The Hop Pole — Restaurant in Bath

An abosulutey cracking pub, just opposite Baths grand and famous Victoria park.

As in line with Covid regs, the inside of the pub was closed to the public so we were seated in the outside area, which has a nice quaint view of the Georgian lovely back facades of the old bath stone houses, giving a open but also snug and secluded feel. There are several benches included covered areas, a few brightly coloured nice bandstand like structures which covered some of the benches, adding to the traditional yet modern and approachable feel of the place. Their was respectable selection of beers, including few interesting Hoppy ales such as proper job. The staff are some of the nicest chilled staff I've had the good fortune to be served by, and went up and above the call of duty to make us feel at home and accommodate our every need whilst, still keeping things casual relaxed and approachable. We we're there on a Sunday so naturally had to try the roasts, all choosing the beef, which let me tell often, pubs can overdo the beef leaving tough chewy leather like chunk which really ruins the roast. Not here, the beef was rare melt in your mouth with perfect amount of horseradish and gravy. It was so good we even asked to buy some extra slices, and as the kitchen was closing they kindly let us have what was left free of charge, which was wolfed down in about 2 seconds flat.

The only criticisms I have, are it would be nice to maybe get a little more vegetables with the roast, but you still get an ok amount and the roast is in no way small, and I would personally of liked to see a larger selection of intresting, 'wanky' - for lack of better word beers, but that's just personal preference.

All and all a thoroughly good experience and definitely worth a trip, especially for those looking for atmospheric chat over food, or the younger studenty crowd, looking to kick off the weekends festivities in...

Left feeling a bit disappointed after our lunch here today. We had a table booked for 11 of us to eat for my friends birthday.

The staff suggested we ordered at the bar separately as it would be the easiest way to split the bill. Fair enough.

As I was waiting to order, the staff member was apologising to another customer for the wait and explained how he had to deal with a “difficult table”. I wasn’t impressed to hear this just as I myself was waiting to order. We were the only table in the pub at the time apart from the customer mentioned who was also waiting by the bar.

The majority of our table ordered beef roasts with the exception of one pork, 2 chicken burgers and myself, a couple of small plates.

Unfortunately the 2 chicken burgers were mistaken for chicken roasts. Being polite we just excepted the roast and were offered a drink on the house which was nice.

However, one of my friends who had previously ordered the chicken burger which was now the roast had a nut allergy… he told the staff when ordering but he unfortunately had stuffing on his plate. That being said, we are unsure if this would contain any trace of nuts but it was worrying to see this on the plate non the less.

No check back on food. The two complementary drinks then had to be cased up by going to the bar ourselves...

Went there and had the ribeye steak, which was a very decent price for Ribeye. The pub serves South African fusion, which isn't what you'd expect from a pub, but after trying the food I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, and the chefs clear passion for his craft.

The potatoes were incredibly crispy and well seasoned, and the steak itself was nicely done, with the accompaniment sauce pairing well.

I feel as though this place deserves more credit, but I can understand how it's not a menu you'd expect when visiting, and it might not be the venue you'd look for when looking for the menu it does have, but I would recommend to anyone giving it a shot if you're a fan of south African cuisine.

Only thing which I would say is the kids menu feels incredibly lackluster given its location next to...