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Light, airy venue has stunning menu
From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Tuesday 29th Oct 2002.
TAKING a break from the football, my partner and I decided to try a restaurant we hadn't been to before, and Clarkes wine bar and restaurant sounded promising.
We arrived a little early but that didn't seem to be a problem and we were shown straight to our table.
First impressions were that it was the sort of place that would be great to pop into straight after work light, airy and with the music at just the right level to allow you to talk without having to shout.
We were a bit put off by the fact that we were stuck underneath a fan that was going at a speed that managed to create the effect of strobe lighting.
We were quite impressed, however, that staff noticed this within minutes and turned it off.
Disco effects removed, we turned our attention to the extensive wine list.
We don't normally order bottles of wine in a restaurant as I only like red and my partner only likes white, but we were assured the restaurant was happy for us to take away what we didn't drink so we decided to treat ourselves.
To eat I chose nachos, followed by roasted confit of duck served on a cassoulet of beans with a garlic and pine nut crust.
Gary, being a lover of plain food (or fussy, depending on your point of view), had less of a choice.
He plumped for a rabbit and pork terrine served with mango chutney to start, with summer chicken fricassee served with saffron rice as a main course.
My meal came with a choice of pommes frites, dauphinois potatoes, vegetables, or a mixed salad.
After the wine ordering we decided we were past worrying about the cost and went mad with side dishes. I went for a salad , and we ordered vegetables and dauphinois potatoes to share.
In fact, we ordered so much that it wouldn't fit on our rather small two-seater table, but a very pleasant waiter pushed another table up to ours and solved that problem, although not the one of how we were to eat everything.
The food was absolutely delicious: the meat in particular just melted in your mouth.
Not deterred by our full stomachs we couldn't resist dessert and a grand marnier crème brûlée and a zesty lemon tart rounded off the meal perfectly.
The bill came to £77.65, including a 10 per cent service fee not too bad, considering the wine and our fest of over-ordering.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Clarkes; the food was lovely, the atmosphere friendly and the staff as helpful and polite as you could ask for. It was a real treat.
Clarkes,
7 Argyle Street,
Bath.
Tel: (01225) 444440.
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