Best restaurants in Bath at a glance
- The Scallop Shell – Casual dining, cheap eats, child-friendly
- Corkage – Casual dining, cheap eats
- Menu Gordon Jones – Special occasions
- Woods – Child-friendly
- Emberwood – Special occasions
- Henry’s – Special occasions
- Dough – Casual dining, child-friendly
- The Pulteney Arms – Casual dining, child-friendly, cheap eats
- Noya’s Vietnamese Supper Club – Casual dining
- The Dark Horse – Casual dining
- Chez Dominique – Casual dining, cheap eats
- Same Same But Different – Casual dining, cheap eats, child-friendly
- Chaiwalla – Cheap eats
- The Circus – Casual dining
- Society – Cheap eats
- King William – Casual dining
- Bar 15, No 15 Great Pulteney – Special occasions
- Hudson’s Steakhouse – Casual dining, child-friendly
Best for: Casual dining, cheap eats, child-friendly
A favourite of local chefs and civvies alike, this was nominated independent fish & chip restaurant of the year in the 2016 National Fish & Chip Awards. Come here for brilliantly fresh fish, including some of the best haddock & chips I’ve eaten. Look out for deliciously plump Cornish mussels too. Haddock & chips, £24.50; mussels, £11.50.
Best for: Casual dining, cheap eats
This cosy wine bar, run by local Richard Knighting and endearingly eccentric former acrobat Marty Grant, is a great place to try interesting wines – many of which they import themselves. With 50ml tasting samples on offer, you can try several, fortified by a regularly changing menu of substantial small plates, such as crab on toast. Booking essential. Vegetarian courses from £7.50 and meat courses from £12, small glasses of wine, £6.50-17.50.
Menu Gordon Jones
Best for: Special occasions
Menu Gordon Jones, whose chef used to cook at Bath’s landmark Royal Crescent Hotel, is a strong contender if you’re after innovative food. The no-choice menu won’t be for everyone, but it’s a real gastronomic experience. Surprise 9-course menu for lunch or dinner is £100, or enjoy alongside a hand-picked wine flight for £185.
Woods
Best for: Child-friendly
A Bath institution, Woods has been going since 1979 and has a loyal following among locals who love its retro food and decor. Ideal for a light lunch or for cosy get-togethers with family. Mains from £19.50; two-course lunch/early dinner, £30.
Best for: Special occasions
Emberwood is the standout newcomer to Bath’s dining scene, tucked inside the Francis Hotel and built around a theatrical open kitchen where chefs work over a charcoal grill. Counter seating lets diners watch the action, particularly compelling as aged ex-dairy steaks from Westcombe or monkfish from the Cornish coast hit the coals. Chef David Hazell’s menu is rooted in the best of the South West, like courgette with wild garlic cacio e pepe, or beef shin and stout pie with cavolo nero. Old-school charm comes via the martini and dessert trolleys. Don’t miss the miso custard tart, which shows serious skill from the pastry section. Starters from £10, mains from £18.
Best for: Casual dining, child-friendly
Friendly, Italian-run Dough would be nice enough as a standard pizzeria but delivers far more, including alternative crusts, which range from hemp to nutty Italian grano arso (scorched grain). Not cheap, but four people could easily share three pizzas. Sit near the front to watch the pizzaioli expertly spin the dough. Pizzas from £11.50.
The Pulteney Arms
Best for: Child-friendly, cheap eats, casual dining
There are more beautiful pubs in Bath, but the slightly scruffy Pulteney is a favourite with locals. Sunday roasts are a particular bargain, with hearty portions of roast beef & Yorkshire pudding. Skip the starters and leave room for old-fashioned puds such as apple crumble & cream. Mains from £12.
Best for: Casual dining
You’ll need to book well ahead for this hugely popular Vietnamese supper club run by the diminutive, bubbly Noya Pawlyn. For £65 you get five generous, beautifully cooked courses of vibrant, spicy food. The chicken salad with fish sauce chicken wing is to die for. It’s also BYOB – order your wine ahead from nearby Great Western Wine and they’ll deliver.
