The Grapes

Oh my word !! This was one rough pub. The clientele had few teeth and an abundance of tattoos...and that was just the women !! The language being shouted across the bar was worse than meal time in Gordon Ramsey's kitchen. Although The Grapes was on a main city centre street in Bath it resembled an estate pub. It was dreadful, definitely not one for tourists, in fact in the short time we were in there several people walked in and walked straight out. Definitely one to avoid. As for the beer I have not got a clue, it was the least of my worries, but whatever it was it wasn't a pint that I took my time over !!

The West Gate

The West Gate was another example of a great Bath pub. Unfortunately my lack of attention to detail (don't worry I will improve) means that I can't remember what beer I was drinking but it was a real ale that I chose from the large selection that was available and very nice it was too.

It was in this pub where the following amusing line was uttered......Picture the scene, we are in the pub and there is a specials board showing the dishes of the day, I said 'Look at that, they've got venison on the menu', Shelley then said 'Is that deer'? 'Too right it is, I said, it's £13.95' !!

Sleight Cellar Bar

Also referred to as The Ale House this pub was virtually next door to The Huntsman. This would have been a great place bar one thing, it was way too bright, it was like walking onto the Las Vegas strip which was a real shame as this was a pub full of characters. It claimed to be Bath's first magic bar but Shelley and I were convinced that The Sleight Cellar bar would not have been out of place, sporting a rainbow flag, on Birmingham's Hurst St !!

My pint of Aspall in The Huntman did the trick and cured me of my lethargy though obviously not fully as I neglected to remember the name of the pint of real ale that I drunk in this pub but suffice it to say that it was nice.

The Huntsman

Following a days sightseeing around Bath we sought refuge in two pubs that were a drop kick away from the Recreation Ground, home to the Bath rugby team. The first pub was The Huntsman, a pub built in the mid 1700's and recently refurbished.

This was a lovely welcoming establishment and, although it was late afternoon, the effects of the previous day's over indulgence were still having an impact so I turned down the fine selection of ales that were on offer and opted for a pint of Aspall cider. I also went for a firm stool (as in seat) rather than the rather tempting leather sofa as I feared I might want to grab forty winks !!

The Slug and Lettuce

The final hostelry of our Bath pub crawl was The Slug and Lettuce, a chain pub that catered for Bath's yoof, highlighted by the fact that Jaegerbombs appeared to be the drink of choice judging by the promotional posters around the venue.

 It was hardly a surprise to discover that it didn't serve any real ale so rather than go down the Jaegerbomb route I opted for a fairly uninspiring pint of Beck's Vier whilst asking the barmaid directions to the nearest curry house. Unfortunately she sent us in the wrong direction which was made worse by the fact that the wet weather that had blighted most of Britain over the new year period had now made its' way to Bath. Thankfully a local resident pointed us in the direction of the fabulous Bengal Brasserie where we enjoyed a great meal though by that stage my pint of Kingfisher really was the coup de grace !!

The border to the UK had only been open a matter of hours so it was somewhat of a surprise that our cab home was driven by a Romanian !!

Hall and Woodhouse

Of all the pubs we visited in Bath from a decor perspective this was definitely the most impressive. The pub is a converted former auctioneers, and consists of several floors, we counted two but allegedly there are four.

The beer was marvellous, I opted for a splendid pint of Badger Tanglefoot (sounds a bit like something Brian May would organise a protest rally against) whilst my good lady decided that she had drunk enough cider so now was the time to go on the wine. The price of a pint and a wine was a budget sapping £9.60 but given the ambience and the quality of the drink didn't seem too outrageous.

Suffice it to say that the long day in the field that we'd had was starting to have quite an impact by this stage hence my rather bizarre pose....

 

The Raven

Shelley may have stated that our previous pub Gascoyne Place was her kind of pub, I also made that statement when I saw The Raven down a quiet cobbled street in the centre of Bath. I was in real ale heaven in a pub that has been voted Bath pub of the year for two out of the last four years and has been included in the CAMRA good beer guide every year since 2006.

The pub itself was quite small but very homely and welcoming and definitely steeped in history. To my shame (and I will try and do better in future) I can not remember the name of either of the two pints of ale that I had in the Raven but evidence would suggest that the afternoon's beers were starting to have an effect particularly as I had reverted to doing an impression of Dracula with Mini Cheddars..

