V-Shed

Myself and my partner opted for the Beer & a Burger @£4:99 which sounded a bargain, well it is if you want your Burger pretty much cremated, a pity as even in its sorry state it still tasted not too bad with the nice relish and salad, plus the Chips are cooked to perfection, crispy on the outside, fluffy inside.
Service was quick, come on guys, don’t do a simple thing like nuking a Burger (my partners was the same!) when you are offering on the whole, great value for money

Broken noses & pies without filling. No not the name of Russell Crow’s band, just the best description of this bar I could think of, it should probably be the tagline.
My friend made the mistake of having lunch here once; I opted out as I don’t usually trust microwavable burgers, but he chose the pie and chips (and to be fair the prices are very low), he eagerly awaited his sure to be tasty meal only to find out when it arrived that the pie was empty. That’s right he had pastry and chips — mmm dry — but he had waited so long he couldn’t be bothered to complain.
Ok so we have established that Gordon Ramsey isn’t in charge of the menu, so really it’s the dirt cheap booze and sh*t shirts & short skirts atmosphere that would bring you here. It’s just that there are so many men here with crumpled noses, literally strapped back to their faces, I’m pretty sure this didn’t happen to them in V-​shed (Lloyds bar?), the bouncers know what they’re doing, probably, but still, I don’t think these lads are strangers to situations where you’d end up having your face caved inwards.
But despite this, huge groups of students, who don’t really care where they are as long as the bar is cheap and accessible, love this place and it is perfect for them. It’s one of these strange breeds of pubs that is gigantic and colourful and seems to have evolved out of the more traditional pub, Wetherspoons and horrible super clubs combined; with décor similar to that of an airport waiting lounge (purely functional and cheap).

Although Lloyds is a chain bar/​pub, I find they tend to vary a lot from each other, and I just want to say how nice this particular one is!
For starters it is located on the Bristol Waterfront, with the river just outside the front — and the outside seating is great because you can over look the river whilst having a drink! In the winter months this is also enjoyable because they have outdoor heaters which work a treat!
The interior is also pretty cool, there’s an upstairs and a downstairs bar, and quite a lot of seating around the place as well as a dance floor in the middle — you can spend a good few hours here having a few drinks and a dance. Prices are fairly reasonable too — you can get a pitcher for around £7, which, considering how large they are, isn’t bad at all!
The location is the best thing about this bar — and it is also just around the corner from Oceana, so if you fancy a night out there then this is a great place to have a few cheeky drinks before hand!

What I find incredibly annoying about V-​Shed is that it could have everything going for it. Great space, excellent location and cheap prices — yet it fails on every level. Well, it is part of the Wetherspoons gang after all! The music is dreadful (90’s R&B and the occasional remix of Britney Spears), the drinks are uninspiring and the crowd are depressing.
For unknown reasons, even to me, I’ve been here a handful of teams — each time vowing that I wouldn’t come back. I’ve now stuck to my promise at my life is better for it! Pop across the water to the sunnier side of the street where the bars and the punters are much more fun.

Although it might not look like it at first glance, V Shed is actually part of the J D Weatherspoon’s chain. Now that you know this I really don’t have to tell you too much about the pub itself, as I’m sure you’re all aware of what to expect from this chain. I will tell you about an experience I had in this one in particular though.
I’m allergic to tomatoes which is very annoying because whenever I eat out I have to make sure the meal I’m ordering doesn’t have any tomatoes in it (just raw tomatoes). I ordered a barbeque chicken baguette in the V Shed once and asked if mine could be made without tomatoes. «Certainly» she said. As you can probably guess it came with tomatoes in, so I had to send it back. I made it clear that they couldn’t just take them out as the juice would be enough to send me off. Naturally, when it came back I could see there were tomato pips left in the baguette and they had indeed just taken the tomato out. I sent it back again. The third time it came to my table and despite my complaints until this point, they brought me back another baguette with a tomato back in it! This had been going on for about 45 minutes by this stage so I decided to ask for my money back and eat elsewhere.

Down on the waterfront, this is a JD Weatherspoons pub with the usual things that come the label. Expect noisiness, stickiness, and a fair bit of rudeness. They have a DJ, which some Weatherspoons don’t, not sure it makes much of an improvement though.
I’m probably being a bit of a snob so I’ll attempt to give a fairer description. Like the Watershed and other places on this row, the pubs located in a former warehouse from when Bristol’s harbour was a bustling port, so there’s a bit of history to the place. Although, there isn’t a trace of that now with lots of soft colours and wood on display, it feels quite living roomish. It’s on the waterfront and you can sit out by the boats and feel rather civilised.
With all those things said I still can’t recommend it. A walk across Pero’s Bridge and Queens Square will take you to King Street, which has a whole host of better pubs than this place, some of which are just as cheap as well.

Rather confusingly I, as does everyone I know, thought this was called Lloyds Bar, but it transpires it’s actually called V-​Shed. Lloyds Bar, I’ve just discovered, is a name to a special kind of Wetherspoon’s where they have music, to quote the website: «At the weekends, in busy towns, the party continues into the evenings — many with live DJs getting you in the mood for a great night out!»
The part of me that doesn’t like to kick someone while they’re down thinks I should leave the review there, but I’ll just add that when I was drinking outside the Arnolfini on a recent Sunday afternoon, we could hear the singing from the collective chavs gathered at V-​Shed from the other side of the water. Put simply: it’s a Wetherspoon’s. But even more lairy. On the waterfront. Avoid.