When it comes to The Chequers, I have a confession to make:
although this little restaurant tucked away amongst the houses on Rivers St is,
literally, sixty seconds from our front door, it’s taken me five years to get
round to going in. It turns out that the loss was entirely mine, because I can
honestly say that this is one of the best meals I have ever had in Bath.
The Chequers
describes itself as a gastropub, so it’s warm and friendly rather than austere
and impressive – old church pews with plump tartan cushions line the walls, the
lighting is kept to a cosy glow supplemented with candles, and the specials are
written up on a blackboard. The staff are very welcoming and I immediately felt
relaxed, sipping on a warm, aromatic glass of Sol Malbec whilst I perused the
menu.
For my starter, I chose squid fried in salt and pepper and
served with a dressed green salad and a pot of garlic aioli. The combination of
flavours was bold and zingy – slices of chilli and spring onion were scattered
over the squid, livening up each mouthful with bursts of spiciness, and the
fresh, clean flavours of the salad were a perfect foil to the rich seafood and
aioli. My dining companion opted for a platter of freshly homemade breads
served with hummus and olive oil, so of course I had to sample a little bit of
that too – the focaccia was particularly delicious.
As my main course, I selected roast partridge with fondant
potatoes, caramelised parsnip, bread sauce and buttered greens. This was a
fabulously rich plate of food, perfect for a cold winter’s evening – the
partridge was deep and gamey, the potato and parsnip sweet and gooey. Shavings
of deep-fried parsnip garnished the plate, providing a lovely crunch, and the
whole plateful went down beautifully with the red white which we had chosen. My
dining companion chose a ‘Chequers Classic’, the house twist on a veggie
burger, which was rather fabulously original – this kind of thing can so often
be a little dull or samey, but the Chequers version, which consists of a field
mushroom stuffed with feta cheese and kidney beans, was delicious.
Finally, we came to the desserts – we couldn’t possibly
resist, but we were full to bursting, so we elected to share one – and what a
good job we did, as the final course was, I think, the most delectable of the
lot. We chose a passionfruit crème brulee, served with white chocolate sorbet
and mango salsa, and the combination was both glorious and perfectly balanced .
Served individually, the passionfruit crème brulee might have been too tart, or
if it had been white chocolate ice cream instead of sorbet it might have been
too rich, but with all the flavours together, the fresh, clean sorbet balanced
the passionfruit perfectly, and the mango salsa was beautifully tender and
delicate. It was the ideal way to cleanse the palate after such a rich main
course.
Although courses such as we chose aren’t especially cheap,
there’s nothing on the menu for more than £30 and some of the main courses come
in as low as £10, which is extremely reasonable. The atmosphere is snug and
welcoming, the staff are cheerful and obliging, and altogether I have no
hesitations about recommending this little place as strongly as possible. I’ve
also heard many good things about the Sunday roast on offer, so I shall
definitely be back there soon.
