Bath: Eating and Sleeping

Firehouse Rotisserie

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Restaurant | "Disappointing"

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The Firehouse Rotisserie bills itself as a Californian restaurant and is based in central Bath (there is also a branch in Bristol) and it's dishes are mainly grills and brick fired pizzas. We ate there one Monday lunchtime, arriving at about 12.30pm, which was about right as it got quite a bit busier after that. We sat on the ground floor but it looks like they have tables upstairs if this was full. The decor is simple, but nicely furnishes with wooden tables and chairs. Our waitress gave us the food and wine menus, there were no other drinks menus, so we were unsure what other drinks there were so just went with the usual soft drinks. I like interesting juices and home-made lemonades but there di...Read More

The Firehouse Rotisserie bills itself as a Californian restaurant and is based in central Bath (there is also a branch in Bristol) and it's dishes are mainly grills and brick fired pizzas. We ate there one Monday lunchtime, arriving at about 12.30pm, which was about right as it got quite a bit busier after that. We sat on the ground floor but it looks like they have tables upstairs if this was full. The decor is simple, but nicely furnishes with wooden tables and chairs. Our waitress gave us the food and wine menus, there were no other drinks menus, so we were unsure what other drinks there were so just went with the usual soft drinks. I like interesting juices and home-made lemonades but there didn't appear to be any other drinks menus, so I have no idea if this is available. We both went for their Gourmet Brick Fired Pizzas. I thought they were quite expensive at £10.95 and £11.95 each, but looking around the restaurant seemed to be generous with their portions on the grill side of things.

I ordered a pizza with goats cheese, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, olives and rocket. All ingredients which I love so I was looking forward to it. It arrived piled high with toppings, if you had wanted to eat the pizza with your fingers I think you would have come a cropper, as gravity would not have allowed it! Plus I am not sure the pizza base could have supported the weight alone without a plate. However, whilst it was generously topped, it wasn't particularly well presented. I don't know if it was company policy or I just had a lazy chef prepare mine, but the pieces of each ingredient were quite large and not chopped much. The olives were large and sometimes I had two-thirds of one next to a large piece of sun-dried tomato, with a piece of artichoke three times the size I would like, on a great wodge of goat's cheese with peppery rocket piled on top. As well as being difficult to eat, (you did get a good knife to cut it with – at least you're not trying to tear it with a regular knife and sending all those toppings flying) sadly it didn't taste very nice. The ingredients just competed with each other, I was getting a combination of strong flavours that clashed rather than complemented. I picked off the olives first, and that helped, but there were so many I couldn't get them all. I then started removing the sun-dried tomato, but still the pizza just didn't work for me. I don't recall the pesto dressing at all and that normally has a bit of a tang, but it obviously got lost under everything else. My other half ordered Spicy Baja Chicken pizza with avocado salsa, fresh coriander and sour cream. He was also disappointed, as the chicken, whilst spicy, just took over from everything else, and the avocado salsa which he had so much been looking forward too, just got lost.

Whilst the food had been disappointing, the service was good, such as it was. Toilets were clean and tidy although on the second floor (I believe their were disabled toilets on the ground floor). We decided not to have a dessert. Overall our bill came to about £27. I don't feel I can recommend this restaurant unfortunately. It was expensive for a pizza, and they may justify it with their generous portions, however I would rather have a cheaper price with a more modest, yet still adequate, level of topping. This way the flavours may distribute themselves a bit better, instead of all in the same mouthful. Saying that, the quantity of the topping is irrelevant if the pizza doesn't taste very good. The base seemed well done, but I am not sure mozzarella cheese was used (on either of them), as I didn't get the stringy effect as I lifted a piece up. However it would have been overpowered on our plates anyway, but sometimes less is more.
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Member Rating 2 out of 5 on April 8, 2010

Firehouse Rotisserie
2 John Street
Bath, England BA1 2JL
+44 (0)1225 482 070

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Waltons Guest House

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Hotel | ""Goodnight John-Boy!""

