HOT MEALS: Market - possibly the best burgers in Bath

If you bite into a burger and the toppings don't end up all over your face then I don't think it counts as a proper burger.

At Market in Saw Close in Bath they definitely know how to create a proper burger.

By the time I had finished munching I had a reassuringly large amount of goat's cheese, relish and burger juices covering my face and hands. And very satisfying it was too.

A shout out on twitter to gauge opinion on where to get the best burgers in Bath had led me to Market.

It's in a slightly odd location, tucked in beside Gala bingo opposite the Theatre Royal, and when sitting in the outside area you do feel rather as if you're sitting in a car park – but in a city where any outside space is at a premium you can't really complain.

And anyway, the food is top.

Market in Bath

Inside the vibe is very relaxed. It reminded me of bars and restaurants I have visited in New York's Lower East Side – the kind of place where up and coming rock stars might hang out.

There's absolutely nothing pretentious about the place. There's no table cloths or fancy uniforms for the staff. Tables are ready prepared with baskets of cutlery and sauces and jugs of water and glasses and the staff are cool, but friendly.

The menu is mainly burgers, pizza, salads and a couple of options from the grill.

The burger menu is extensive – there's everything from your classic cheeseburger, to Mexican style burgers with salsa and guacamole to chorizo from the local The Bath Pig – who in my opinion make the best chorizo in the world. And all the bread comes from the Thoughtful Bread Company which is based in Farrington Gurney and has a regular stall at Green Park next to Sainsbury's.

Our burgers - Goats's cheese, caramelised onions and rocket, and the Mexican

If you fancy something a bit different, or want to give th chefs a challenge then they are also willing to make something up for you then and there.

Which is what they did for me. My burger was loaded with goat's cheese and caramelised onions which made an excellent combination. The burgers are well cooked, juicy and a good thickness. The goat's cheese was tangy, but not overpowering and the sweetness of the onions balanced it out very well. I believe it may be making its way on to the menu very soon.

I can highly recommend it.

Market makes excellent nachos

Before our burgers we tucked into a plate of nachos. Nachos are up there as one of my favourite snacks so I was looking forward to Market's take on them.

I was not disappointed. The cheese, instead of just being on the top leaving rather dry tortilla chips underneath, ran right through the pile. And the salsa, gucamole and sour cream came on the side so there was no risk of ending up with soggy piles of chips around the edge which have been over-smothered in sauce. So it was a big thumbs up for them too.

Banoffee pie

The dessert menu is small - in fact there isn't even a menu, you just ask what they have. There will probably be two or three options, like cheesecake and banoffee pie. Feeling rather stuffed after our feast of nachos and burgers we decided to share a banoffee pie. It was creamy and sweet, with a good crunchy base and made an excellent end to the meal.

Drinks are fairly standard Bath prices and there is a good selection of beer, wine and cider.

For a relaxed night hanging out with friends, and for a great burger, I'm convinced it's the best in Bath.

For more information about Market, including special 2-4-1 deals visit www.marketbath.com.

HOT BATH: Getting inspired by the Taste of the West

Watching anyone at the top of their game, doing the thing that they love is always inspiring. Whether it's a sportsman, singer, dancer, craftsman......or chef.

Hywel Jones with one of the dishes he prepared

And that was one of the really great things about the weekend's Taste of the West festival in Milsom Place in Bath – the theatre kitchen in the Octagon which gave people the chance to watch some of the area's top chefs in action.

Now I feel about chefs the way that other people feel about pop stars or premiership footballers – I am more or less completely starstruck, and totally in awe of what they do.

So for me, the opportunity to see them preparing remarkable dishes up close was very exciting.

In this area we are very lucky with the great range of local produce available, and the amazing talent that exists to turn it into delicious meals.

Having watched the Great British Menu I was familiar with Hywel Jones, Executive Chef, at Lucknam Park in Colerne. I found myself transfixed watching the quiet ease with which he handled the ingredients, expertly assembling the dishes while still maintaining a rapport with the audience and bantering with his assistant. 

Rachel Demuth, owner of Demuths vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Bath, and head chef at the restaurant, Richard Buckley, created some stunning and vibrant dishes which proved that vegetarian food does not have to be boring. I am lucky enough to have worked with Rachel before at her vegetarian cookery school, and I know how passionate she is about vegetarian cookery and about sharing her skills and this shone through.

But it was Sam Moody from The Bath Priory that really blew me away.

At just 26 years old he already heads up a kitchen, working in a team of 17, and is regarded as one of the top chefs under 30 in the country.

Over the past few years I have been cooking more and more, and I now consider myself a pretty decent cook. But still not even close to this young talent.

