Although the 154-room Hotel Indigo Bath, located within easy reach of the railway station, is already home to the fine dining restaurant, The Elder, owned and run by restaurateur Mike Robinson, and long-since established as one of the best dining experiences in the city, I can see that it would benefit the hotel enormously to have a less formal restaurant that would appeal to weary travellers and locals looking for quality without the frills. There are times when you just won’t be amused by an amuse bouche, however delicious.
That said, the newly opened Brasserie Beau is still a very smart affair, with linen-dressed tables and table lamps in a multi-room dining space that will please everyone from those looking for a quick bite to a more leisurely meal. You’ll find the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, boasting a bar area and spacious terrace that will be an oasis during the busy summer season in Bath, for the fact that Hotel Indigo Bath is located in a honey-coloured Grade I-listed Georgian terrace on a quiet street makes it one of the prettiest spots to enjoy al fresco dining or a pre-dinner aperitif.
Serving classic British and French bistro dishes seven days a week, with menus devoted to brunch and Sunday lunch, the only trouble will be deciding what to order. It’s clear, from one glimpse at the menu, that Brasserie Beau prides itself on the finest, and in many cases local, produce, with an emphasis on seasonality. Enjoy fish from St. Austell in Cornwall, rare breed beef and Middlewhite pork from Huntsham Court Farm, or venison from Deer Box in nearby Wiltshire where free-ranging herds of Fallow, Roe and Muntjac deer offer the best possible flavour.
From Menai Strait oysters, a Forest of Dean Wild Boar Scotch Egg and a 12-hour French Onion Soup to a simple but perfectly prepared steak and chips (or should that be frites?), beautifully tender due to Brasserie Beau’s in-house butchery where steaks are dry-aged from 30-40 days, it’s impossible to see how a restaurant offering the very kind of food most of us crave at the end of a long day at a reasonable price can fail, providing they do it well. And I had every confidence when I heard that Liam Goldstone had been appointed Executive Chef. Previously Head Chef at 1 Michelin star Morston Hall in Norfolk where he held the star throughout his tenure, the far more relaxed offering of Brasserie Beau will be like a walk in the park for Goldstone.
Although there isn’t a dedicated gluten free or allergen menu, we were extremely impressed by how much care our waitress took to give us the widest number of options; liaising with the chef and going through the entire menu with us to advise what was already suitable or could be adapted. Imagine my delight when she announced that the small plate Croque Madame featuring smoked ham and aged Cheddar could be prepared with gluten free bread. Oozing with melted cheese and topped with an appealing orange-yolked free range fried egg, if they do everything else as well as this I’ll be coming once a week.
The main course of Venison Sausage Cassoulet featuring wild boar and smoked bacon is also a dish worthy of making a return visit to Brasserie Beau – an exemplary version of the famous bean stew, with layer upon layer of flavour thanks to lashings of garlic and the exciting richness offered by the game. Above all, the generosity of the dish makes you feel truly comforted. Did I need the Parmesan fries with garlic aioli as a side order? No, but they were jolly good. We concluded by sharing the irresistible Basque Cheesecake accompanied by a fresh raspberry sauce – so good we regretted not having ordered another.
Brasserie Beau’s please-all menu makes it an obvious choice for the exhausted business traveller looking for a reviving meal, a family Sunday lunch where even fussy Auntie Dotty will find something she likes, while the dinner I enjoyed here with my husband makes me regard the restaurant as the perfect date night venue. From the charming front of house to the assured cookery, you’d never know that it was a new restaurant. I don’t doubt that Brasserie Beau will become a Bath institution in a very short time, for it’s surprisingly difficult to find a non-chain restaurant serving this kind of cuisine outside London, something restauranteur Mike Robinson and Chef Goldstone have rectified with aplomb. Guests of Hotel Indigo Bath on a 2-night city break will be exceedingly impressed (and well-fed) if they decide to sample both Brasserie Beau and The Elder, in fact I’m feeling rather envious.
Brasserie Beau at Hotel Indigo Bath, South Parade, Bath BA2 4AB. Open daily from 12pm. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
