A guest review from Tom and James of their meal at The Cosy Club, Bath…thanks both!
It can sometimes be difficult to eat out as I’m a chef and along with my partner we used to, until recently, own and run our own restaurant so our expectations of other peoples’ food can be high. Having noticed the new COSY CLUB in Southgate, Bath, we decided the menu posted outside warranted a visit.
We climbed the ‘office’ type stairs to the restaurant, wondering if we had made the right choice but were pleasantly surprised as first impressions were that it could be a good refuge from shopping and the rather unsatisfactory cafes/restaurants dotted in and around the area. We were greeted and shown straight to our table, settled and immediately asked for drinks. We asked for a couple of minutes and were granted it politely and cheerily. The menu all seemed reasonably priced with a good but reassuringly not massive range of drinks and food.
I ordered the belly of pork, black pudding with carrot and potato mash (£9.50) whilst my partner had the Lincolnshire sausage and caramelised onion pie with paprika wedges (£9.95). I often order the belly of pork as I think this is a good test of any chef’s skills and I am glad to say I wasn’t disappointed. It was a decent size portion of meat angled against the mash so first impressions were so far so good. The meat was well cooked and melting tender but the mash was pretty underseasoned so I’m not sure if anyone in the kitchen had tasted the product before serving it up.
My partner’s sausage pie had a really good crusty pastry and fortunately there wasn’t a pub-style puff pastry top in sight. The flavours were good but someone that is more used to sauces with their meals may have preferred a gravy with it as it was a little on the dry side. The accompanying paprika wedges were fairly ordinary and the roasted tomatoes were lovely but a bit strange with the rest of the meal.
Puddings were quite limited and on the hearty side, no light sweetness to finish off the meal. The sticky toffee pudding was flavoursome but the banana split was a bit ordinary even for something with a retro edge.
The service was friendly and enthusiastic, the waitress was engaging and that goes a long way to giving a good impression of a restaurant that has an interest in its customers. I think the second hand chairs and tables and the concrete ceiling look is going out of fashion but it was quite nicely done.
In value for money terms, a Bath restaurant with good quality main courses – most of which are under £10 each – is very good. The wines and spirits were similarly well priced and we will be going back for their breakfast the next Saturday morning we are available. All in all, a nice evening out.
The Cosy Club
Website: www.cosyclub.co.uk/bath
Telephone: 01225 464 161
Address: Unit R4, Southgate Place, Bath, BA1 1AP