Back to Index

The Hole in the Wall

16 George St, Bath BA1 2EH
Tel 01225 425242
Email info@theholeinthewall.co.uk
Web www.theholeinthewall.co.uk

There’s something immensely reassuring about being cocooned beneath street level. Trot downstairs into this cosy, candlelit dining room, and you’re immediately struck by the snug, welcoming scene.

For starters, try mussels in sweet chilli & basil sauce, subtly scented with a seasidey aroma. Tomato sauce adds an exciting piquancy – just the right level of lip-tingle chilli offset by the basil’s cooling freshness. The pork fillet and black pudding terrine has a herby, delicately meaty flavour, accompanied by rich, vanilla-scented brioche toasts and sweet whisky-and-honey-engorged sultanas. Mains include the likes of seabass, a golden tower of fishy planks balancing atop a glossy underlay of wilted spinach. The skin is perfectly crisp, the flakes of milky fish succulent, and the spinach a revelation – each tender leaf is discernible, with a satisfying iron-y bite. The dressing’s citrus tinge neatly ties the whole dish together. Braised lamb shank, meanwhile, is a huge hunk of lamb on a cloud of parsnip mash, surrounded by treacly red-wine sauce. Quiveringly tender meat falls off the bone in plump mouthfuls, light-as-air mash creating a good contrast to the solid meaty flavours. For dessert, the lemon creme brulee is textbook-crunchy on top and luxuriously unguent within, with small jewels of pear dotted among the vanilla-spotted custard.

The Hole in the Wall is a Bath institution - and it’s easy to see why. Its dedication to good-quality local ingredients and consistently well-executed classic dishes makes it one of the most desirable destinations on Bath’s restaurant circuit.