Bath Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: The USP of this “very relaxed” yet “lively” Bath pizzeria is the ability to choose your dough as well as the topping on your pizza; not just regular and gluten-free, they also offer hemp, seaweed, black rice and turmeric bases, plus distinctly adventurous toppings (“who knew pistachios on a pizza could be so amazing?!”). A Bristol branch opened in March 2019.

This weir-view five-year-old has built up a considerable local fanclub for its modern European cooking, showcased through keenly priced set menus (2 courses £22, 3 courses £26). Owners Chris Tabbitt and Sarah Olivier met while they were working at the Old Bridge hotel in Huntingdon – Chris as head chef and Sarah as reception manager, and named this restaurant after their son.

“A buzz of conversation and music at just the right volume creates a very good atmosphere”, say fans of this outpost of the well-known chain, which wins higher ratings than most of its siblings. That said, it does sometimes inspire similar gripes: “former London celeb-magnet is proliferating as fast as a hamburger chain… the food is certainly nothing superior – nothing wrong with it as far a chain restaurant food goes, but vastly overpriced”.

Taking afternoon tea in this “wonderful Georgian setting with a trio playing during the meal” – and the Roman baths next door – is to wallow in English history, with literary visitors from Jane Austen to Charles Dickens as your guides. The nibbles – “beetroot-cured smoked salmon with homemade blini”, perhaps – are a secondary consideration, “but well worth having!”.

Feedback is limited but remains enthusiastic for this “very welcoming” dining room – part of a relatively new townhouse hotel, in one of Bath’s cuter pedestrianised enclaves (and occupying a house dating back to the 1400s). “The menu is well thought out, changes often, is enjoyable, and caters well to veggies and non-veggies alike”.

This tightly packed city-centre restaurant celebrates its tenth anniversary this year (on a site some oldies still recall as ‘Hole in the Wall’). “Rob Clayton is a brilliant chef”, say fans (he came to Bath to head the kitchen at the luxury Bath Priory Hotel for seven successful years before launching under his own name). Ratings, though, are middling on account of those who rate the value equation here good rather than exceptional.

The “best coffee EVER” awaits at three-time UK barista champ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood's Queen’s Square coffee shop – and it’s “so cool” too (down to the limited-release ‘drops’ of speciality coffees, mimicking the tactics of hipster sportswear brands). Minor quibble: “they should improve the pastry section” so as to match the sips.

“The range of wine is astonishing, and the staff knowledgeable” at this congenial operation: “really more a wine bar with food, rather than a restaurant” but where “the simple fare tastes great”. You can also buy to take away at the adjoining wine shop. (There was a Walcot Road sibling, but this is no more).

“A good addition to the Bath food scene” – Mike Robinson’s 2020 opening is rated as one of the better performers in his growing partnership with the Indigo hotel chain. “Excellent game dishes and really top-notch cooking generally” are produced from a fairly traditional British menu overseen by chef Gavin Edney which puts a focus on fish as well as Mike’s trademark meaty fare. “Lovely surroundings” too in a stunning 166-bedroom property following a multi-million-pound renovation that combined multiple Grade I and Grade II listed townhouses.

“Incredibly delicious, highly flavoured Vietnamese food on a different level to the norm. Fabulous!”. “This is a lovely little restaurant with exceptional food” – and with a backstory to match: Noya Pawlyn left Vietnam at the age of seven and began cooking for her younger siblings in a refugee camp in Hong Kong while her parents went out to work. She opened her supper club/cookery school/cafe in 2017, and now it is at the forefront of the city’s food scene. “During lockdowns only, Noya & family have raised our spirits with fantastic takeaway food and it’s now a pleasure to return to her lovely restaurant & garden. Superb!”.

A “lovely” three-year-old where you dine “surrounded by beautiful bottles of wine that the owners handpick to go with the small plates” of modern British food, cheese and charcuterie. “The wine list (250+ options) is amazing and the staff are clearly passionate about it”, with some “really unusual choices” on offer.

“An ever-dependable restaurant” amidst the sea of tourist traps blighting this genteel town, this “good-value” indie offers “first-class” modern European grub “with knowledgeable and attentive service to go with it”.

2021 Review: “Bath’s best-kept secret” – this gastropub-with-rooms (great value) and a sheltered garden wins consistently strong ratings for its hearty good food.

2019 Review: In a slightly utilitarian setting next to a Sainsbury’s petrol station and en route to Brizzle, this swish Indian serves some “beautiful food”.

It's all about the “seven-course tasting menu (£70), not too heavy and a complete secret until they bring out the food and tell you about it” at chef Gordon Jones’s “friendly”, intimate venue, outside the town centre, and animated by “lots of cheerful banter” from the staff; “we have lived in Bath for 15 years, and are complete foodies, so why has it taken us so long to get here?!”.

2019 Review: “A busy and useful gastropub near the Lansdowne Park and Ride”, and bolstered by chic interiors as well as ten-mile views over the countryside (walks start right from the door); “great staff” and “amazing” locally sourced food courtesy of a new chef continue to cement its appeal.

Always a “lovely setting for a special meal”, this posh country-house hotel dining room is thriving under head chef Jauca Catalin, a former professional footballer in his native Romania who worked under the great Michael Caines at Bath Priory ten years ago and returned to the top post when Michael Nizzero left in 2020 – having “set a high bar to match”. Jauca has succeeded in spades, with “particularly good fish and meat offerings” – “even eating here four nights in a row with four lunches, we never got bored and enjoyed every dish”. The dining room is also “booked out for weeks on end” for its “magnificent” afternoon teas, whose “sandwiches and cakes served on cake stands look a picture and taste divine”.