Hospitality at Coombe Dingle!

In the world of cheffing, there’s a clear hierarchy: Michelin-starred haute cuisine at the top, mass catering dinner ladies at the bottom. But I’ve never believed in it.

My name is Tim, and I’m the head chef at Bristol University’s Coombe Dingle Sports Centre. I’ve done my time in restaurants over the years, working at some seriously fancy outfits – but I truly believe that, on all the metrics that matter, we match or even beat the gastro eateries. I’m talking here about quality, taste, nutrition, ethical sourcing, environmental impact, low food waste, and most of all, happy customers.

Admittedly I’ve got some advantages on my side at Coombe Dingle. The biggest one is our hungry customers. You just can’t compete with the feeling of tucking into a tasty vegetable lasagna served with a crisp zesty side salad and perfect double-fried chips after you’ve spent the last two hours huffing around a cold hockey pitch. So I’m prepared to concede that the feedback we get from our ravenous athletes might be a little more effusive than the equivalent sedentary restaurant patron.

The other is the social aspect of the occasion. Teams come in all together. Whether glowing or recriminating on the match they’ve just played, they’ve always got something to talk about, and we all know that, if emotions are running high, food makes everything better. Speaking of which, I am quite sentimental about home teams hosting their opposition. For me it completes the circle of sport and draws a line under the battles that happened on the pitch.

But the key things that really make the food we cook at Coombe Dingle stand out is that we always use fresh ingredients. We make sure our meals are nutritionally balanced. We are generous with our portions and often have extras available.

We are also flexible. While we mainly cater for training and competing sports teams, we can also do events of every possible stripe in our space. We have a fully licensed bar in our listed cricket pavilion, and indoor and outdoor seating in a beautiful setting. So if you have an event that you’d like to arrange, get in touch and we can discuss your arrangements. However that’s enough writing now. Someone once said that “writing about music is like dancing about architecture” so, if you really want to experience what hospitality at Coombe Dingle is all about, then come on down and try it for yourself.

Find out more about hospitality at Coombe Dingle, including how you can book, on our hospitality webpage.