A family evening out at one of Bath’s best know and most respected restaurants
One of the great advantages of a meal out at The Circus Restaurant in Bath is that you’re guaranteed great food in a relaxed setting with excellent service. Plus, it can be found in one of Bath’s most impressive locations, on Brock midway between the Circus and the Crescent.
We’ve been lucky enough to visit as a couple on a few locations over the years and always enjoyed the experience. This time, however, there was a slight change, with our teenage children joining us for the first time.
Yes, you’re right, once your children become teens it brings with it a whole host of new challenges and joys – as they say, every age a stage. The great thing on this occasion is that restaurants with a more grown-up vibe, such as The Circus, that aren’t really suited to littles with pushchairs, high chairs and the need for a kids menu, are suddenly open to family outings.
We arrived just after eight on a Monday evening – generally a pretty quiet time for Bath eateries. As it happened, The Circus was almost full – just as well we’d booked – a excellent sign that it has lost none of its appeal with both locals and visitors to the city.
Jen, the restaurant manager, was just superb, offering a warm welcome to us all and happily dealing with the fact that we’d turned up with one more child than I booked in for. No, I hadn’t forgotten how many we had – it’s just the judo was cancelled and he could come along after all.
The Circus is spread over two floors, with mostly smaller tables for two to four diners, and a few available for larger parties. The atmosphere and decor is very much classic English, with a Spring menu that perfectly suited the vibe. As with all good restaurants, the focus with the quality of the meals rather than number of dishes available, with five starters, seven mains and a small selection of side dishes.
After Jen had taken our drink orders and recommended a wonderful Nero D’Avola for me (£10.40 a glass), it was time for starters. I love the way that my lot are prepared to try something new, which meant the Cornish sole (£11.60) with minted peas, tartare sauce and scraps for my older son, and pigeon breast (£12.30) served with orange braised chicory, forced rhubarb, oat granola and cashew crust for my daughter and me.
I loved both (yes, I had to try out the sole), although for me the pigeon was tops. OK, the strong taste wasn’t quite the thing for my daughter, but I loved it, with the accompanying sauce and rhubarb providing the perfect flavour contrast.
While the mains were prepared, we chatted about food and the importance of being ready to try something new. With a lack of fish finger sandwiches and garlic bread on the menu (both staples of the kids own home cooking choices), this was pretty much a given at The Circus.
Instead, we went for the fish of the day for my wife and older son – in this case, hake served in a bloody Mary sauce with peppercorn potatoes; beef onglet with espresso crust, charred truffle mushrooms, wild garlic gnocchi and green peppercorn jus (£29.70) for my youngest; for my daughter it was a classic Ribeye steak with Café de Paris butter, flat mushroom, watercress and chunky chip (£31); and for me, my favourite – coq au vin with cider brined chicken supreme, pancetta & savoy cabbage, baby onions and chestnut mushrooms (£27.90).
Oh yes, and a couple of extra sides of chunky chips (£4), just because we fancied them.
No surprises here – the food was amazing. Beautifully prepared and packed with flavours, it all tasted fresh and full of vim, showing a chef that clearly enjoys their craft. Around the table, the sudden lack of chatter pointed to a family of happy eaters, with my youngest finishing off his beef onglet in record times and declaring it, “Absolutely amazing!”
Personally I like to take a little longer with my meal and the coq au vin deserved the extra respect. This was actually something of a deconstructed presentation with the chicken breast cut in two and served on top of the perfectly prepared sauce. This really was a culinary masterpiece, combining traditional flavours with innovative design – top marks all around.
Around the table is was happy smiles and thumbs up – with special praise going to those perfect chunky chips! We also loved it then Jen popped across to make sure that everything was OK, answer our foodie questions and refill the drinks glasses.
The desserts were a given, with choices bringing in the sorbet du jour (£7.20), crème brulées with poached Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger flapjack (£7.60) and dark chocolate fondant with banoffee ganache, Chantilly crème, oat crumb and glazed banana (£8.70). Of course they were amazing – already our expectations were high and readily realised.
The Circus Restaurant in Bath is a gem. The team there have nurtured a perfect combination of atmosphere, service and really fantastic food, as well as being a venue that’s ideal for older families, friends out on a lunch date and larger groups who book ahead. Really very good indeed.
