RESTAURANT We visit newbie in town Bouvardia

BOUVARDIA

At Bathen House hotel out on Newbridge Hill, executive chef Robert Zalus uses intriguing ingredients, and has his presentation down pat; suddenly there’s a little less incentive for the residents of Bath’s western fringes to make the trek into town By Matt Bielby

Once a care home, now – hugely upgraded – a boutique hotel, the chunky Victorian Bathen House was reinvented a couple of years ago as a step up from the usual bed and breakfasts you get on Bath’s arterial routes; a tablet in the pale pink drawing room shows a video of the work progressing, with plenty of rubble and knocked down walls. Virtually opposite Newbridge Surgery, and not far from the hospital, it’s in a residential area light on places to eat in the evening, save for the likes of Rooted on Chelsea

Road. Its arrival ups the Weston/Newbridge area’s dining game considerably.

Bathen House now boasts 13 high-spec bedrooms and – not great timing, this – a new restaurant that opened just before lockdown kicked in, and so is only enRoaing its first real customers now. 4ocated in a fresh extension to the back of the building – more substantial than a conservatory, but with so much glass to its walls and ceiling that it gives a similar impression – it currently oٺers  covers perhaps  when socialdistancing retreats and things get back to normal.

Behind the pass here: one Robert Zalus, an executive chef with ambition. His is a limited but interesting menu, which changes with the seasons, and currently features such temptingsounding Æavour combinations as ducS breast with marinated pear and wine and raspberry sauce, chicken terrine with apple and cider brandy relish, and sea bass with cauliÆower tabbouleh and chilli lime mango sauce. Whatever you choose, two dishes will set aou bacS Š. or aou can have three for a tenner more.

The mostly New World wine list, with small glasses around Š. and bottles in the low twenties is currently a little short but we’re assured it’s a work in progress. We took a couple of gin and tonics before the meal – 6 O’clock and Cotswold, a fair number of the beverages oٺered here having a ?est +ountra linS · then a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a South African Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec to accompany the meal, the one fresh and citrus, the other all juicy dark berries.

To start, a mackerel mousse with bread, curls of pickled cucumber, dots of dill mustard sauce and edible Æowers was handsome fresh but fairla mildla Æavoured. Indeed fanca staling · Æowers dribbles of sauce · was something of a theme with this meal# almost everathing comes highla decorated.  7pposite the bruschetta · ma vegan companion being well catered for but having little choice · was attractive brightla coloured and featured all the e`pected rocket, radish, artichoke, basil pesto and balsamic creme. 8resented with a confident Æourish the overall impression it gave was of something classicalla simple rather than SnocSaoursocSsoٺ. .or ma main I tooS the herb and 8armesan encrusted pork tenderloin, which comes on a bed of beetroot purée and sits alongside spirals of goat¼s cheese mousse# well cooSed and striSing to looS at all pinSs aellows whites and greens against a darS grea plate it was the most successful of the savoura dishes I tried. <he vegan option a tartine with shallots tomato vegan blue cheese rocSet and red pesto was again simple and tasta and slicSla presented but could have done with something more · perhaps a side salad ma companion thought. )ll decent so far then but where things got realla good · not alwaas the case with smaller Sitchens · was with the desserts. +hocolate mouse with blacScurrant sauce came on a slate featured fresh raspberries as well as aet more edible Æowers and disappeared in moments# I stared at it with covetous eaes but ma compadre warded me awaa with her forS. 4ooSing liSe a bullseae on a bold redand blacS plate ma strawberra semifreddo · a sort of semi froben mousse · with caramel sauce and strawberra dust was similarla e`citing to looS at and well realised. /reeda guts that we are we also shared a third dessert a sweet easatoeat sundae of mascarpone whipped cream and summer berries, which came in a bizarre bowl like a !s bubble chair. ) fun night then. <his place hasn¼t Yuite hit the ground running aet · perhaps nowhere could in these strange coronavirus times · but it¼s certainla a welcome addition to the *ath scene and particularla on this side of town. <he dishes are goodlooSing the staٺ are friendla and attentive and · liSe the room thea¼re served in with one mirrored wall doubling the space visualla · in mana waas it punches above its weight. ?hat it needs I thinS are more a tad more puncha Æavour combinations to trula live up to the intriguing descriptions and slick presentation, and to match what it alreada enRoas on the plate. ,efinitela one to tra then with what thea¼re alreada delivering oٺering a good solid base from which to grow. n

“In many ways it punches above its weight”

DINING DETAILS Bouvardia, Bathen House, 88 Newbridge Hill, Bath, BA1 3QA; 01225 805549; www.bathenhouse.co.uk We ate: The seasonal menu has three or four courses for starter, main and pud; we took mackerel, pork and a couple of vegan dishes Vegetarian options: There’s a vegan option for each course Prices: Two courses for £24.50, three for £34.50 Wine list: Still a work in progress, with new options being added all the time, but there are two reds, two whites and a rosé by the glass or bottle, plus well-picked sparkles, gins, soft drinks and beers. The likes of Dorset’s Black Cow vodka and Sierra Nevada IPA suggests someone knows what they’re doing Service/ atmosphere: Quiet on a wet midweek evening, but friendly, helpful service What else? The west side of Bath isn’t awash with dining options – there’s Rooted, The Priory, the Lockbrook Inn – and this bijoux hotel restaurant makes a welcome addition