Walton's Guest House Photo - Waltons Guest House, Bath, England

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Looking for somewhere to stay for a weekend trip to Bath we perused the internet. Ideally we wanted somewhere centrally located; it needed to be reasonably priced too, so we searched for Bed & Breakfast type places. We knew that at weekends most of these places have a two night minimum stay and I had booked my last day of annual leave accordingly. However our first two choices were already full that weekend, but one of them recommended this place – Walton’s Guest House. We couldn’t book online so telephoned and sent a cheque as a deposit. You can park on the street outside between 6pm and 8am but otherwise we needed to park in the Long Stay Car Park behind it – this cost £5 for 4 h...Read More

Looking for somewhere to stay for a weekend trip to Bath we perused the internet. Ideally we wanted somewhere centrally located; it needed to be reasonably priced too, so we searched for Bed & Breakfast type places. We knew that at weekends most of these places have a two night minimum stay and I had booked my last day of annual leave accordingly. However our first two choices were already full that weekend, but one of them recommended this place – Walton’s Guest House.

We couldn’t book online so telephoned and sent a cheque as a deposit. You can park on the street outside between 6pm and 8am but otherwise we needed to park in the Long Stay Car Park behind it – this cost £5 for 4 hours (the minimum) and went up to £8 for 12 hours. The price for a double room with en suite was £85 per night. I thought this quite expensive, but this seems a typical price for a B&B type accomodation in this location – it is just on the edge of the city centre and took us about 10-15 minutes to walk to the Abbey area in the heart of Bath.

Upon arrival we rang the bell and it was answered by a gruff but polite gentleman, he dealt with checking us in and showed us to our rooms. He also gave us a free map with local restaurants listed and showed us on it where the main places were and how to get there. First impressions was that the guesthouse was smokey, but I just think the man who had greeted us had smoked prior to our arrival. I later saw him smoking outside, but never in the guesthouse.

The room itself was small and fairly basic with a standard double bed with green and pink chintz quilt and cushions, old wooden bedside tables, wardrobe and dressing table. There are no tea and coffee making facilities which I thought a bit unusual, but there was a hairdryer in one of the drawers. The bathroom, however, was very modern, if compact, with a shower and all was clean.

The room was well heated and in fact was too hot for us the first night, and the shower didn’t seem to get any cooler than Not-Quite-Scalding that first morning – I spent most of my shower nipping in and out and flooding the bathroom whilst I built up enough bravery to return under the water (I kept turning it on and off but it made no difference). The shower head is a big overhead one, not angled so I couldn’t easily shower without washing my hair if I hadn’t wanted too, or step out of the flow of hot water. Unfortunately I was too short to reach to move it to the side, however my other half managed that for the next day. The shower temperature was sorted out by the next day as was the heating.

Breakfast was typical English style – sausage, bacon, fried egg (1 or 2 if you wish), mushrooms, grilled tomato and baked beans with toast and tea or coffee. There was also orange juice (concentrated rather than freshly squeezed), yoghurt, fruit and cereal (although the cereal wasn’t ‘out’ like the juice and yoghurts, it was brought to you if you ordered it). The communal dining area is simply decorated with dark wood furniture and willow pattern plates on the walls. In the hall is a board with lots of leaflets on local attractions and restaurants.

The B & B is certainly well located but offers nothing exceptional for me to recommend it wholeheartedly – I suspect that any of the B & B’s along that same Upper Bristol Road would offer the same service for the same money. It was clean, but I would hope all the others would be too! The furniture was a bit old and shabby – on the last morning I shut the creaky wardrobe door and the rail fell down. The service was friendly and polite all the time. If you are coming to Bath for a stay by all means come here, it is clean and well-located and if that is all you require then you will be very satisfied.
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on March 30, 2010

Waltons Guest House
17 Crescent Gardens, Upper Bristol Road
Bath, England BA1 2NA
+44 1225 426-528

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Salathai Thai Restaurant

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Restaurant | "Sublime Thai at Salathai"

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On our first night in Bath we spotted a nice restaurant (Demuths) by the Abbey area, but it was fully booked for that night (Saturday) and concerned that we could struggle to find a restaurant for later that evening we consulted our restaurant map (given to us by the B & B we were staying in) and spotted a number of Thai restaurants around the corner in Pierrepont Street. We picked Salathai over Mai Thai opposite as their menu seemed clearer and we preferred the more contemporary décor. They were full when we enquired as they had a large party in but agreed to squeeze us in at 7.30pm that evening. Upon arrival the waitress checked our booking and seated us at a table for two nearby....Read More

On our first night in Bath we spotted a nice restaurant (Demuths) by the Abbey area, but it was fully booked for that night (Saturday) and concerned that we could struggle to find a restaurant for later that evening we consulted our restaurant map (given to us by the B & B we were staying in) and spotted a number of Thai restaurants around the corner in Pierrepont Street. We picked Salathai over Mai Thai opposite as their menu seemed clearer and we preferred the more contemporary décor. They were full when we enquired as they had a large party in but agreed to squeeze us in at 7.30pm that evening.