Best for: Casual dining
A dark atmospheric cocktail bar of the kind you’d be more likely to find in Shoreditch than Bath. Everything about the place, from the decor to drinks, is sourced from West Country producers, materials and workmen. Cocktails change seasonally, expect cocktails like the First Draft (strawberry infused wood bros vodka, somerset cider brandy 3yr, strawberry & black pepper shrub, lime, peychaud’s bitters and soda) and Starter’s Pistol (basil-infused barsol pisco, kiwi syrup, cacao blanco, cucumber juice, lime) from £13.50. Add to this a super-cool soundtrack and it’s clear why Dark Horse was listed among the best new UK bars of 2016. Conveniently central too.
Best for: Casual dining, cheap eats
Not quite as French as the name would suggest, but there’s some good bistro cooking at this cosy little family-run bistro on Argyle Street. While some dishes acknowledge the French influence, others have more of an Italian vibe. Great value set lunch/early evening supper at just £24 for two courses.
Best for: Casual dining, cheap eats, child-friendly
One of Bath’s many institutions, this endearingly retro café is a cheap and friendly place to grab a bite from a hearty English breakfast to a tapas menu later in the day. Their breakfasts are cooked to order using the freshest seasonal produce – you can taste the care going into each dish. It’s also worth every penny with breakfasts starting at £3.
Best for: Cheap eats
Ex-street food trader Niraj Gadher offers delicious vegetarian takeaway food from what is basically a hole in the wall in Monmouth Street. Try her 20 samosa box for just £20. Understandably there are always queues.
Best for: Casual dining
Seated over two floors (upstairs is jollier), this popular local restaurant occupies a Georgian house between two great Bath landmarks, the Circus and the Royal Crescent, and offers home-style English dinner party cooking at reasonable prices. Good value house wine at £7.90 a glass, and they source direct from small producers as much as possible. Mains from £21.30.
Best for: Cheap eats
Bath is spoilt for good coffee places (rivals speak of the trailblazer Colonna & Small’s with reverence), but this cool little coffee shop on Kingsmead Square offering a carefully sourced range of coffees and indulgent hot chocolate is worth a shout-out as a good central meeting place. There are outdoor tables during fine weather.
Best for: Special occasions
Even if you’re not staying at this stylish new boutique hotel, find time to drop in for a drink. It’s quite an experience. The cocktail menu, which ranges from the classic to the quirky, is printed on playing cards. If you don’t feel quite strong enough, there’s a good wine list, too.
Best for: Casual dining, child-friendly
This popular London Street steakhouse is the place to go in Bath if you’re craving a large hunk of meat. Steaks, which range from Tuscan butterfly fillet (£29) to fillet (£35), are aged for a minimum of 35 days. There’s also a towering burger & chips (£18), which should please hungry teens.
6 foodie places to try
Bath Farmer’s Market
One of the best in the South-West, this Saturday morning market has a great range of produce (don’t miss smoked fish from Felce Foods).
Working with Landrace Milling in southern Somerset, where specialty grains are grown and milled, this bakery consistently delivers interesting buns and breads. Try the cinnamon bun or a vanilla cornetto. @landracebakery
The Fine Cheese Co.
Bath has two top-notch cheese shops (the other is Paxton & Whitfield), but Fine Cheese has a more wide-ranging selection, along with fabulous condiments and prepared plates.
Bertinet Bakery
Lately downsized from a café to a tiny bakery, Bertinet still remains the place to buy sourdough.
Breakfast bagels stuffed with sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs, cheese, you name it. Available in four locations and served with excellent coffee. @taylors.bagels
Comins Tea House
A cool, contemporary tea shop offering an astonishing range of authentic Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese teas. Enjoy dumplings at lunchtime and cakes in the afternoon.
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Is there anywhere we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below…
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