Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Bath. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
Restaurants
Olive Tree
Situated in a Bath townhouse, the Queensberry Hotel is a 29-room boutique property that oozes Regency elegance. Its restaurant, Olive Tree, is an equally stylish combination of crisp white linen and plush chocolate leather. The unpretentious modern, Med-tinged English cuisine it serves up – pot-roasted guinea fowl, pan-fried Cornish sea bass – is very good and reasonably priced.
Queensberry Hotel, Russel Street, Bath BA1 2QF
(+44 (0)1225 447928)
Blackstones Restaurant
A Georgian townhouse that’s been turned into a five-roomed restaurant offering seasonal British food sourced from suppliers in Somerset and surrounding counties. Choose between the frisée salad with Wiltshire bacon, croutons and poached egg, and seared Cornish scallops with crème fraîche, rocket and home-made chilli jam (www.blackstonefood.co.uk).
2–3 Queen Street, Bath, Somerset BA1 1HE
(+44 (0)1225 444403)
Cavendish Restaurant
Part of the gorgeous Georgian Dukes Hotel, with a restored Palladian exterior, the Cavendish Restaurant is hotly tipped by locals, and offers seasonal British menus – all expertly prepared by chef Richard Allen. Ask for a table in its secluded patio garden on warmer days (www.dukesbath.co.uk).
Dukes Hotel, Great Pulteney Street, Bath BA2 4DN
(+44 (0)1225 787960)
Browns Restaurant & Bar
For a mod-Med menu and views across 'green Bath' beyond Pulteney Bridge, book a table at relaxed Browns. Afternoon tea is served 14h–17h.
Orange Grove, Bath BA1 1LP
(+44 (0)1225 461199)
The Hole in the Wall
A former Georgian coal cellar, this vaulted restaurant sets the benchmark for Modern British food in Bath. Informal, low-key and with an extensive wine list – some 35 by the glass – it’s a great spot for lunch. In winter, ask for a table near the fire.
16 George Street, Bath BA1 2EH
(+44 (0)1225 425242)
The Bath Priory
Michelin-starred for almost a decade, this restaurant is definitely worth booking for its accomplished French-tilted Mediterranean cuisine. Fresh, clean and precise, dishes rely on the freshest seasonal produce available, with many ingredients sourced from its own organic kitchen garden. The elegant dining room overlooks the hotel’s pretty grounds, so try to request a table at one of the windows if you’re there for lunch. No denim or trainers.
The Bath Priory Hotel, Weston Road, Bath BA1 2XT
(+44 (0)1225 331922)
Martini Ristorante
A warm and inviting Italian restaurant near Bath Spa train station, Martini has been a local favourite for many years. Chef Luigi is known as much for his ice-cream and impeccable selection of fine cheeses as his delicious risottos, stone-baked pizzas and home-made pasta dishes (www.martinirestaurantbath.com).
8–9 George Street, Bath BA1 2EH
(+44 (0)1225 460818)
Woods
Popular with locals, this bistro is informal and intimate, serving simple, good-value Anglo-French dishes.
9–13 Alfred Street, Bath BA1 2QX
(+44 (0)1225 314812)
Bistro Papillon
A classic checked-tablecloth bistro, serving delicious French and Mediterranean favourites from an open kitchen.
2 Margaret's Buildings, Brock Street, Bath BA1 2LP
(+44 (0)1225 310064)
Vaults Restaurant & Bar
Underneath the Theatre Royal (www.theatreroyal.org.uk), this cave-like nook has won awards for its matinee lunches and pre-show dinners. It’s more than just a place to eat before the theatre, though: pop in for a piece of afternoon amaretti chocolate cake, or for a supper of steamed mussels.
Theatre Royal, Sawclose, Bath BA1 1EY
(+44 (0)1225 442265)
Beaujolais
Relaxed, light-filled bistro and bar with a contemporary touch, good local food, and changing seasonal menus on offer from breakfast to dinner. There’s even a secret garden for summer dining en plein air (www.beaujolaisbath.co.uk).
5 Chapel Row, off Queen Square, Bath BA1 1HN
(+44 (0)1225 423417)
Cafés
The House of Minerva
The only licensed chocolate shop in the UK, this wonderful Bath establishment is the place to go if you want to accompany handmade truffles – whipped up in front of you – with a glass or two of champagne. It’s worth the trip just to experience Philippe and Thierry, the eccentric resident master chocolatiers from Belgium (www.chocolatemaster.co.uk).
