Eat and Drink: the best of Bath
Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has an epicurean streak that serves up quality fare at every turn of its flagstone streets. Local Chris Allsop shares his favourite foodie hotspots in the city.
Ah, Bath. Honey-coloured stone, serene Palladian crescents, Roman ancestry. it’s a lovely spot nestled into a green bowl in the North Somerset countryside, with a canal and a river wending through its regimented Georgian architecture. It’s also a haven for foodies, with speciality coffee shops, indie cheese purveyors, and a plethora of fine restaurants and gastropubs catering for all tastes.
Let them eat buns
However, despite the Georgians prevailing in the city’s visual history, it’s a Restoration-era bun that lords it over the gastronomic heritage of Bath. The Sally Lunn bun (found at the subtly named Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House, pictured left) is a light, brioche-style bun made from a secret recipe that, legend has it, was brought over in 1680 by a French refugee escaping religious persecution. And who says there’s no silver lining to religious persecution? The bun is available in myriad ways: as part of a cream tea, slathered in chocolate spread, and as a breakfast item served with scrambled eggs and tea. But be aware that eating a piece of history comes at a premium price.
Sally Lunn’s also opens at 10am, which may be a little late for breakfast for some. Fortunately, Bath is blessed with an excellent selection of eclectic cafes. The friendly Jazz Café on Kingsmead Street looks out onto one of Bath’s liveliest squares and serves several tasty variations on the Full English. Head north for a broader, more sophisticated menu (think grilled halloumi or egg picante) at Same Same But Different on Bartlett Street. Breakfast here ends at 11:30, but the lunchtime/dinner tapas menu is also worthwhile – as is the sloppy and delicious beef brisket sandwich made with local Bertinet artisan bread.
You could also pop around the corner to George Street and Jika Jika’s wingback leather chairs for a breakfast burrito, while its delectable pulled pork sandwich is the recommended lunchtime option. Finally, Sam’s Kitchen on Walcott Street is a superb stop for breakfast or lunch.
Speciality coffee shops
While you’ll receive a decent flat white at any of the aforementioned cafes, Bath is also fortunate to have a couple of speciality coffee houses that are well worth a detour. Bike-obsessed, hipster-ish Society Café has two presences – a main branch in Kingsmead Square, and another in the covered shopping alley known as the Corridor. It comes with perky service and a choice between a smooth house blend or a single source guest coffee.
Meanwhile, Colonna & Small’s on Chapel Row is the destination for the touring coffee snob. Colonna’s staff have accumulated a bevy of accolades including UK Barista Champion 2014, Finalist at this year’s World Barista Championships, and UK Latte Art Champion 2012, among other coffee-related glories. The baristas are friendly, ever-professional and always eager to share their enthusiasm for speciality coffee. At both of these establishments, the moist and moreish carrot cake is the slice of choice to balance the bitter with the sweet.
Pubs and local breweries
Long before there was speciality coffee in Bath, there was beer. And most excellent it remains. Bath Ales and Abbey Ales are the local breweries to look for (the latter being truly local, made in what appears to be a medium-sized shed just off Lansdown Road). Have a pint of rich and delicious Gem at The Salamander (pictured left) or head over to Bath’s smallest pub, the cosy Coeur de Lion, to enjoy the quaffable Bellringer. Apparently this brewso pleased Bath MP Don Foster that he arranged for it to be sold as a guest beer at the House of Commons.
A young upstart among the local brewers is the James Street Brewery, housed in the Bath Brew House. Inside the pub’s sprawling premises you’ll find a tasty selection of its own cask ales, with nods to the Roman heritage with names like Gladiator (a malty best bitter) and Emperor (a pale ale). There’s also a rotating selection from regional breweries such as the Wild Beer Company, Bristol Beer Factory and Arbour Ales.
Foodie pubs
While The Bath Brew House offers a perfectly respectable pub menu, a fine selection of dedicated gastropubs are also on offer within Bath’s city limits. And while the centrally located The Raven falls short of gastropub status, its menu is dedicated to the award-winning, free range Pieminister pies. No ordinary pies these: the Matador, for example, is stuffed with beef steak, chorizo, olive and butter beans.
For those seeking something more sophisticated than suet and shortcrust, The Chequers offers locally sourced produce crafted into fine fare. Lunch is more pub than gastro, while dinner ramps it up with hearty, well-executed dishes such as the Wiltshire pork fillet and black pudding.