Upon arrival the waitress checked our booking and seated us at a table for two nearby. The restaurant is well laid out, and the square tables were positioned in our row so that you didn't have a seat behind you knocking into you if people stood up and making it a squash. We appreciated this attention to detail, plus there was adequate space in the 'corridor' for people to walk up and down. Saying that I wouldn't want to be seated by the door as people tended to hover around you as they arrived. They did sometimes seat three people at these square tables which may have been a bit of a squeeze depending on how many dishes you ordered. We were seated at right angles to each other, which was nice, and left plenty of space in the other corner of the table for wine and other dishes. The tables are glass topped with wood carvings underneath, with woven place mats. The waitresses all wear a smart turquoise and gold print uniform based on traditional Thai dress. The whole atmosphere is authentically Thai but leaning towards the more contemporary end of the scale.

The menu is extensive but clearly presented so you can easily choose and understand what you want to order – although there is an impressive selection to choose from. It is indicated if a dish is mild or medium hot through chilli symbols. They only made hot chilli dishes by request, which is fair enough – Thai food is about using spices for flavours more than for heat. After much to-ing and fro-ing my partner and I decided on the Vegetarian set menu which was a very reasonable £14.95 per person for two courses. Of the individual dishes, they all seemed reasonably priced at between £5.50-£7.50 (not including rice or noodles) apart from a few speciality dishes which were more expensive. We selected a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc to drink at £12.95 per bottle from their House selection. This was a very drinkable and delicious light wine and worked well with the food.

Our set meal included mixed starters – vegetarian spring rolls, sweetcorn cakes, tempura vegetables and deep fried tofu. All were served on a platter dish with salad leaves and two dips – sweet chilli and satay. We had one piece of each plus several tempura pieces – peppers, cauliflower, broccoli can carrots. It was not a massive starter but it was a reasonable portion and a good taster of some of the vegetarian dishes on the starter menu.

Our main course was served with a large bowl of steamed rice which was more than adequate for the two of us, plus three other dishes: Gaeng Massaman Phak was a mild coconut curry with mixed vegetables, potatoes, onion and cashew nuts. The sauce was very pleasant, quite sweet but not overly coconutty (which I was pleased about). There was also a spicy Phad Krapow Phak which was a stir fry with chilli, tofu and bamboo shoots. It certainly had a bit of a kick to it and I think it would satisfy most chilli fans. We also had Phad Tua Ngok which was a bean spout dish with mushrooms, chillies (but not hot), spring onions and tofu in a soy sauce. We thought this was a good selection, a good mix of dishes that complemented each other very well.

There is a single toilet on the ground floor that is unisex, and additional toilets downstairs. I believe there may have been additional seating downstairs but I only used the ground floor lavatory (clean, fresh smelling and well stocked) so cannot be sure. Service was generally good, although the restaurant was busy: we were there about two hours. Our bill came to just over £42 which included a bottle of wine and we were very happy with this as we had a good selection of dishes and just the right amount of food, which was all prepared and presented beautifully. I do recommend visiting this restaurant if you enjoy Thai food and are in Bath. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 4, 2010

Salathai Thai Restaurant
14-15 Pierrepont Street
Bath, England BA1 1LA
+44 1225 484663

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All Bar One

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Restaurant | "Food and Drink, Day or Night"

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All Bar One is a bar chain across the UK, they are increasingly concentrating on food and I experienced the Bath branch one Sunday lunchtime. Although I would have thought it a peak time the bar wasn't full and there were quite a few free tables. As it is a bar there were no children, it has an Over 21s policy. Unlike most British bars it has waiter service as opposed to just going to the bar (although I saw some people going to the bar just for drinks orders) and the chap serving us was very helpful and obliging informing us of a few options on the menu that were unavailable, as well as explaining the specials. The décor is mainly heavy wooden tables and wooden chairs, some with padded seats. Th...Read More

