The Cross Keys — Restaurant in Bath

The Cross Keys is, like a lot of the buildings in Bath, soaked in history. Once a coaching house dating back to the 1700's - it's not 'the' very oldest establishment in the area, but can claim original stone fireplaces and a detailed history - for whome those who are interested, is detailed on a plaque by the front door.

Tis many a year since I was here last and I'm not sure the Cask Marque Ale Trail was extant then, but that was then and this is now. On this visit the ale was to be tried and be found in the most noble condition. The Blindmans Icarus 4.5% abv, (not noted by CM) was so more-ish it needed a couple more pints to slate the palette.

The pub itself, rare (these days) has not been converted into a surround-one-bar-gentrified conversion, but remains a classic 50's style, two bar lounge and public (the Eddie Cochrane) bar. This last, so named after the 50's pop star who, involved in an RTA nearby, was taken to the close by hospital but unfortunately perished. Photo's and discs in his memory adorn the wall here.

It's mostly a locals pub, who are affable enough, but, as in days of yore, travellers and visitors on 'The Trail' are made welcome. Be sure to connect with Jack, who seems, during the day, to do...

Disappointing Christmas Eve Lunch We booked the Christmas Lunch set meal for Christmas Eve (we decided to treat ourselves this year, as this isn't something we normally do at Christmas, as it's expensive.) On arrival at the pub, there were no staff around, so we thought we'd just sit at the table which had been set with cutlery. I noticed that there were hardly any decorations up and so it didn't feel 'Special' or indeed 'Christmassy'. such a shame. We visited at Halloween time and that was better. Whoever laid the table, had done it so that you were facing the wall and not the fireplace – a bit strange I thought! So we changed that ourselves. The table also hadn't been cleaned properly from the previous customer, which was not nice. The service wasn't great for the money they charge. Not made to feel very welcome or special. When each course was brought to the table, there was no mention as to what the starters were. It wasn't obvious from looking at it. However, the food was lovely, but the service and the overall lack of Christmassy ambience, left us feeling underwhelmed. Unfortunately, we won't be booking for...

Our party of 4 visited here yesterday lunchtime on a cold windy day. Once inside there was a lovely fire which soon warmed us up. Two of our party had the mushrooms for starters, one the french soup and I had the chinese skewered chicken, which in itself was quite a plateful. For our main course we tried the plaice meal of the day, the salmon and prawn tagliatelle, and two had the steak and ale pie, which was obviously home made, delicious and absolutely full of meat, which makes such a change up to many other establishments. We were all so full up we decided we unfortunately couldnt manage a dessert though. We all agreed the service was really good, and the food excellent, especially value for money. We will definitely visit again, despite it being quite a way from where we live, but more than worth...