Ian Waller discovers his new favourite restaurant in Bath!
Wow! What an amazing, faultless, delicious, perfect meal! We’ve just enjoyed an evening visit to Flute Seafood Café & Bar, Bath’s latest new restaurant and it was so good, I just want to return again and again!
Now Bath is becoming renowned for its excellent restaurant scene and indeed, there are some impressive venues to choose from. So we knew from the start that Flute had to be good to stand out. Well, they’ve managed it and then some.
Situated at the top of Bath on the high pavement of Edgar Buildings on George Street, Flute looks out over Bath with a tempting promise of fresh seafood, an extensive wine collection and creative cocktails. For our visit, the warm interior provided the perfect relief from the cold evening outside, while the welcome from Sam the chief barman was professional and friendly.
Even on a quiet Monday evening, Flute was pleasantly busy, with its modern decor and styling making a perfect backdrop for its relaxing atmosphere. Taking our seats at the central tables, I couldn’t help but worry that the cosy dimensions of the venue might lead to a cramped feel when the place is full, but Sam assured us that even at the busiest times, there’s room to relax and enjoy a visit.
With an alcohol free cocktail and suitably standard lager to get the evening going, we couldn’t wait to see the menu. Now this was just the type of menu that I like, not full of so many options that you wonder how the quality can be kept across every single dish, but with enough on offer to make the decision making a challenge.
The problem here was everything looked so good! While the starters included chilli and cucumber marinated mackerel and dressed crab, alongside smoked salmon and mackerel paté, the mains positively tempted at every turn – would it be the hake, hot and sour broth, the skate wings or the pan-seared scallops?
Eventually, while I chose a starter of kedgeree arancini, topped with confit egg yolks, chives and black tobiko (£14), my wife preferred the mackerel paté with garlic, bay leaves and house bread (£9).
Right from the off, these starters were faultless. Full of flavour, beautifully presented and just so good that we were tempted to order both again for our mains, each were joys to consume. The kedgeree arancini was wonderfully smooth inside a crispy coating, with just a hint of spice to really bring out the flavours.
The paté, meanwhile, delivered a perfectly cosy and comforting dish that delivered a perfect antidote to the cold weather outside.
While we waited on our mains, Sam explained that Flute is open from 8am for a very tempting breakfast menu, while from Thursday to Saturday it keeps serving until 2am to provide cocktails and sustenance to a crowd with a level of endurance that I could only dream of!
In no time the mains arrived – with Ellen going for the pan-seared scallops with cauliflower puree, pickled florets, sampahire and mustard and saffron oils (£25). Instead, I went for the whole plaice in creamy curry mussel sauce, with new potatoes, curry oil and puffed buckwheat (£28), plus a side of sautéed samphire (£7).
Now you know that feeling of main course envy when you actually fancy what your partner has ordered more than your own choice? Well, that didn’t happen. Under normal circumstances it might have done – the scallops did look kind of perfect. The thing is, the plaice was, well, amazing.
This is quite simply a faultless dish prepared and served, well, faultlessly. The plaice was moist, soft, gentle and just stunning, while the sauce and plump mussels that accompanied it would on their own have sent me to foodie heaven. As it was, everything together was luscious and amazing.
Yes, of course we did that thing of trying each other’s food and we both agreed, we’d made a great couple of choices, now that’s enough of trying mine, leave the rest to me.
What’s more, the portion sizes were generous to such a degree that we decided against the desserts, and made do with a post meal relaxed satisfaction that only comes from being thoroughly spoiled and loving every minute of it.
So if you’re planning on a pre-Christmas meal out or perhaps a treat after an exhausting day at the Bath Christmas market, give Flute a go. And if you spot a very happy looking couple at a table for two in the centre row, it might well be my wife and me making a return visit to try that Hake broth.