The Elder in Bath, which opened their doors in 2020, proves that time can be a positive thing, not only when it comes to well-aged meat, single malt or matured cheese, but for restaurants. Five years has seen The Elder build a loyal clientele, while the many positive reviews have ensured that they’re on the horizon of foodies visiting the city.
Bath might be fortunate enough to boast more than three hundred restaurants, but all too many are outposts of the depressingly inauthentic global cuisine chains you find in towns and cities the length and breadth of the UK. Only a few restaurants are in the same league as The Elder, making it worthy of frequent patronage should you reside locally. Nor do you have to have a birthday or anniversary to celebrate in order to make a reservation here, there is a smart yet casual vibe to the interior, while the friendly front of house team ensures that any dining experience becomes a special occasion in its own right.
The Elder is located within the well appointed Hotel Indigo Bath, spread across 14 Grade I listed Georgian townhouses on South Parade which was the first major project of foremost Bath architect, John Wood the Elder, whose son followed in his footsteps. In true family style, The Elder has welcomed a younger sister since my last review: the more informal 100 cover French-inspired, Brasserie Beau, which opened in 2024 and in no way competes with the modern British fine dining Elder, angled towards gourmands keen to experience the best our country has to offer.
The Elder and Brasserie Beau are independently owned by chef/restauranteur Mike Robinson, co-owner of The Harwood Arms in Fulham, the only London pub ever to hold a Michelin star, an accolade which has been upheld for fifteen years. Robinson also owns the acclaimed Woodsman in Stratford-Upon-Avon, while his passion for game and wild food inspired him to found Deer Box which manages wild deer over 60,000 acres of private land across the south of England and supplies all his restaurants with ethically-sourced venison all year round.
It’s restaurateurs like Robinson who continue to challenge the negative impression of British food largely acquired during the post WWII years of rationing, and The Elder’s elegant 7-course tasting menu and midweek à la carte illustrates just how much pride we Brits ought to take in our bounteous landscape and isles: from the finest Cotswold muntjac, currently on the menu as a ragu with homemade tagliatelle and lashings of Parmesan, to Cornish octopus from the prestigious Flying Fish company who make daily deliveries from Cornwall.
Inventively prepared sopressatta-style (a form of dry-curing), the octopus starter which caught my eye instantly, is presented like a finely sliced carpaccio, finished with citrus dressed fennel, nduja and nduja foam: the meatiness and sweetness of the octopus enhanced by the spicy Calabrian sausage and capers. My husband’s wood pigeon ‘pastrami’ also proved an equally exciting dish, served with black pudding, bacon jam and Castelfranco (an Italian red chicory) in a harmonious ode to winter. Simple perhaps, but not the sort of dish you come across every day and showcases Robinson’s flare for partnering the finest British ingredients with European techniques and flavours.
A main course of local Bathurst estate venison pave with beetroot Anna was finished with bitter radicchio to offer the palette, alongside pickled blackberry, a welcome balance to the richer elements of the dish like the smoked bone marrow jus, designed to take the diner on an unexpected journey of the English countryside. The same could be said of my main course which fondly reimagined and anglicised the classic ‘canard à l’orange’ with duck breast and slow-cooked leg, accompanied by an clementine jus, brussel sprouts, plum jam and sweet potato rosti.
The selection of seasonally-inspired desserts was certainly original; a Barkham blue cheese and apple tarte tatin; pumpkin cheesecake with Frangelico and cinnamon ice cream, and wild damson souffle with a port and damson jus and bay leaf ice cream which the couple on the next table oohed and ahhed over, though their joy must have been marred by their foolish decision to share. I smiled at my husband wryly, smug not to be one of those ‘two spoons’ couples as we both devoured the exquisitely presented Valrhona Illanka mousse served in a chocolate Rocher-style cup and topped with an addictive salted chestnut ice cream that was reminiscent of the Mont Blanc desserts enjoyed in Christmases past.
The Elder put just as much love and attention into the final course as they do their supremely welcoming opening of homemade bread with whipped butter and warming beef tea, for it’s this that sees diners walk away with that cosy, well-looked-after feeling and encourages them to return. Leaving with great big childish grins fuelled by chocolate, we certainly didn’t need any convincing.
The Elder at Hotel Indigo, South Parade, Bath BA2 4AB. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
