Dining Alone at Harvey Nichols

I'm not great at updating social media with all the changes in my life, so for those of you who know me I'll try to catch you up.

If the last thing you heard was that I was living in the Midlands, you're out of date: I moved to Bristol about a year ago, and I like it very much.

If the last thing you heard I was living in Bristol and going out of my mind looking for work, you're out of date: I found a job, and started working in Bath a couple of months ago.

If the last thing you heard I was working in Bath, you're out of date: just like bloody buses, you wait for ages for one then two turn up in quick succession. I start a new job in Bristol on Monday.

All of which means I am now ending a year of tumult, confusion, and oppressive 'free time'. The past couple of weeks I've been twiddling my thumbs a little, not quite knowing what to do with myself before I start the Next Big Chapter, so I decided to treat myself. I took myself to lunch at the Second Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols in Bristol.

I've never been for a fancy meal on my own before, so I did what I always do and put on an air of confidence that clearly said 'I do it this all the time, and what are you looking at, Mr Big Stuff?'. I was able to practice this beforehand by wandering around the make-up counters on the first floor looking for all the world like someone who would spend £25 on a single tube of lipstick, and definitely wasn't there to play with the testers then bugger off.

To their credit they hardly looked surprised at all when I asked for a table for one. The restaurant is spacious, with tall windows looking out over Quakers Friars and Cabot Circus, and decorated entirely in various shades of gold. The last time I was there the temperature was a shade too warm and the music had an intrusive thumping bass that made the whole atmosphere a bit weird and oppressive. This time the cooler temperature and far more agreeable Jazz standards being played meant the whole 'total gold' thing didn't feel nearly as aggressive as it did before.

I went for the Set Menu for September, which is a very reasonable £20 for three courses.

I started with a duck terrine, with a nicely dressed salad, thin, crisp bread and plum and ginger chutney. The duck was tender with decently sized chunks of meat, and each ingredient was exactly in the right proportion to the others. The chutney was pleasantly sweet, but I could have done with more of a gingery punch.

My main was slow cooked pork belly with rainbow chard and what the menu said was 'pickled apple puree' but turned out to be slices of apple poached in something like mulled wine. The portion was a little smaller than I was hoping, but I guess rich people don't eat much. The pork belly was delicious, but it is, as you know, a salty meat. The chard was earthy and well cooked, but a little oversalted. The sauce was rich and would have tied the whole dish together if it hadn't been slightly over reduced, leaving it a little salty. Salt was a theme, is what I'm saying. The three small slices of sweet apple were the only thing that saved the dish. It had clearly been made by someone who knew what they were doing, but took their eye off the ball where seasoning was concerned.

Pudding was a cider brandy parfait with 'apple and olive oil crisps'. The crisps turned out to be thin triangles of pastry, about the texture of a poppadom, sprinkled with cinnamon. I can't say I could discern either apple or olive oil, but they were very tasty nevertheless. Both the parfait and and the apple caramel it was served with were delicious - the highlight of the meal.

I'd be happy to recommend this place to anyone, and the set menu which varies month by month is excellent value, but the 'simple food cooked well' ethos doesn't allow much room for error, and I can't say this was error free.

I very much enjoyed my sole dining experience, although I did feel a little rushed. I guess the wait staff would usually wait for a lull in conversation before clearing plates, but since I was on my own (and the restaurant was largely empty), plates were cleared as soon as I was done and the next course brought out soon after. I barely had time to touch my bread rolls (which were clearly home made and very nice). I sat down at 2pm, and had finished my dessert by 2.40. I was hungry though, so I didn't mind too much.

So don't be put off eating on your own. Just bring something to read, and work up an appetite.