16 Restaurants in Bath

You may be unsurprised to hear that Bath is a city that likes to relax, and food and drink are essential parts of that. If you find yourself in need of a refuel while you’re strolling around the sights then you’ll struggle to go wrong with one of Bath’s artisan cafes. These aren’t restaurants yes, but you can certainly expect high-quality coffee that’s been brewed by barristers who know their stuff, as well as cafe fare – very much a cuisine in itself these days – to nibble on. Two other, wonderfully British dining traditions are available to you via Bath’s cafes and restaurants and those are the afternoon tea and the pub lunch. If you’ve had or are going to have a few hours at the spas, there’s no way to fill yourself up more fittingly than tea and scones or perhaps a hearty plate of beef wellington or gammon, egg and chips.

If your occasion or, heck, even just your day demands a little refinery, then the fine restaurants of Bath will certainly deliver (not literally). Refinery these days of course comes in the shape of the Michelin Man and in Bath you’ll find restaurants wearing their Michelin stars with absolute pride – two of them, to be precise, which considering Bath’s relatively small size is quite a genuine accomplishment. Past the starred establishments, restaurants in Bath feature heavily in the Michelin Guide year after year. The cuisine they offer varies a lot but you’ll find most of Bath’s Michelin restaurants concentrated around the city centre – with a few more out towards Bradford-on-Avon – with many peppered conveniently around the hotspots for residents as well as visitors.

Another string to Bath’s bow is that it’s home to the UK’s first ever farmer’s market, which means, of course, that Bath and its restaurants are very, and rightly proud of their produce. The independent restaurants of Bath love to make the most of everything that’s produced here in the rolling countryside of Southwest England, from glorious cheddar cheeses right through to ales and ciders. Things don’t stop there, as plenty of cafes and restaurants in Bath – particularly if you’ve reserved your table for lunch time – will proudly serve local delicacies such as the legendary, yet still rather mysterious Sally Lunn Bun, the sweet and delicious Bath bun and, of course, Bath Chaps, a frankly artery-clogging treat made from the lower part of pig cheeks, often cured like bacon. All of these plus plenty more can be found ready and waiting to be tried at the annual Great Bath Feast, a fantastic local event that many of Bath’s restaurants contribute to and take influence from.

All that talk of local produce and only a passing mention of cider and ale. How rude we’ve been. When you dine at certain Bath restaurants you’ll very likely see a strong showing from local tipples – wines, ales and even gins – that are just about the best thing a bar can be stocked full of, if you ask us. Yep, Bath is home to a number of wine producers, one or two gin distilleries and more craft breweries than you might care to shake a stick at. You can visit most of these directly, of course, but we’d say it’s far more fun to enjoy your tipple with some fine food at a cosy Bath restaurant, surrounded by damn good company. What’ll yours be?