15 Abbey Church Yard, 14 Cheap Street, Bath BA1 1LY
(+44 (0)1225 464999)
Chandos Deli
An award-winning Mediterranean deli stocked with fantastic cheeses, handmade cakes, antipasti, oils and olives. Tasting is heartily encouraged, so pull up a chair at the counter and munch through charcuterie- and fromage-filled sandwiches (www.chandosdeli.com).
12 George Street, Bath BA1 2EH
(+44 (0)1225 314418)
The Pump Room
When in Bath, an afternoon visit to the Pump Room in the Roman Baths is obligatory. To complete the Jane Austen experience of live strings, chandeliers, foxgloves and imperial columns, order the three tiers of afternoon tea for two. (Bookings are only taken Monday–Friday).
Roman Baths, Stall Street, Bath BA1 1LZ
(+44 (0)1225 444477)
Juice Kitchen
If you’re struggling to find the time to fit in your five-a-day while on your Somerset break, head for this smoothie bar on Bath’s George Street, for super-healthy breakfasts, soups and speciality teas. Proof that wheatgrass shots and melon frappés do exist outside of Islington (www.juicekitchen.co.uk).
3 George Street, Bath BA1 2EH
(+44 (0)1225 480666)
Blackstones’ Kitchen
This gourmet takeaway is the best place in Bath for soups and coffees – make sure you accompany them with one of Blackstones’ famous pecan brownies. The sister restaurant opposite does a mean sloe gin and mint crush cocktail (www.blackstonefood.co.uk).
10a Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE
(+44 (0)1225 444403)
Riverside Café
A great water-view spot, ideal for lunch or a coffee overlooking the river.
17 Argyle Street (below Pulteney Bridge), Bath BA2 4BQ
(+44 (0)1225 480532)
Bar Chocolat
Next to Bang & Olufsen, this all-things-in-chocolate-form café is open 09h–18h (11h–17h Sundays). White chocolate ice-cream, hot chocolate, chocolate gâteaux, pain au chocolat… you get the picture.
3 Argyle Street, Bath BA2 4BA
(+44 (0)1225 446060)
Bars and clubs
Central Wine Bar
This excellent bar has some dangerously comfortable sofas; get there early, lay claim to the one that looks cosiest, and settle in for an evening of delicious, devilish drinking. Downstairs is wine-focused, upstairs is more about the shaken and stirred. During the day, there are also paninis, salads and lashings of tagliatelle.
10 Upper Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1RG
(+44 (0)1225 333939)
The Raincheck Bar
With a touch of Manhattan to its art deco interior and fabulous cocktails, this bar is a chic late-night venue; it's popular with the post-theatre crowd.
34 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2AN
(+44 (0)1225 444770)
Moles Club
Housed in a cellar, this well-regarded venue is right at the centre of Somerset’s live music scene. Its indie discos are an essential stop-off for anyone who wants to relive days gone by, dancing to ‘Fool’s Gold’ with a plastic pint glass in their hand. Great fun (www.moles.co.uk).
14 George Street, Bath BA1 2EN
(+44 (0)1225 404445)
The Raven of Bath
This adorable little pub, a family-run freehouse, is full of rambling bookshelves, odd stools and mismatched chairs. It’s as messy and sweet as the endearing real-ale regulars who make a show of holding their pints up to the light (www.theravenofbath.co.uk).
7 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE
(+44 (0)1225 425045)
Bonghy-Bo
Named after a line of Edward Lear's nonsense verse and concealed in a courtyard off Bath’s main street, this is one of the city’s best-kept secrets – a good place to order lunchtime noodles at the oriental-themed bar, or sip an evening glass of wine under the heated canopies.
2–3 Barton Court, Upper Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1RZ
(+44 (0)1225 462276)
The Salamander
A little real-ales pub with wood-panelled booths at the back – just perfect for fish and chips or a lunchtime steak sandwich. Can get pretty packed on weekend evenings, although the occasional Irish music sessions are good fun.
3 John Street, Queens Square, Bath BA1 2JL
(+44 (0)1225 428889)