It was genuinely inspiring to see someone so young, who had clearly found his calling in life, working and talking about the thing that he is most passionate about.

The Bath Priory is now top of the list on my places to go to eat – as soon as I've saved enough pennies!

Outside the Octagon, throughout Milsom Place were dozens of stalls selling everything from brownies to duck sausages, to wine – but all had one thing in common. They were locally produced.

The more I eat, the more discerning I have become about where my food is sourced from and I genuinely believe that local food, produced with love, with always taste better than anything plucked from the shelf of a supermarket.

It's great to see so many people locally producing such a wide range of products, and it made me realise that you can get almost anything you want from the area, as long as you look hard enough.

One of the things I love about these types of events is just being around people who obviously love and care about food as much as I do.

It's genuinely inspirational.

HOT MEALS: Grazing at Gascoyne Place

Gascoyne Place is now serving up a grazing menu.

This pleases me for two reasons.

Firstly, I just love that style of eating. Tapas, mezze, anything like that with little plates of deliciousness to share which give my taste buds a work out is alright by me. For me it's the perfect way of eating because I never have to narrow my choices down to one, and then don't have to spend a meal trying to steal food from my partner's plate without him noticing.

And secondly, on the menu are sliders. I discovered sliders on a relatively recent visit to the states and instantly fell in love.

But sadly there is a distinct lack of them here back across the pond.

For those who don't know, sliders are basically mini burgers. Usually served as a trio they come with a selection of toppings, thus removing the need to choose what style of burger you're after, and they work equally well as a main for one, or as part of a sharing experience.

So anyway, they are on the new grazing menu at Gascoyne's which had me very excited.

Sliders

And frankly, there wasn't any option when we visited. They were definitely going to feature on our menu selection.

And very good they were too. The patties were well made, not overcooked and very tasty, and topped with a nice selection of ingredients – beetroot, blue cheese and classic American. It was a real taste of New York. More places in Bath should serve sliders. I would eat there for sure.



Charcuterie



Along with the sliders we chose the charcuterie plate which came with bread and pickles. It was a reasonable selection - nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but a good, safe, tasty choice.

We also decided to try the butternut squash risotto balls with red pepper oil. Little bite-sized balls – crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with the delicious nutty sweetness of the squash sitting perfectly with the creamy rice. I could happily have eaten more of them!

Our selection from the Grazing menu

I've always thought that the menu at Gascoyne Place was a bit serious, so it's great that there is now this lighter, slightly more fun option. Divided into small plates, large plates and something sweet it's easy to choose something to suit your appetite. It's perfect if you just want a snack with drinks, and it works equally well for lunch and dinner.

I think it is a very welcome addition to the full menu – especially those sliders!
 www.gascoyneplace.co.uk

HOT DRINKS: Door 34 - a cut above the rest

You could go into a cocktail bar, pick up a menu and order your drink from the usual selection – Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Dark and Stormy etc etc.

Or, you could go to Door 34 on Monmouth Street.

Of course they serve up all the classics, but when you have bartenders this good, where's the fun in that?

Instead, put your faith in the experts and let them do what they do best. All you need to do is give them a clue – something with bourbon, something spicy, something pink, whatever takes your fancy – and after just a moment's thought they will spring into action and create something special.

Door 34 really is a cut above your usual cocktail bar. But when you look at the credentials of the men behind it, it's not really surprising.

The bar is the brainchild of award winning cocktail makers Craig Edney and Andy Walsh.

Craig has opened bars and run events all over the world, he trains the bar staff for Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant chain and has run events for high profile clients such as Kofi Annan, Dizzy Rascal and F1 motor racing teams.

Bartending has taken Andy around the world. He has tended to the needs of the fashionable and elite in venues such as the award winning Callooh Callay in Shoreditch to Tony's Stars Kitten Club on the other side of the world in Melbourne. Along the way he has picked up a host of awards from the UK Bartenders Guild, Beefeater Gin and Glenfiddich, to name just a few.

Door 34 really is all about the drinks. It's not trying to be uber cool, or filled with gimmicks, it's just about creating great drinks in a relaxed atmosphere.

And it does have a great vibe. It is small enough to feel intimate, but large enough not to feel instantly crowded.

Craig's vision for the bar was to create somewhere with the feel of a 1920s speakeasy. The kind of place you hear about from those in the know. And I think it works. It's warm and chic and the staff are friendly and happy to talk you through how they make the drinks.

Craig said: “This is a bar for good measured drinking, using the best fresh ingredients, local and globally sourced spirits, a place for grown ups to drink.

“If you want to come and have a nice drink then this is the place for you.”

I think it's the place for me.

For more information visit www.door34.co.uk, email drinks@door34.co.uk or call 01225 444770.