Budō, Argyle Street, Bath

On paper, the pitch is doomed to fail: let’s establish a pop-up Izakaya (Izakaya being a style of local tavern found in neighbourhoods all over Japan, serving small plates of food to enhance the pleasure of drinking with friends) in a refurbished Jacobean dining room upstairs from our pub in Bath city centre. Oh, and let’s call it Budō: a Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts.

But if we take the ‘pitch’ theme and run with it…

Remember that famous (and famously mis-quoted) line spoken by Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella in Phil Alden Robinson’s 1989 sport-fantasy-drama film Field of Dreams, which goes something along the lines of “if you build it, they will come?”. Not long after opening the doors to their lovely, lively independent pub in the heart of Bath, Grapes’ custodians Ellie and John Leiper collaborated with chef Dave Line and created their own version of a baseball diamond in their own version of their cornfield… and ‘they’ came to experience it, in droves.

In May 2023, Ellie opened the doors to Budō’s permanent home on Argyle Street: another history-laden location for Ellie to give her tender loving care to, and an open kitchen in the ancient basement of one of those elegantly higgledy-piggledy, historic former townhouse/shops for chef Dave to call his very own.

Dave makes full use and more of his own little oasis of fabulous flavours. But there was much to fascinate and delight us well before we took to our front row seats pretty much directly overlooking Dave’s hobs; the upstairs bar area, for example, gently buzzing with happy customers sipping sake, quaffing cocktails and subtly rockin’ out to a classic 1980s playlist against a backdrop of scrubbed-up ancient stone walls dotted hither and thither with Manga-esque artwork and retro album covers. Go down the little staircase past more smart, funky attention-grabbing details and there’s yet more Planet Budō to be discovered: cosy but spacious (yes, the two can go hand-in-hand) nooks and crannies designed for dining or just chilling out in, as intimate or party-on as your mood and occasion dictates.

And there’s Dave beyond the pass, presiding over his hot plates and his cool crockery with that intrinsically ‘cheffy’ sparkle in his eye that says, to me, this chef’s skills are as sharp as his knives… and I wasn’t wrong.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am not – and probably never will be – a mistress of the art of chopsticking. But I do know that when a cocktail hits you with rhythm sticks along the lines of the Yasuke – a life-affirming, spirit-lifting gin/yuzu/lemon/cucumber/basil/soda combo – the ensuing beat, in terms of food-and-flavour-to-come, is going to thrum along to a perfectly-judged balance/harmony cadence. Similarly, a Kamikaze (cleanly fruity Shōchū – not to be confused with sake – muddled up with Cointreau and lime) was as much about palate-appeal as it was about a party, whispering self-assured balance in a liquid amuse bouche.

And then, with perfect timing…

Along comes a dinky little dish of sweet/salty/softly sour pickles, just because we’re sitting where we’re sitting drinking what we’re drinking, and just because Dave’s got ’em to hand. Then, from the menu proper, more pickle pleasure – shiitake mushrooms this time, fresh and lively, and meaty in texture. Next, a massive tumble of grilled, bravely seasoned edamame: pop-pop-pop ‘cos you really don’t want to stop.

On we raced (perhaps not exactly in order of appearance; I don’t take notes, I just…. well, enjoy) to juicy, tender pork belly skewers, bathed in a super-umami hit of miso and citrussy yuzu and chargrill-caramelised to flavour-bomb perfection. A dish of sweet/salty/sticky chicken thighs, then creamy, meaty, monkfish drumsticks in another umami-rich glaze that made its characterful presence felt but didn’t detract from the sheer luxury of the lobster-like fish flesh at the epicentre of the action. There was Budō’s (in)famous Hatsu of the Day, too – that’s heart, to offal-fans of which I’m not brave enough to be amongst, but have on very good authority that I’m seriously missing out. But I wasn’t missing out on anything, because I made up for my aorta-deficit with more than my fair share of the kimchi pancakes, because OH MY GOD I COULDN’T GET ENOUGH OF THE KIMICH PANCAKES!

Do you remember the very first time you ever tasted toffee apples, or the sauce on Sticky Toffee Pudding, or even, perhaps, a donut? Well take that sweet, sweet memory, wrap it up in a piquant, brackish, delicately sour cloud, add texture and crunch… and give in to the addictive part of your personality that keeps you coming back for more, more more: that’s Budō/Dave’s kimchi pancakes, on a plate.

We’re in Bath, but it doesn’t feel like we’re in Bath because there’s simply nothing else even close to being like Budō, anywhere even close to Bath. I don’t know if it feels as though we’re in an Izakaya in a suburb of Tokyo because I’ve never been to one – but I’m guessing that, if I had been to one, it would have felt and been like this. But just because Budō doesn’t feel “very Bath” and may or may not feel like a Tokyo dine-out instead doesn’t mean that there are challenges, or too much unfamiliarity, or stuff you simply just don’t understand on the menu. To the contrary… who doesn’t ‘understand’ a chargrilled skewer, or a bowl of pickles, or a hunk of fresh fish? But if you need to know more about what elevates simple, seasonal ingredients to unforgettable flavour-bomb status (every dish impeccably presented with artfully simple finesse, too), just ask Dave: he’ll tell you all you need to know.

And once you know about what Budō’s all about, you’ll return again and again; that unlikely pitch has paid off, in spades. As for the Japanese martial arts-inspired name, put it this way: I’d willingly fight for a table at the pass.