All Bar One is a bar chain across the UK, they are increasingly concentrating on food and I experienced the Bath branch one Sunday lunchtime. Although I would have thought it a peak time the bar wasn't full and there were quite a few free tables. As it is a bar there were no children, it has an Over 21s policy. Unlike most British bars it has waiter service as opposed to just going to the bar (although I saw some people going to the bar just for drinks orders) and the chap serving us was very helpful and obliging informing us of a few options on the menu that were unavailable, as well as explaining the specials. The décor is mainly heavy wooden tables and wooden chairs, some with padded seats. There were tables of various sizes and some window and wall tables had large sofas. We saw some people on their laptops, but I didn't notice any wi-fi signs. There are newspapers available to read on the premises.

Some tables had card menus but we just had a paper one from a tear off sheet. The menu is quite extensive for a bar and includes a number of tapas style dishes that you can share also offered as 'bundles' where you get a set selection for two, three or five people. The people at a nearby table ordered this and seemed to have a good variety of dishes. They also offer a range of sandwiches and salads, as well as larger meals that include steaks, sea bream, lamb shank and a number of vegetarian options. We both ordered burgers – my falafel, mushroom and hummus stack (with fries and tomato salsa) was £6.95 and my partner chose a chicken fillet burger in a coconut and tamarind dressing, with oriental 'slaw, also served with fries and salsa was £7.35. We ordered drinks first and they came promptly and then we ordered our food, which arrived about 8-10 minutes later. My falafel stack was presented like a burger, although I took the 'lid' off for ease of eating. The falafel was pleasantly textured, slightly crumbly but also fairly moist, which was nice as I often find them quite dry and it was served on top of two whole but stemmed mushrooms. I didn't notice much hummus, it seemed like there actually was mayonnaise on the bottom of the bun. The chicken fillet was considered to be slightly overcooked, and he would have preferred a little bit more dressing on it, as the flavours were a little but too subtle. However the Oriental 'Slaw (Chinese cabbage, red onion, grated carrot and radish in a soya, chilli and ginger dressing) was pronounced as very nice. Both of us really liked the fries that came with them – proper sized chips as opposed to skinny fries. The tomato salsa was mainly a chunky tomato sauce and wasn't really a salsa at all – there was no onion or any herb or spice to give it a kick. Overall though we were pleased with our choices.

I don't normally eat many desserts, especially at lunchtime, but was really attracted by the chocolate fondant. My other half fancied the banoffee pie but that was off, so he consoled himself with a chocolate brownie. Both were served with a vanilla ice cream. Desserts cam prompty and my fondant was prepared excellently with a lovely warm runny centre. It was extremely rich and I couldn't finish it, I thought the ice cream was nothing special though. The chocolate brownie was more like a slab of cake rather than a proper brownie.

We were very full and our bill of £29.45 seemed reasonable for two courses each and two alcoholic drinks. Some food choices would be more expensive obviously. The bar had a nice atmosphere and I would think this it would be a good place to meet and socialise with friends and have a bite to eat in an informal but pleasant environment. I would certainly consider eating at an All Bar One again if there was one nearby at the time and recommend a visit. Check their website for promotions and vouchers. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 6, 2010

All Bar One
11-13 High Street
Bath, England BA1 5AQ
+44 1225 324021

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Demuths

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Restaurant | "Delicious Demuths"

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Demuths has been established in Bath for over 20 years. Owned and run by Rachel Demuth, who has also published a number of vegetarian cookery books, it aims to be the premier vegetarian restaurant in the South West. I have not tried any other exclusively veggie restaurants in the region, but Bath itself is very vegetarian friendly with most places having a number of original and interesting vegetarian options. When we found the restaurant we had hoped to get booked in for the Saturday evening but as it is only a small place that was not possible unless we wanted to eat at 9.30pm. We did manage to book for 7.30pm on the Sunday evening however.When we arrived on the Sunday, we were warne...Read More

Demuths has been established in Bath for over 20 years. Owned and run by Rachel Demuth, who has also published a number of vegetarian cookery books, it aims to be the premier vegetarian restaurant in the South West. I have not tried any other exclusively veggie restaurants in the region, but Bath itself is very vegetarian friendly with most places having a number of original and interesting vegetarian options. When we found the restaurant we had hoped to get booked in for the Saturday evening but as it is only a small place that was not possible unless we wanted to eat at 9.30pm. We did manage to book for 7.30pm on the Sunday evening however.

