Blunos Bath

To celebrate my new job and imminent move to London, Mum and Dad treated us to dinner at Martin Blunos’ new fish restaurant in Bath. 

We’d been hearing good things about it since its opening in February and had been wanting to try it ourselves. Mum, a fish fiend, was particularly keen. 

Latvian born Martin Blunos opened his first restaurant, Lettonie, in nearby Bristol in 1988, earning his first Michelen star a year later, followed by a second shortly after in 1991. In 1997 he moved the restaurant to Bath where he lives with his family. 

His new restaurant, simply named blunos, is dedicated to serving fish and seafood. The fish is sourced from Looe and Plymouth, the oysters from Sussex and the smoked fish from Chew Valley Lake. 

The menu is short and decided daily depending on what fish they get in. As Blunos told The Bath Chronicle, “if we only have turbot, halibut and red mullet then that’s what we have. We’re also going to do Fruits de Mer and lobster and chips."

Blunos himself, known for his walrus moustache, is at the restaurant every night and greets every table, reappearing several times throughout your meal to check on you.  

The restaurant is in rather an odd location, in the basement of the The County Hotel on Pultney Street, but it doesn’t really matter as the food is so exceptional.  

As it was a sultry summer evening we began with drinks on the terrace. 

The boys went for beers, Mum a cooling preseco and I was adventurous with a Sorrento Martini- Grey goose citron vodka with limencello, lychee liquer, basil, sugar syrup and lemon juice. Sweet yet refreshing. 

The decor inside is modern and chic with mood lighting and a fish counter on full display...one angry little crab, perhaps aware of his fast approaching fate, even nipped one of the waiters as we watched on. 

First we were bought complimentary Hors d'oeuvre with an allotment theme.

Fish pâté in a rustic tin and crunchy red radishes that looked as though they had just been plucked from the soil. The creamy fish dipping accompanied the cool watery radishes perfectly. 

To start Jack had fried crispy whitebait with a harissa mayonnaise dipping sauce. 

Dad went for mussels cooked in Somerset Cider with herbs.

Mum had the special- stir fried crab claw with an asian noodle salad. She had a lot of trouble cracking that claw!

Dad had to step in...

I had a tomato gazpacho with garlic croutes and marinated prawns. It was delicious. The soup was cold and refreshing, the prawns were juicy and succulent and the garlic bread was drizzled in a warm garlic butter with sun dried tomatoes.  

For the main course, Dad and Jack went for beer battered fish, chips, chunky tartae sauce and a posh mushy pea accompaniment. 

I had crab tortellini in a sweet pink cream sauce. 

Mum had scallop ravioli with peas and a summer truffle. 

We shared a side of roasted vegetables in vinaigrette.

The food was superb and so beautifully presented.

After we’d finished there wasn’t a morsel left. 

Pudding consisted of not one, but two rounds, beginning with a fun little egg and soldiers dish.

Don’t be fooled. 

The egg shell was filled with a light vanilla mousse and the runny yolk hid a deceptive mango coulis.  The toasted soldiers were sweet sticks of shortbread. 

We shared two puddings from the main menu between us.

A pink, juicy, poached peach with almond whipped cream and sugar coated biscotti.

A posh Eton mess with homemade merengues as light as a feather, draped in homemade strawberry sauce, thick vanilla cream and fresh fruit. 

The food was absolutely fantastic, anyone in Bath who is a seafood lover has to pay this place a visit and for those who aren’t as keen there is a steak on the menu as well as a vegetarian option. 

It’s not often you dine out and get a meal this good at a reasonable price. 

Go to blunos to book your table now. 

Breakfast at Bills

Bills is one of my favorite places to enjoy brunch in Bath...

                        And clearly Helen agrees with me judging by that look on her face...



The restaurant is the brainchild of Bill Collison, who began his empire many years ago with a tiny green grocers in East Sussex. Later he opened a café which obviously went down alarmingly well among his customers because he now has nearly 50 restaurants all across the UK.

Their breakfast menu is served until 1pm on weekends.

We began with tea and coffee.

The decor takes its inspiration from its green grocer history, with rickety shelves, boxes and crates at every turn, packed full of jams, pickles and other delights. There's a lot of wood and colour everywhere you look. It manages to be both sparse and yet bursting full of things to look at. The lighting gives off a warmth that makes you feel incredibly cosy, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the shoppers outside. 

Every table was packed.

To eat I fancied something light and wholesome, so chose porridge with bananas, hazelnuts and honey, which was truly delicious.

