REVIEW: Best of British Dinner at The Architect, Bath

TGT Bath were invited to a delightful evening experience in one of Bath's many historic Grade 2 listed locations. The Architect is a grand location, a 5 minute walk from the Bath Spa train station next to the Abbey, where the King Charles III Coronation theme started with garden beds themed to the Royal Crown and colours.

As we were welcomed by the friendly staff, they then introduced us to Ollie, the Deputy Manager of the venue, then Ben & Gary from Novel Wines, who had planned 5 British dishes each paired with English wines. We started the evening with a welcome glass of English Sparkling Wine from Bride Valley Dorset, a lovely Cremant, and started to meet the other guests, also keen to experience the pairings of the elegant dishes and glasses. It became very obvious that several others in the Coronation-themed dining room had a taste for good food and fantastic wine and insights into other Novel Wine tastings and education came through.

The first dish was a Brixham Crab and tomato consume, presented as a colourful artwork with different coloured tomatoes and tasted fresh, light and exciting. The Bacchus wine from the Aldwick Estate brought the flavours together well and yet left you enjoying the wine. The conversations comparing English wines to New Zealand and California set the tone for many more sips to check preferences. The second course was Severn & Wye Smoked Salmon, beetroot carpaccio with a horseradish creme fraise, full of smokey flavour, melting in your mouth and energised by the light beetroot flavour. It was clear we were all in for a night of amazing food and excitement for each course was growing.

This salmon course was paired with a Bluestone Vineyards Rose Curvee, as with every course and paired drink we seemed to have great table discussions on preferences and similarities of wines and grapes and bringing a Sparking Rose did encourage some good opinions. It did work very well though. The light sparking wine gave your mouth great bursts of refreshing fizz but gave the taste of smoked salmon a clean taste palette to bring all its flavour flooding back, which was a clever and incredible game that worked very well. 

The third dish was our main, a lamb chop from Romney Marsh in Barnsley, Duchess potato, tender stem broccoli and roasted almonds. It was cooked to perfection, you cut through with a gentle slice, the colour won your mouth's taste buds immediately. Jonathan Joseph, the head chef, should be proud of the food he and his team were serving, but the flavour kept in this chop was deep and rich and with a full flavour of red wine from Pattingham Divico Rudge Heath worked so well. The cherry noted red was aged in French barrels and did a fantastic job at bringing through the flavour of the dish, especially with the almond flakes on the veg. With the red wine tasting so good, I was happy to have my glass full again while the Novel Wine team and Ollie from The Architect came around joining us in conversation. 

The fourth dish was "King" of Puddings, a light creamy meringue on a soft breadcrumb paired with a refreshing lemon and cucumber gin liquor and Rose Lemonade, which was light, refreshing and perfect for a sweet tooth. Followed by Bath Blue cheese with apple and cider chutney, next to a crispbread. The fifth course came with an option of Cotswold single Malt whisky or a Cotswold Cream Liquor. Both would have finished the evening down a preferred taste pathway and concluded the incredible evening. 

The staff were welcoming, relaxed, smiling, and acknowledged every response of thank you or question really well as you would expect at an evening of focused food and drink about the experience of the best of the British. In a way, like the whole Coronation weekend, it was a well planned, precisely executed, and joyful experience that left you describing everything as great!

If you enjoy British wine or fine dining, this event, like more to come from the magnificent team at The Architect, would be a must. The food, in summary, was excellent, the venue grand yet relaxed and the drinks paired gave you an education to celebrate the fantastic local produce all coming together.

The Architect in Bath will host more events that can be found on the website easily, with Gin Tasting and a Pub Walk around the City coming up. The Novel Wine company also has several experiences coming up and they have some of the wines from this event kept on the lists available, so book a table and enjoy your own experience of the best of British food and drink. 

Follow both The Architect Bath and Novel Wines on social media to find out more about events, offers, and insights into great food, drink, and experiences. 

Thank you to Ollie, Ben & Gary for putting the event on. It was a great evening and everyone enjoyed it greatly. 

Find out more about The Architect here!