When we arrived on the Sunday, we were warned that they had a problem with their lights in the back part of the restaurant, so we had a choice to sit in the front with lights or sit in the back with lots of candle lamps and tea lights. We thought that would be quite atmospheric so decided to sit up the back in a corner. The restaurant is small – like a house – with two rooms seating 8-10 people per room plus a little alcove which had three people seated on the night we were there (I couldn't see if you could seat anyone else there). Stairs in the back room led down to the kitchens and the lavatories (the latter were cold, cramped but clean). The stairs certainly kept the two waitresses fit as they nipped up and down the stairs.

In spite of the electrical hitch we could still read our menus as the clocks had changed, and were impressed with the options. There were about six options per course, all were seasonal and vegetarian and were clearly marked what was suitable for vegans, nut allergy sufferers and gluten intolerant diners. The menu had a selection of Appetisers and other extras, such as side dishes (it is suggested you may want to have them with your drinks) but we went straight into the 'proper' starters.

My partner ordered the beetroot carpaccio (£6.95) which was very thin beetroot slices in an orange dressing with horseradish cream in between. It was served with a baby red chard, dill and walnut salad. He absolutely loved it, even though he isn't a big beetroot fan. I had a taste and thought it very good also – the sweetness of the orange helped the beetroot and worked surprisingly well with the tang of the horseradish. The salad was a pleasant accompaniment adding to the variety of textures. I chose the Devon blue cheese and chive tart (£6.75), it was a small slice of tart served with a fig chutney and watercress salad. Like all blue cheeses it was quite rich, and pleasantly creamy. The fig chutney worked really well in neutralising the tart so that the blue cheese didn't overpower and the watercress salad gave the dish some crunch. Overall we were thrilled with the starters.

For my main I chose mushroom rotolo (£14.25) mainly because I had no idea what one was and wanted to try it. Basically it was mushrooms wrapped in thin potato slices served on a bed of haricot beans with wilted spinach and parsnip crisps. This was accompanied with a parsnip purée and a mushroom red wine jus. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, there wasn't a great deal of flavour in the dish. The purée gave a little 'oomph' to the dish but the red wine jus was unidentifiable if I hadn't known what it was. The parsnip crisps were nice and everything was cooked well, but it just lacked a little something to make it an exciting dish as opposed to just a plate of well cooked (and beautifully presented) food. My other half went for the tamarind potato and aubergine curry (£13.75) and it was absolutely fantastic. The aubergine slices had been stuffed with tamarind potato and walnuts to give it a an interesting texture and crunch. This was served with a mint yoghurt, cherry tomato relish, coriander pesto, herb rice and tamarind chutney. I so wished I'd ordered this, I did have a taste and you could pick out the coriander in the pesto and the curry had a pleasant kick to it, so I imagine the yoghurt and relish were very welcome if this got to much.

We decided not to have a dessert as we were fairly full. On the main menu there are 'wines of the month' and they also have a separate wines and drinks menu featuring a range of organic wines (starting at £14.95 per bottle). Initially I had a natural organic cola (£1.95) which was really nice and then some organic vodka (£5.25) to go in it. They also offered a range of organic beers and ciders as well as soft drinks and juices.

The service was good, the two waitresses were quite busy at certain times, but we didn't wait too long between courses – I guess we were there just over an hour and a half. In total our bill came to just over £50, so it is not a cheap, everyday restaurant. I was only visited as we were staying in the area, and despite my disappointment with my main course, I would come back here again if I visited the area. They do have offers advertised such as an early bird menu on Sunday – Thursday which could be worth checking out if you are around at this time. The menu changes monthly to keep up with seasonal availability, however the April 2010 menu is not very different from the March one.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 6, 2010

Demuths
2 North Parade Passage
Bath, England BA1 1NX
+44 1225 446059

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