What does lunch mean, to you?
If you work in town, the answer to that question might mean packing up a leaking box of last night’s leftovers, or grabbing a miserable meal deal that definitely isn’t much of a big deal at all, or buying a sweaty supermarket sandwich to eat on a bench outside the supermarket you bought it from.
If you’re at home, you might push the boat out and open a can of soup, or shove some cheese and tomatoes between two slices of bread, or curse your partner for having nicked last night’s leftovers and turn in desperation to a back-of-the-fridge buffet (“it’s just me, on my own – why should I bother?”). So: go out for lunch! But no, you probably won’t, not unless it’s a high day or a holiday, ‘cos hey: lunch out is for special occasions only. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
You’re probably expecting that preamble to lead into one of those typical local food writer blog posts bigging up the best lunch hotspots in Bath. I don’t do that kind of thing, but if I did, my number one recommendation might surprise you: lunch at Montagu’s Mews at the Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa.
Have I gone crazy? Do I not know that, for many people, there’s a serious struggle going on between heating or eating? Have I just signed on the dotted line for a massive book deal cash advance? No, no and no (or rather, not that massive, and the deal hasn’t been signed yet). But hey!
The set lunch menu at Montagu’s Mews costs £27/£33 for 2/3 courses. Or, put it this way: do the leftovers thing instead of grabbing a typical midday meal deal for just five days, and you’ve got the cash in the bank. And honestly, really, hand-on-heart truly: the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ doesn’t even begin to come into play here, for the experience you get when you do lunch at MM goes above and beyond the whole 5-star shebang that you’d rightly expect from a 5-star oasis slap-bang in the middle of Bath’s most exclusive, iconic, historic crescent.
In the 11-ish months that have passed since Montagu’s Mews opened, I’ve been lucky enough to review both the A La Carte and the full-on Tasting Menus. Given that afternoon tea isn’t really my thing (although I have to admit that on this, my most recent visit, those towering tiers of quintessentially British tea time delights seriously challenged my perception of the genre), lunch – on Beloved’s birthday, no less – was the clear and obvious way to go off in search of yet more Montagu’s Mews magic.
Magic – really? Yes, really. Read all about it! This review (A La Carte for The Bath Magazine) will give you the full, ‘formal’ story behind the Royal Crescent’s fairly recent refurbishment of their food and drink offering plus a little bit of lowdown on Head Chef Martin Blake, while this one (my own, for the Prandial Playground) gives you a lengthier, more freeform ramble on the theme, and a journey through the spectacular Tasting Menu. This one, however (right here, right now) focuses solely on the 12.30-4pm menu – and, in typical Prandial Playground style, I’ve got rather a lot to say.
We took to table towards the rear of Montagu’s Mews seductive brasserie-style, pinky-orange hued restaurant: subtle Wow! factor, subtle bling, friendly staff who glide between tables like Dancing on Ice professionals and make you feel as though you, and only you, are the centre of their attention.
Cocktails? Oh, go on then; it’s his birthday after all – why not spice up our lives with a Bloody Mary? And then, for starters, for the birthday boy: a carefully-curated tumble of Loch Duarte salmon, the citrus cure subtly supplemented by confit lemon, artfully sprinkled with little shards of crispy, puffed rice-stylee crunchy fascination. For me, a crispy hens egg that graciously yielded its creamy golden yolk over the air dried ham and dinky pickled vegetables à la Grecque beneath it at the merest whisper of a fork prod. Both dishes were elegance personified; both were beautifully balanced, and beautiful to behold – oh, if only I could describe our table for two in the same way!
For the main event, for both of us, a generous slab of shimmering, creamy cod with a perfectly caramelised crust floating on a tide of a mellow yellow mussel broth, the inherent creaminess of that broth offset by smoky chorizo and grassy compressed spinach. Gotta have greens? Do not – I repeat, DO NOT – overlook the sides at Montagu’s Mews; the word ‘side’ doesn’t do them justice. We opted for cauliflower, which came creamed and sprinkled with plump golden raisins and neat, sweet candied almonds, and steamed broccoli lovingly lavished with garlic and ginger – next time, can I have that cauliflower as second a main course please? Ah, but that’d probably mean missing out on dessert… and even dessert eschewers like me really don’t want to do that.
Enter centre stage a glistening globe of burnt butter parfait resting on a frangible plinth of spiced streusel supported by fat, juicy blackberries. The parfait should have come topped with blackberry sorbet, but I requested vanilla ice cream instead, adding creaminess to creaminess against RC Head Pastry Chef Mikey Topp’s (obviously) better judgement, but still… oh, I just didn’t want this dessert to end. For Him, His favourite Sticky Toffee Pudding, which will henceforth be known as Sticky Topp-y Pudding, ‘cos Mikey clearly knows all there is to know about elevating a Great British Comfort Pud Classic to 5-star, red carpet heights.
We had coffee and perfect petits fours in the bar afterwards – not a ‘typical lunchtime thing’ to do, but Montagu’s Mews gently demands that you leave all notions of ‘typical’ behind, whatever hour of the day you visit. If you’ve never visited before, do lunch – I guarantee that, once you’ve given up your meal deal habit for just five days to cover the cost, you’ll learn to love your leftovers and book yourself a permanent table for 12.30pm every Friday.
The Prandial Playground, Bath and Beyond... 