The porridge was just the right consistency- thick yet runny with chunks of nuts and sliced sweet banana.

Helen went for toast with a selection of Bills' homemade conserves, which can also be bought in store and beautifully gift wrapped for gifts.




Nick went all out and chose home-made blueberry and buttermilk pancakes adorned with an array of fresh fruit and maple syrup. He's currently applying for his PhD in America so it was only fitting really!

Apologies for the blurry picture: I barely had a chance to focus the camera before he couldn't resist any longer and tucked in!

The pancakes themselves were really tasty- thick and fluffy with juicy bits of blueberry poking out- I know this because I might have tried some.

For breakfast they also offer fry ups and several egg dishes- including royale, florentine and benedict. 

To find out more about the Bills story or to find your local restuanrt go to : Bills

Jammin' in Jamaica

Last week in Bath saw the opening of new Caribbean restaurant Turtle Bay.




Myself and some friends went along for the opening night and enjoyed an evening of cocktails, reggae and authentic dishes. 

Upstairs has a large glass exterior with a central beach bar and a laid-back feel. The decor is deliberately made to feel as though you are holed up in a wooden beach shack complete with straw roof, with colored fairy lights and open sides that look out onto the Caribbean sea. If only...

 
Drinks are 2-4-1 until 7pm and they start again with the deal at 10pm to catch the late night revellers heading to the City's nightclubs.
 
We started with 'Jammin'; a cocktail combining white rum, apple juice, ginger, lime and fresh mint, with apricot liqueur and a teaspoon of apricot jam balanced on top for good measure. We were unsure how to proceed with the spoonful of jam and wondered whether we were supposed to lick it straight off the spoon but the barman kindly pointed out that it was best when stirred straight into the drink. 
 

 
After a much needed catch up at the bar we headed downstairs to our table.
Downstairs has a much more restauranty feel with dimmed lighting and set tables rather than the light, open plan and spacious setting upstairs. 
  After another order of cocktails, (this time I chose the Tobago Tea with FIVE- yes five!- different liquors- rum, tequila, vodka gin and triple sec, an interesting mix which was finished off with mango, lemonade and freshly squeezed lemon) we started to get a big peckish.

To begin with we were recommended the Jamaican Fried Bait which we shared. It came served on a wooden board perfect for pecking at. The fish was slightly spiced with a light crisp batter and was accompanied by a refreshingly cool lime and coriander mayonnaise. We drizzled some fresh lemon over and got stuck in. 
 

For the main course myself and Judith went for the Mo' Bay Chicken (I'm not a huge fan of overly spicy food and was told by our waiter that this was a quite light option.)

The chicken breast was richly seasoned with a creamy jerk spiced sauce. To accompany it I had rice 'n' peas (blacked eyed peas), salad and plantain (my absolute favourite- who can resist deliciously sweet fruit fried in a light batter.) Other side options include sweet potato mash and sweet potato fries. 

 
Akiko chose the spiciest dish on the menu- one of the 'One Pot's' which are bowls of stew slowly simmered in Caribbean spices.
 
Feeling brave she decided on the Blue Mountain Goat Curry which is a dish combining marinated goat, carrots, potatoes, sweet onion chutney and a grilled flatbread, served sizzling to your table.
 

 
Gemma also went for a One Pot - with shrimps, mango and sweet potato seasoned with tomato, garlic, ginger and Caribbean spices.

 
The food was hearty, warming and filling. All our dishes were flavoursome and unique, like nothing I’d tried before, reflecting the restaurant’s mission to deliver the rustic and authentic food that is situated at the heart of Caribbean culture. 

They source their ingredients both locally and from the far flung corners of the Caribbean islands. 

 We chatted and sipped on our drinks, finding it hard to resist a little bop to the reggae music.
 

 
For dessert myself and Judith shared a Rum & Raisin Bread Pudding; fluffy bread slowly baked in dark rum and sprinkled with cinnamon raisins & brown sugar. 
The other girls went for a night cap with dessert cocktails.
 

 
The staff were outgoing and friendly and couldn't do enough for us, in fact their energy was a little bit too much, but I put this down to the fact it was opening night and they were eager to impress their first patrons. They had an excellent knowledge of the menu and spoke expertly on the flavours in each dish.
 
The toilets were pretty groovy too- they had that really rustic feel going on.
 



 
The restaurant is part of a chain with locations slowly popping up all over the country.
This is definitely going to be my new favourite go-to bar in Bath.


Go to Turtle Bay for locations and your own unique taste of the Caribbean.