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Ian Waller and his family enjoy a take away treat from Bath Soft Cheese

Do you just fancy a break from the daily planning and cooking of family meals? It’s a chore that has only become more demanding with our children now at home from school as a result of the lockdown, and sometimes, yet another Sainsbury’s ready meal or trip McDonald’s just won’t do.

Fortunately, there are an increasing number of quality home delivery and take away options available across the Bath and West Wiltshire region, and one of the best has to be that excellent meals that are now available from Bath Soft Cheese at its base at Kelston.

We were already familiar with the excellent food from Bath Soft Cheese – outside of the lockdown it’s a great place to stop in for the best toasted sandwiches and coffee around, as well as sandwiches, hot food and, of course, top notch cheese boards. The new take away option offers an extra, very welcome reason to pay a visit.

With the menu offering a vegetarian and carnivore option each night, for our Saturday night feast we all plumped for the Beef bourguignon served with Wyfe of Bath mash and seasonal vegetables (£8.75), along with a pudding of sticky toffee pudding and cream (£4.95). The options change each day – these include sausage casserole, homity pie and a traditional cassoulet with confit duck – with side dishes also available (check Facebook for the options each day). You need to order by 4pm on the day of your meal, with the last pick-up at 6pm.

With our pick-up set for Saturday at 6pm, while I drove out to Kelston to pick up the meals, it was left to children to set the table and have the plates warming in the oven. Thanks for the pre-arranged pick-up slots, there was only a short wait before our food was handed over and in no time, we were serving up and sitting down for a meal cooked by someone else.

How was the food? Very good indeed, thanks for asking. The portions were perfect for adults and a little too big for younger children (which meant seconds for lunch the next day!). The food was really tasty, well prepared, hugely appreciated by all and certainly several steps up from your average supermarket ready meal. The cheesy mash was a particular success, while the roasted veggies were devoured with noticeably more enthusiasm than I had expected.

As for the deserts, well sticky toffee pudding is general crowd pleaser, and while a side of custard might have been appreciated by some, the empty dishes said it all!

Once the lockdown restrictions allow, we’ll be sure to enjoy another family walk to Bath Soft Cheese, with hot drinks and toasted sandwiches as a mid-trek treat. In the meantime, I can certainly recommend the take away meals on offer…