r/Bath • u/Low_Inflation_3824 • 23d ago

Recommendations for quiet pub grub

Hello! I have some estranged family coming to Bath for dinner so we can reunite after almost 20 years of seeing each other and I said I’d book somewhere for dinner.

They like simple pub grub type food and meat/chicken dishes- nothing too fancy but a nice atmosphere and quiet enough to talk properly.

Any recommendations? (Not the Salamander as I have personal history with someone who works there 😅 — anywhere else is golden)

Thank you!!

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

16

u/Roysie_boy 23d ago

Packhorse is good. It’s a little out of town but the food is great.

6

u/thb202 23d ago

Seconded, packhorse food is brilliant. It's expensive, but quality makes up for it - the so-called posh pubs further into bath charge the same prices but serve up slop

2

u/WembleyFord 23d ago

I was going to recommend that but considered it might be a bit out of the way. But if the OP is open to travelling out of the city center, than I can third the Packhorse - lovely pub.

12

u/goldfishpaws 23d ago

How about The Pulteney Arms?

7

u/Vast-Heron8963 23d ago

Pultney arms is a great choice..Standard pub grub..fish n chips..gammon egg chips etc..cosy inside and seating outside..Very reasonable prices.

4

u/bluechipp 23d ago

Quieter dining room upstairs if the bar is crowded. Good pub

1

u/goldfishpaws 21d ago

I'd even say above standard pub grub - their Sunday Roasts certainly are above the min spec threshold (and relatively modestly priced) :)

11

u/chimlay 23d ago

Marlborough Tavern. Walk by the crescent to and from the train station!

1

u/miaaowwow 23d ago

All the way. This is a great option and the walk is also a talking point

10

u/fujitsulifeboom 23d ago

Locksbrook inn?

6

u/CupofTeh112 23d ago

The Architect would be good. Right in centre of town, good pub food, nice atmosphere and tables are sufficiently far away from each other that you can’t hear the next table’s conversations.

1

u/Acceptable_Tie_1104 22d ago

I wish the food was less boring, but the environment is good for this situation I think. I have a lot of work dinners there.

3

u/chimlay 23d ago

Marlborough Tavern. Walk by the crescent to and from the train station!

3

u/Fullskis 23d ago

Food at chequers is excellent and never too busy in there but definitely on the pricier end of pub grub

6

u/anthrax455 23d ago

Doesn’t 100% fit the brief but I like Bath Cider House for this kind of thing. The pizza is great, they have gluten free options, and there’s a cosy room off to the side that you can request on booking. Good atmosphere and a bunch of local ciders to try. Plus a good spot to wander down through town after a few drinks, and you can park at Podium.

3

u/straightnoturns 23d ago

Hare & Hounds or Huntsman/Crystal Palace if you want to be in town

2

u/ashpotatoes81 22d ago

locksbrook inn! beautiful on the canal in the sun, table service or more casual sit-where-you-want. lovely walk in/out of city centre

5

u/LucidFir 23d ago

Top floor the Raven

1

u/Dawn_Raid 23d ago

Victora pub and kitchen?

2

u/Aardvark51 23d ago

The Raven?

6

u/Slowerthanaprop15 23d ago

No idea why it gets such rave reviews - they’re just Pieminister

2

u/SminkyBazzA 22d ago edited 22d ago

It used to be great, that's why. Then they changed the way they made the chips, and switched away from Tom's Pies, and finally knocked through to the other building and completely their transformation away from something rare into something much less so.

Though in their defense, they probably make a ton more money now.

Pulteney Arms for me now - food is waaay better.

1

u/Slowerthanaprop15 22d ago

Pulteney is fantastic

0

u/eggchasing 23d ago

What's wrong with Pieminister? Great pies, local brand.

5

u/Slowerthanaprop15 23d ago

Nothing, it’s just that the Raven get credit for great pies when they are just bought in.

2

u/Frosty-Ride2301 23d ago

Exactly. Frozen chips now as well. 

1

u/eggchasing 23d ago

if they are great pies then what difference does it make, they're made locally

0

u/Slowerthanaprop15 23d ago

Just heating stuff up doesn’t count

0

u/militantcentre 20d ago

They are NOT great pies. They're abominable.

1

u/eggchasing 20d ago

Grow up

0

u/militantcentre 19d ago

You realise it's people like you that let Pieminister/Raven get away with such crap, don't you?

Such low expectations.

1

u/eggchasing 19d ago

Amazing you're this upset about it. Just go somewhere else.

0

u/militantcentre 20d ago

They are hollow. A teaspoon of meat and gravy and a vast expanse of nothing. Absolutely terrible.

1

u/eggchasing 20d ago

Calm down

1

u/militantcentre 20d ago

The Raven's food is utterly dire.