Took my girlfriend for her 36th birthday, so pretty high stakes. However, on a monday nights we pretty much had the place to ourselves, started with champagne, finished with cognac, and inbetween enjoyed 5 petit plaits of the most wonderful food. Atmosphere was wonderful, staff are friendly but not in your face. Recommended for just a desert and a drink, or a full meal, or just to graze with friends. Brilliant place.
Stuart W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Bath, United Kingdom
First, lets get the negative stuff out of the way. The table we were led to had a slick of the previous occupants food on it, a dead fly on one of the plates and so many crumbs on the banquette that we had to brush it off ourselves before sitting down. Not a good first impression. However the staff were very friendly, helpful and made us feel relaxed with the petit plat concept. The food was nice but not exceptional. For instance the scallops with bok choi and ginger sabayon was not as delicate or unusual as it sounds. It was like a standard pre prepared coquille St. Jacques without the potato, a side order of chips were standard frozen McCain type. However a pleasant evening with nice food, the service made it four stars.
Jenni D.
Rating des Ortes: 2 London, United Kingdom
Tucked away in the back streets of Bath you’ll find Bistro La Barrique. This restaurant prides itself on offering«affordable gourmet French dining in a relaxed, friendly and easy-going atmosphere». These things are true, but they neglect that their food is distinctively below par. I opted for one of the tempting-sounding vegetarian dishes(a goats cheese tartlet) which lukewarm, rubbery and under seasoned. The rose wine we had was also a bit watery and underwhelming. All in all I actually had a really lovely evening, but that wasn’t down to the food or the wine.(Well, maybe partly down to the wine!)
Andrew V.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Nuneaton, United Kingdom
We really enjoyed our meal — I think it was the nicest meal I’ve had out for a long time. Unusually for a French restaurant, there was a good vegetarian choice, and everything we chose was delicious. French tapas might seem like a strange idea, but it worked — much better than the potato-chunks-in-tinned-tomatoes that I end up with from Spanish tapas places. My wife — a meat eater — thoroughly enjoyed her rabbit and duck. We thoroughly recommend la Barrique’s food; the only reason it doesn’t get five stars is that the service was rather slow — but then it was full.
Cassyp
Rating des Ortes: 3 Bath, United Kingdom
Michel Lemoine used to run No.5 on Pulteney Bridge and we were expecting great things from his ‘petits plats’ format(a French interpretation of the ‘tapas’ style of eating) when we went Sunday lunchtime after some time in town. Had the £8.95 fixed menu and it was very disappointing. Not badly cooked — though not especially well cooked — but seriously lacking in flavour with very poor seasoning. Just a bit watery and bland. A pity as the room and staff are very nice.