Emberwood in Bath delivers fire-cooked flavours and stylish charm, as Georgette McCready discovers on a date-night meal with her husband
They say that marriage consists largely of standing in separate rooms shouting, “What?!”
It’s also made up of buying bog rolls, putting the bins out and dividing your worry between your children and your parents.
So, how lovely to find a new restaurant in Bath for a date night. A place that it’s worth dressing up for, with an outfit that gives you the confidence to go and sit on a tall stool at a long marble bar and peruse the cocktail list . . .
Emberwood has taken on the corner space next to The Francis Hotel. I like what they’ve done with the place. Comfortable banquettes for dining (I love a booth where you can sit next to your date and chat, heads together) and flattering pools of lighting that take years off those eye bags.
The staff are a stylish bunch, there’s even a dude in a tweed flat cap and waistcoat who looks like an upmarket gamekeeper. The vibe is cool. The chefs are working with fire in the open kitchen. And this is Emberwood’s signature, cooking over flame. It means the Bertinet bread we tuck into with whipped butter is deliciously, smokily charred.
Sometimes what you crave is simple food, beautifully cooked. And that’s exactly what we enjoyed. A trio of plump, garlicky scallops for me and shredded Cornish crab with a lemony tang for him. The charred bread (you couldn’t exactly call it toast) was useful for mopping up the remaining juice.
Emberwood prides itself in presenting seasonal, British produce, and if we hadn’t been inundated by our allotment courgettes, some of the vegetable side dishes looked tempting.
For our main course we shared an Emberwood feasting dish, a large sirloin steak, which came sliced, with a pot of really hot chips. A pot of peppercorn sauce and a green chilli salsa brought an added zing to what was already a feast indeed.
Although we were just the two of us for our visit, this would be a great place to bring friends for sharing, and a feasting menu can be booked for £60pp for two courses.
When did you last see a dessert trolley? I used to operate one of these as a teenage waitress in a country house hotel. It had a wobbly wheel and displayed a dozen puddings that I had to memorise and recite to diners. It brings back memories of being permanently embarrassed.
But this modern version was smoothly wheeled to our table by a charming and highly competent waiter. If you were coming with friends, as you could order several puddings and share them. My creamy raspberry sponge was as light as a feather. I also recommend you sample the matcha ice cream (not from the trolley, obviously!)
For non-meaters there are veggie options on the menu and, rest assured, the open kitchen doesn’t impinge on the atmosphere in the dining area.
I’m sure they’d welcome you in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt, but I feel that Emberwood has made the effort to be stylish and poised, so we should do likewise.
Emberwood, The Francis Hotel, Queen Square, Bath, tel: 01225 473351.
