The Best of British in Bath
There can be few more quintessentially British towns than Bath. With its glorious Georgian crescents and perfectly English vistas this World Heritage city is perfectly preserved. Apart from unrivalled attractions like the Roman Baths, there is much for the visitor to see and do in Bath. A vibrant retail and restaurant scene give Bath the edge over many of its competitors. Food and drink are such an important part of any visitor's stay that Bath Tourism Plus recently launched "Tasty Bath" to highlight the diversity of what's on offer from great gastropubs to genteel tea houses and from Michelin starred restaurants to informal brasseries and delis.
A Ploughmans Lunch
The Old Green Tree at No 12 Green Street is one of Bath's oldest pubs dating from 1716. Even the interiors, divided into three wood panelled rooms, date from 1928. Today visitors can sit alongside locals and enjoy a well nurtured pint of real ale and a home cooked lunch. Traditional pubs meals include pies such as steak and ale and a nourishing Ploughman's featuring Wiltshire ham or mature cheddar cheese, and freshly baked breads, garnished with chutneys and salad. Rural pubs in the villages around Bath like the the Hope and Anchor at Midford and the Goerge Inn at Norton St Philip offer nourishing Ploughman's lunches. Legend has it that the farmer's wife would pack a slab of cheese and bread with an onion for the ploughman's lunch on chill winter mornings. As the West Country is home to cheddar and a host of other English cheeses as well as locally reared ham from Wiltshire this is a great area to sample some top quality Ploughman's.
Fish and Chips
Fast food may have a bad name but fish and chips pre dates all of the infamous brands that have become synonymous with poor diet and fat kids. Fish and chips is not only delicious comfort food but it is an excellent source of protein and rich in vitamins C, B6 and B12 as well as iron and calcium. Seafoods, which has been providing this most British of dishes to the people of Bath for nearly one hundred years, is located in Kingsmead Square. It has its own restaurant as well as a take-away service for those that want to have a picnic and eat out of newspaper. Seafoods ranks as one of the best five fish and chip shops in the whole of the south-west and was a finalist in the "fish and chip shop of the year" in 2005. To make sure their fish is always fresh, as much as possible comes directly from Cornwall.
Afternoon Tea
Tea may be the British national beverage but the habit of taking full afternoon tea belongs to a more leisurely era. However, with the perfectly preserved Georgian terraces of Bath it is easy to travel back in time and imagine a genteel gathering for tea.
Behind the facade of the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath is a perfect English garden, where afternoon tea is served on fine days (or in the drawing room if the weather is inclement). A quartet of finger sandwiches is followed by homemade scones with clotted cream, a selection of cakes and pastries and Bath buns and a choice of ten teas. The ritual of taking tea would have been an important social occasion in Georgian drawing rooms and is just as enjoyable in the 21st Century. With its sparkling chandeliers and string quartet, The Pump Room, must be among the grandest places in the UK for afternoon tea. For a more cosy traditional tea room, there is Sally Lunn's around the corner, reputed to be the oldest house in Bath. Here scones are substituted by the famous Sally Lunn bun baked to a secret recipe.
A Curry
Every British high street has its own curry house and curry has become as much of a British institution as fish and chips. The Eastern Eye in Bath enjoys an extraordinary setting dating from 1824 in a vast Regency room which was once used as a Methodist chapel. With capacity for 175 guests this must rank as one of the largest and most impressive settings for an Indian restaurant in the country. Cuisine from Bengal nd Northern India is prepared by the Coudhury family who have been custodians of the Eastern Eye for 23 years. Authentic regional Indian cuisine created through subtle combinations of spices and seasonings give the food its distinctive flavours and aromas.
Full English Breakfast
The Real Bath Breakfast marks out those hotels and guest houses that cook that great British institution a "full English breakfast" using locally sourced ingredients. At Great Ashley Farm, only 15 minutes from the city of Bath, and close to the lovely old wool town of Bradford-upon-Avon, guests can stay in the relaxed atmosphere of a real working farm. Accommodation is of a high standard and breakfast, served in the farmhouse kitchen, will set you up for the day. Their full English breakfast includes locally produced bacon and sausage, fresh eggs from the farm, hashbrowns, mushrooms and tomatoes. There is also a vegetarian option or smoked salmon served with scrambled eggs from the farm on a toasted savory muffin with grilled tomatoes.
Pratt's Hotel in the centre of Bath was one of the first hotels in the city to introduce the Real Bath Breakfast which indicates that produce from local farms and families within a 40 mile radius and Fairtrade teas and coffees are served. Grey Lodge, a guesthouse in Combe Down goes one step further and makes their own jams from fruit grown in their garden.
Sunday Roast
The Sunday Roast tends to be a family affair when a substantial joint of lamb with mint sauce, pork with apple sauce or beef with yorkshire puddings and horse raddish sauce is served "with all the trimmings" including roast potatoes and a variety of fresh vegetables. The origins of this traditional meal date back to the days when the squire of the village would treat his serfs to a feast of roast oxon on the spit on a Sunday to reward them for their six days of hard labour in the week.
The Cavendish Restaurant at Dukes Hotel serves Sunday lunch from locally sourced and organic ingredients in its light and elegant dining room. Many pubs offer an excellent Sunday lunch including the King William in the city centre, the Wheatsheaf at Coombe Hay and the Wheelwright's Arms.
A proper picnic hamper
The picture postcard countryside that surround Bath makes the ideal setting for a picnic so pack up a hamper and explore. The Fine Cheese Company, now a successful cheese retailer and wholesaler, was created on a whim "we wanted to offer all the things that you might need in a picnic" says Ann-Marie Dyas of the Fine Cheese Company. Not only do they stock 150 cheeses but they also sell biscuits, locally made bread by Hobbs House, their own herb flavoured crackers, charcuterie and pickles and chutneys to complement the cheeses. At their cheese shop in Walcott Street you can pack up a "picnic in wonderland ", a "dream selection of things to eat and drink for Alice, the mad hatter, the doormouse and the rest of one's unexpected guests". The hamper can be scaled down for a romantic picnic for two, to be taken sitting in Royal Victoria Park in front of the Royal Crescent or taken to soar above the clouds in a hot air balloon.
For further information on things to do and see and where to stay in Bath please call Bath Tourist Information Centre on 0906 7112000 (calls charged at 50p per minute) or log on to www.visitbath.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
1. For further information please contact Nicky Hancock on 01225 332299 or by e-mail at nicky@hancockcomm.com or Debbie Ponting at Bath Tourism Plus on 01225 477441 or by email on: debbie_ponting@bathtourism.co.uk
2. Bath Tourism Plus
Bath's destination marketing organisation, Bath Tourism Plus, began trading on 1st October 2003, taking over the management of tourism promotion from Bath & North East Somerset Council and in the process, establishing a ground-breaking partnership between the public and private sector.
Working with the public and private sectors Bath Tourism Plus takes full responsibility for co-coordinating the work of a busy tourist information centre, the marketing of Bath and the surrounding area to leisure and business travellers, PR activity to attract the nation's top travel writers, a conference office, and development of Bath's official tourism internet site www.visitbath.co.uk. Its primary objective is to optimise the value of tourism for members.
Copyright © 2008 Bath Tourism Plus
