam-​packed the air is squeezed from your very lungs — not all that pleasant.
The highest recommendation I can give it though is as follows: roughly 4 years ago I attended a very good party in the downstairs room — spilling out into the chic courtyard garden at the back. The mojitos were tangy, the music top-​notch, the pies hot. So, it sticks in my memory so well that I too am booking it for a joint-b’day bash with one of my best mates in the New Year. Praise indeed.

Great place to socialize, really friendly, cosy, great for parties, really nice garden.

Quite different from other bars /​café’s in the area so well worth a visit if only for this reason. in addition however, a good range of food of reasonable ++ quality. Lots of mags and papers and a choice of 4 distincly different sitting areas –open, intimate, peculiar and pavement based all shoehorned into a small space.
Unlike other places in the area it also makes a highly successful transition from day time café to funky fun night time spot.
Highly recomended for at least one or more day time visits and a definate +++ night time visits.

With its tucked away location in Clifton village, it can make it hard to find. However, usually, when you’re getting close, there’s a helpful little blackboard pointing you in the right direction, which is a nice touch.
Inside is a cute, cosy, and cool coffee bar. That serves cocktails by night, as well as coffee (for those of us who are designated driver, and have had a long day at work!)
By day, it has all sorts of lovely homemade cakes, and meals, as well as sandwiches, and tapas-​type snacks. The menu is one of the best things about this place, as it’s relaxed good tasting food, without tipping the scales towards ‘pub grub’.
They have a great variety of beers and cocktails, which should please any drinker, and isn’t too expensive (around 3.00 — 4.00 for alcoholic drinks; I’m not 100% sure, as I was buying 2 coffees, 1 beer, 1 cocktail, but that came under 10.00).
So it’s no wonder it’s a popular destination for young professionals or students looking for somewhere to ‘chill out’.
Outside is a terraced garden, which is a nice designated area for smokers (although it can be chilly in winter!) And, the staff are lovely and helpful, offering to refill drinks and take orders, when the bar is quiet.
Definitely a great place just to sit and chat on the comfy sofas downstairs to catch up with friends!

Funky little bar with original art for sale on the walls, tucked away behind WH Smith in Clifton Village. By day it’s a café serving nice coffees and lunches– Mediterranean style sandwiches, salads and mezze are all on offer. By night they mix some great cocktails, and there’s a good variety of unusual bottled beers. There’s a downstairs room which gets packed out, with quite a cool vibe, and there’s a tiny terraced garden out back for the smokers!

October 2010: (Review Update)
Amoeba is now going stronger than ever and I have become a solid regular since my last update despite moving out of Clifton.
The food aspect has been replaced with basic bar snacks to enable them to concentrate on their impressive cocktail, spirits and beer selection which appears to grow on a daily basis!
The staff are more passionate, knowledgable and friendly than ever, and with the current managers running the show it seems to be improving more and more.
Still perfect for parties, nights out and relaxing over a hemmingway Daquiri during the weeknights.
Novemeber 2009:
Awesome beer and cocktail list and good food starting up again now.
Great to relax, meet up with friends or party. You can easily do all this with the staff as they all know their drinks and how to entertain customers.
Easily the best little bar in Bristol!

Chilled out and relaxed with a more upbeat party feel on the weekends. Great menu and knowledgable staff.

cool cosy and very welcoming and the best mojito this side of Barcelona!!!