In an effort to finish off buying the remaining bits and bobs for my trip (exciting things like USB sticks, playing cards, plastic wallets and underwear), my mum and I went to Bath, not just for the shopping, but to see the changes to the city since we were last there. I went to school in Bath and worked there for the open top buses, so I’m very familiar with the place, but recent visits have been very quick without much chance to mooch about. So we decided we would do some mooching. Also in the plans was lunch at Jamie’s Italian, just off Milsom Street.
It hasn’t changed too much, shops have come and gone, the post office has shrunk (it’s moved around the corner) and the old bus station has moved and the old place is now a nearly finished shopping complex. It looks better than the old version, but there are concerns that there just aren’t enough retailers to fill the space and, if they do, then the old parts of town will become dead spaces. Time will tell.
Bath has a new spa, the only place where people can use the famous hot waters. The Thermae Spa lets people bathe in a roof top pool, have spa sessions and all sorts of treatments. We didn’t go inside, but the new building looks inviting and it seems to be popular with locals and tourists, who were queuing for tickets as we wandered past.
We had to check Parade Gardens, which every year has a new floral display. They build sculptures out of flowers and in the past they’ve had Winnie the Pooh and Friends, The Magic Roundabout and The Teddy Bears’ Picnic. This year it’s King Bladud’s Pigs, which are all to do with the legend of the founding of Bath. King Bladud was banished from his home in Keynsham as he suffered from some sort of skin disease. So he headed off into the countryside with his similarly afflicted pigs, he crossed the river Avon at Swineford and eventually arrived at a muddy pool. The pigs loved the pool and would bathe in it as much as they could. Bladud noticed that his pigs were getting better, they were cured. He thought that maybe it was the muddy pool that sorted out the problem, so he jumped in and hey presto, he too was cured. He’d found the mineral rich hot springs and there he stayed and Bath began… or something like that!
Lunch beckoned and we had decided on Jamie’s Italian, we couldn’t reserve a table and, on arrival, we were told there would be a 30 minute wait and off to the bar we went. About 15 minutes later we were led to our table and the meal began. We decided on squid with a red pepper mayonnaise – lovely squid, but not very peppery mayo. And we shared the seasonal meat plank, which came with fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto and another salami. Also on the plank was buffalo mozzarella, pecorino with chilli jam, a selection of pickles and some grated veg salad thing. The quality of the plank’s ingredients was very good and so was the presentation.
Main course consisted of Soft Shell Crab Fritti and a rib eye steak. Again the ingredients were excellent and the food was delicious. It gave us a chance to try the soft shell crab, which was served in a batter, having never had it before we were curious how soft the soft shell would be and it was soft. Unlike servings of Fritto Misto I’ve had before where the prawns in their shells have proved to be inedible. We had sides of seasonal greens and ‘crispy polenta chips with rosemary salt and parmesan’. The chips were interesting, but a bit too greasy for us to eat too many, but they were light and crispy, just a bit too oily.
Coffee and ice cream followed. My ice cream aficionado friend, Emily, I’m sure wouldn’t add the ice cream to her favourite list. But there were real strawberries in the strawberry ice cream so it wasn’t too bad. £75 for two people, 3 courses and half a bottle of wine was good value as the ingredients were top notch. Service was great too, especially the trainee waitress who was learning fast. It’s a restaurant I would happily go back to and recommend to others.
It hasn’t changed too much, shops have come and gone, the post office has shrunk (it’s moved around the corner) and the old bus station has moved and the old place is now a nearly finished shopping complex. It looks better than the old version, but there are concerns that there just aren’t enough retailers to fill the space and, if they do, then the old parts of town will become dead spaces. Time will tell.
Bath has a new spa, the only place where people can use the famous hot waters. The Thermae Spa lets people bathe in a roof top pool, have spa sessions and all sorts of treatments. We didn’t go inside, but the new building looks inviting and it seems to be popular with locals and tourists, who were queuing for tickets as we wandered past.
We had to check Parade Gardens, which every year has a new floral display. They build sculptures out of flowers and in the past they’ve had Winnie the Pooh and Friends, The Magic Roundabout and The Teddy Bears’ Picnic. This year it’s King Bladud’s Pigs, which are all to do with the legend of the founding of Bath. King Bladud was banished from his home in Keynsham as he suffered from some sort of skin disease. So he headed off into the countryside with his similarly afflicted pigs, he crossed the river Avon at Swineford and eventually arrived at a muddy pool. The pigs loved the pool and would bathe in it as much as they could. Bladud noticed that his pigs were getting better, they were cured. He thought that maybe it was the muddy pool that sorted out the problem, so he jumped in and hey presto, he too was cured. He’d found the mineral rich hot springs and there he stayed and Bath began… or something like that!
Lunch beckoned and we had decided on Jamie’s Italian, we couldn’t reserve a table and, on arrival, we were told there would be a 30 minute wait and off to the bar we went. About 15 minutes later we were led to our table and the meal began. We decided on squid with a red pepper mayonnaise – lovely squid, but not very peppery mayo. And we shared the seasonal meat plank, which came with fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto and another salami. Also on the plank was buffalo mozzarella, pecorino with chilli jam, a selection of pickles and some grated veg salad thing. The quality of the plank’s ingredients was very good and so was the presentation.
Main course consisted of Soft Shell Crab Fritti and a rib eye steak. Again the ingredients were excellent and the food was delicious. It gave us a chance to try the soft shell crab, which was served in a batter, having never had it before we were curious how soft the soft shell would be and it was soft. Unlike servings of Fritto Misto I’ve had before where the prawns in their shells have proved to be inedible. We had sides of seasonal greens and ‘crispy polenta chips with rosemary salt and parmesan’. The chips were interesting, but a bit too greasy for us to eat too many, but they were light and crispy, just a bit too oily.
Coffee and ice cream followed. My ice cream aficionado friend, Emily, I’m sure wouldn’t add the ice cream to her favourite list. But there were real strawberries in the strawberry ice cream so it wasn’t too bad. £75 for two people, 3 courses and half a bottle of wine was good value as the ingredients were top notch. Service was great too, especially the trainee waitress who was learning fast. It’s a restaurant I would happily go back to and recommend to others.
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