Maybe it was time for bed !!

Gascoyne Place

After being fed and watered in Molloy's we walked the short distance to our next destination a restaurant / gastro pub called Gascoyne Place - please note that this is not a misspelling due to the fact that we were now on venue number five, the name Gascoyne is different to that of the alcohol loving ex Newcastle United midfielder.

Shelley's eyes lit up when she entered this establishment, and she quickly stated 'This is my kind of place' !! I was very soon in agreement with her when I saw that Erdinger my favourite German wheat beer was available on draft.

We made our way downstairs to the deserted Long Lounge where we literally partook in a romantic candlelit evening's beverage on our own.....

Never let it be said that I don't know how to treat my lady !!

Molloy's

Wherever you are in the world you are never far away from an Irish bar and Bath is no exception as over the road from Bath's famous Theatre Royal is Molloy's. The décor is all you would expect in one of these type of places which all seem to be a poor imitation of Belfast's iconic Crown pub.

We felt like kissing the Blarney Stone when we found out that they were serving food and we must have had the luck of the Irish as we both took full advantage of the generous Wetherspoons style beer and burger deal that was on offer that day, with mine being burger, chips and a pint of John Smith's smooth for the wallet friendly price of £6.75 I felt like a cost conscious traveller all over again !!

The Trinity

A stones throw away from The King of Wessex was pub number three of our Bath pub crawl fitting called The Trinity. This pub had a real locals feel about it, and seemed to be a pub where the rugby loving crowd congregate to watch televised games.

The menu was limited to say the least and we weren't overly disappointed when we were informed that they'd stopped serving food for the day. Thankfully they were still pulling pints and my Bath Best went down worryingly well given our lack of food. I was tempted to stop for another and challenged Shelley to a game of pool, mercifully she declined and we went in search of something to eat.

The King of Wessex

We knew we were going to like Bath when we left our first pub (The Bath Brew House) and found that the next pub was virtually next door. This was a fairly non descript Wetherspoons pub that was part of a cinema complex that included the likes of Frankie and Benny's etc. Being a Wetherspoons it was a race to the bar between me and Shelley, unfortunately Shelley showed a turn of pace that Usain Bolt would have been proud of an bought me a pint of Ruddles Best and herself a pint of Th*tcher's.

The pub itself was a long one levelled modern building and it was our original intention to take advantage of Wetherspoons budget friendly menu and grab some food but I can only assume that Mrs Overall from Acorn Antiques was on table clearing duty as every table looked like it had hosted a chimp's tea party.

We stopped for one pint though even that didn't pass without incident as the elderly lady sat on the table next to us was taken ill in the toilets and left in an ambulance - I checked to make sure she wasn't drinking Ruddles !!

The Bath Bew House

I'm off an running and what an impressive start it was. Shelley and I were on our traditional early new year UK city break and, after arriving in Bath early afternoon on Thursday 2nd January, we made the short walk from our base of the Holiday Inn Express into Bath city centre and the first establishment we stumbled upon contained all that is good in a pub.

 

 

It had a very impressive selection of ales, world beers and ciders. I opted for a pint of Gladiator ( a bitter brewed by the pub) and was very happy with my choice which was served in a 1970's style tankard, Shelley avoided the silly strength cider and stuck with the winning formula of Stowford Press.

The pub had a basic feel to it but this was due its' design as it seemed to cater for Bath's large student population, real ale enthusiasts and affluent diners who prefer a rustic feel to their food which in our view seemed a bit overpriced. We sat on wooden benches and the décor had a basic feel to it which added to the pubs charm.

The pub had a small beer garden, a marquee attached to it and a very impressive upstairs function room which looked ideal to watch a major sporting event.

UPDATE 3rd January

We visited the pub as our final destination of that day's Bath pub crawl still reeling from our very brief visit to The Grapes (see later post). It was surprisingly busy given the traditionally dead day of the year and contained a mixture of young and old. I opted for a pint of Gladiator again which was every bit as good as I remembered it to be from the previous day. The visit rounded off a memorable visit to Bath off in some style, and our time in Bath started and ended in the same pub. I'm relieved that my last pint in Bath was a good one as it was my final one before a four week break from alcohol of all descriptions !!