The Porter on George Street (pictured left) used to be a hectic music-focused pub, and its gentrification into the pub we see today was met with sorrow by some locals. That was until they ate there. Now divided into five levels including a library, basement club, and lounge bar, this is a hard beast to pigeonhole. On the ground floor is Clayton’s Kitchen, home to double-starred Michelin chef Rob Clayton, and his menu is reasonably priced and creatively composed. The ewe's curd and lemon zest mousse starter is highly recommended, as is the equally melt-in-the-mouth dry aged 7oz rump cap steak main served with duck fat chips. Friendly and attentive service rounds off a highly satisfying dining experience.
My favourite: Hall & Woodhouse
Another venue hard to pigeonhole is the vast Hall & Woodhouse pub and restaurant just off Queen Square (pictured left). Named after the Dorset-based Hall & Woodhouse brewery, whose award-winning traditional ales dominate the pumps along the gleaming copper-lined bar, H&W’s four levels (the building was previously an auction house) include the ground floor bar/pub/café/living room, first floor restaurant, and rooftop terrace.
Maybe because of its size and vintage/cool country decor there’s always a laid back ambience (service, while always friendly, can sometimes follow suit) and, despite its size, once you’re settled into the eclectic furniture, it can also feel quite cosy. It tries to be all things to all people, and I think it succeeds: whether you’re after a coffee with a slice of Victoria Sponge, or early evening drinks, or a meal, you won’t be unhappy. The menu of posh pub grub has starters such as cured ham and figs in a hazelnut vinaigrette, and while their H&W cheese burger in its brioche bun is far from the most interesting thing in the mains department, it’s a slightly pricey burger (£13) that’ll you’ll be happy to splash the extra quid for.
Best for dinner
Sotto Sotto (pictured left), located beneath romantic curving cellar roofs on North Parade, has been known for its quality and fairly priced “Italian with a contemporary twist” for many years. Rated as the number one restaurant in Bath on Tripadvisor, it’s not to be missed. But if you’d prefer something French, Casanis on Saville Row posts a clipping of restaurant critic A.A. Gill’s column in its window in which he lists the establishment as one of the three finest classic French restaurants in the country. Naturally, it has white linen tablecloths, but the formal is balanced with a relaxed ambience. Casanis does both simple and complicated very well, whether it’s risotto of seasonal veg with pesto oil or a saddle of rabbit ballotine with confit rabbit beignet.
The Circus Café and Restaurant, conveniently poised between tourist draws The Royal Crescent and The Circus, has recently ranked fourth on The Times’ list of ‘20 Secret Restaurants That Foodies Love’. If you’re not a foodie, than a visit will surely make you one. The locally sourced menu changes monthly, but expect mouthfuls of deliciousness along the lines of grilled Wiltshire lamb combined with a mint, aged feta, and hazelnut pesto.
But if that all sounds a little complicated, decamp to multi-award winning The Eastern Eye, tucked away up a highly unpromising set of stairs on Quiet Street. But trust me, this is quality Indian cuisine at bog standard curry house prices.
Delis, bakeries and cheese
If the sun’s a-shining, al fresco dining on a blanket in Victoria Park is a hard proposition to turn down. Cheese and bread being the twin anchors of any successful picnic, you’ll find that Bath has a number of specialty shops ripe for the plunder. The Bertinet Kitchen, run by celebrity baker Richard Bertinet, is well established in the city and its produce is stocked at the central Waitrose.
An impressive selection of artisan cheese can be found at the independent Fine Cheese Co. on Walcott Street (pictured left), where you can also stock up on pastries, charcuterie, and other assorted goodies (the local Bath soft cheese is especially tasty on a slice of Bertinet sourdough). While you’re on Walcott, pop over to Sam’s Kitchen for takeaway salads and sweets, or if you’d rather have someone make up your picnic sarnies for you, nip into the cute blue box that is the Best of British Deli on Broad Street.
A bed for the night
As you’d expect from a UNESCO World Heritage City, there’s plenty of accommodation options for all budgets. As it’s Bath, why not splash out a smidge more than usual and take up residence at the five star luxury B&B Villa Magdala (pictured left)? Its rooms are comfortable and bright, its beds plump and robust, and its breakfasts are well worth the price of admission. With its own in-house chef, Magdala’s guests can choose from items such as oak smoked kippers, Egg Benedict, or a stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes with poached pears and honey the colour of Bath’s golden stone.
You can view a larger, printable version of this map here
Have you any other Bath foodie pit stops to recommend? We can’t possibly cover everywhere, so please don’t be shy with your suggestions in the Comments box below.
You might also like:
Eat and Drink: the best of Brighton
Eat and Drink: the best of Greenwich, London
Eat and Drink: the best of Hitchin, Herts
Comments
Be the first to comment
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature