The Marlborough Tavern, Bath

I’ve lived in Bath long enough to remember the bad old days when The Marlborough Tavern was a rather tatty, unloved boozer, most definitely not in-keeping with its lovely location just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Royal Crescent, directly opposite the green lushery of the Royal Victoria Park golf/footgolf meadows. I’ve also written about food, restaurants and chefs since way before The Marlborough Tavern was scrubbed up and reopened by new owners in 2006 – the same owners who went on to form The Bath Pub Co half a dozen years later and now have four wonderful pubs in their wonderful family.

As for pubs who flaunt ostensibly super-worthy ‘mission statements’ on their menus and websites: I remember when all that started too. Today, even the most prosaic of same old, same old pub and restaurant menus claim to be all about local sourcing, and sustainability, and traditional values, even if they’re chain affairs with centralised production kitchens… and a team of snappy website copywriters who are clever enough with words to make those menus look, at first glance, as though even the restaurant’s salad leaves are home-grown in their back garden when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

But I can hereby hand-on-heart confirm that the statement on the The Marlborough Tavern’s website Food and Drink section is an honest, succinct, down-to-earth statement of aims that are fully lived up to: “great tasting home cooked food with an emphasis on seasonal and local produce,” it reads; “we like to think that we deliver high quality restaurant dishes, but without the stuffiness that can sometimes accompany them. Above all else, it’s about great British food.” I couldn’t have put it better myself – in fact, I could end my review here, and you’d know all you need to know about why The Marlborough Tavern is so – well, so lovely. If you want official endorsement of that statement, note that the MT didn’t earn 2 AA Rosettes for attempting to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. And if you want my full and frank opinion too, read on…

Occupying a comfortable location wedged between proper pub and upmarket contemporary bistro, The MT offers an appealing blend of friendly familiarity and a fresh, smart outlook in both decor and menus. Whatever your mood, size of party or occasion, the Tav can accommodate your every whim without the folk next door impinging on your personal space, with big, chunky farmhouse tables giving great group and plenty of smoochy tables for two for the old romantics amongst us. The private walled garden outback offers an indoor/outdoor experience, and friendly, well-informed staff make any kind of pitstop either in- or out-of-doors an utter pleasure; little wonder, then, that this is one of the most popular dining watering holes in Bath, highly regarded for the kind of fabulous food and welcoming vibe that keeps locals and visitors to Bath revisiting on a regular basis.

I’ve mentioned those smoochy tables for two, right? We took to one of those – my favourite MT table, in fact, in a cosy little nook opposite the bar – for our most recent foray around The MT’s menu, which offers an easy-going blend of imaginative takes on global inspirations (a bit of Asian-fusion here, a smattering of Mediterranean sunshine over there) alongside classics that enjoy classic status for very good reason; the fish and chips are fabulous here, as are the burgers, and the steaks. In keeping with themes that I touched on earlier, it’s clear from dish descriptions alone that authentic genuinely seasonal, genuinely locally-sourced ingredients that boast a perfect pedigree are pushed to the fore; turn the menu over, and you can browse a detailed list of local suppliers and info on The MT’s sustainability policies and practices too.

And so, having digested all the readable matter on our little table, we ordered our starters: deeply flavoursome, funky/sweet ‘nduja and honey marinated chicken skewers with spicy zhoug paste for extra-added exotica and a crisp fennel salad to lighten the depth-charge flavour load (see pic), and an elegant tumble of crispy salt and pepper squid served with a neat puddle of lemon aioli (we have to have salt and pepper squid every time we visit the MT, for very good reason).

For mains, for me, decadently juicy confit chicken leg perfectly partnered with velvety creamed leeks, a crispy black pudding fritter (oh joy! Words cannot express how much I love a black pudding fritter) and frangible little shards of Serrano ham – an utterly divine combination indeed. For him, a plump slab of super-fresh pan-fried hake cooked to that perfect point of sweet, moist flakiness, complimented by a classic white wine sauce and herby mash, a bundle of earthy steamed kale adding robust texture and drizzles of parsley oil bringing a distinctively aromatic uplift to the party.

Like our starters, both of our main courses were cleanly confident in execution, and the pairings exceedingly well-considered; when we’d finished, we were left with that lovely, satisfied feeling that we’d eaten really, really good grown-up food, and we’d eaten really well – so well, in fact, that we eschewed the notion of pudding in favour of keeping the grown-up theme going with a cheese plate finishing course instead of a sweet treat: sharp, nutty, well-aged Cheddar, creamy Somerset Brie and salty-rich Stilton served with grown-up cheese board crackers, and grapes, and a very lovely chutney.

I really love The MT; I love its overall vibe, and the honesty of its offering, and how reliably good everything about it is. Yes, I remember the bad old days – and The Marlborough Tavern easily makes up for all of them.