Over the past decade, the options for eating out well and affordably in Bath – in cafés and pubs as well as in proper restaurants – have improved enormously.
The Olive Tree (1)
The basement restaurant of the Queensberry Hotel (see hotel recommendations) is one of the best places in Bath for posh dining, and given the high quality of the cooking, meals are good value. Carefully constructed, beautifully presented, precisely cooked dishes such as roast baby chicken with a neat rectangle of dauphinoise potato, or a white chocolate delice with chunks of honeycomb and pistachio ice-cream, are hard to fault.
The award-winning wine list is unusually arranged by flavours rather than countries and regions. With bare wooden tables and abstract art, the split-level dining room is a bit boring – but that does mean there is little to distract from the excellent food. The basement restaurant of the Queensberry Hotel offers some of the most accomplished posh dining in Bath.
Address: Russel Street, Bath BA1 2QF
Contact: 01225 447928; olivetreebath.co.uk
Prices: table d’hôte three-course lunch menu £24; à la carte dinner, three courses around £40
Opening times: open lunch Fri-Sun, dinner daily.
Reservations: recommended at weekends. Cards accepted
££
King William (2)
This cosy, small-scale pub serves excellent, seasonal British food, using the local butcher and grocer from just down the road in Larkhall as suppliers. You can dine at one of the half-a-dozen tables in the diminutive front and back bar rooms, or, Wednesday to Saturday evening and Sunday lunchtime, up the steep stairs in the simple but attractive dining rooms.
The substantial steak sandwich, and chips served Dutch style with mayo, are recommended from the blackboard bar menu, while the robust full menu in winter might include potted pheasant, cod with a salt beef potato cake and salsify, and a delicious poached pear and set cinnamon cream combination. The location on the traffic-ridden London Road is not at all nice, but that means the clientele is primarily comprised of locals, not tourists. Dine downstairs for more atmosphere, upstairs for more space.
Address: 36 Thomas Street, Bath BA1 5NN
Contact: 01225 428096; kingwilliampub.com
Prices: for three courses, set lunch menu £22.50, dinner around £30-£40; also pre-theatre set menu (three courses £24)
Opening times: open Tue-Sat lunch and dinner
Reservations: recommended. Cards accepted
Casanis (3)
Soupe de poissons, confit de canard, tarte aux pommes… Casanis produces reliably good classic French dishes and serves them very properly, in pretty, elegant and intimate Georgian dining rooms. The chef, Laurent Couvreur, is from Provence – a giant vat of his grandmother’s vin d’orange sits on the bar – while his hospitable wife, Gill, looks after front of house. They live above the bistro. Dine downstairs for more atmosphere, upstairs for more space.
Address: 4 Saville Row, Bath BA1 2QP
Contact: 01225 780055; casanis.co.uk
Prices: for three courses, set lunch menu £22.50, dinner around £30-£40; also pre-theatre set menu (three courses £24)
Opening times: open Tue-Sat lunch and dinner
Reservations: recommended at weekends. Cards accepted
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Stonehenge, Salisbury & Royal Bath
A special day trip planned just for you.
Tour Highlights: Stonehenge monument, Stonehenge museum & visitor centre, ancient Salisbury, Salisbury Cathedral , the Magna Carta, beautiful Georgian Bath, The Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, The Royal Crescent, The Circus, Pulteney Bridge, Jane Austin Museum, breathtaking countryside views.