Cambridge – Bath House

This pub is located just a couple of doors down from the Eagle, which is also run by the same company, Greene King. In fairness to Greene King, most of their outlets are open all day, which isn’t the case with many pubs in Cambridge at the moment. And, I like that this has been a licensed premises since the seventeenth century, so I felt the need to visit it as I’ve never been here before.

The mostly fake interior, but it’s still got some character to it despite being mainly modern. There’s a bar in the middle of the pub and it was all spotlessly clean and tidy. The welcome at the door was friendly and there was a comfortable feel to the whole arrangement. So, there was nothing particularly wrong here, although I’m not sure there was anything to write home about (I’ll ignore that I’m writing here).

It’s a Greene King pub, so the best drink option is nearly always a soft drink. I’m not sure Greene King would honestly admit their beer choice is anything other than generic and dull. Well, they might not say that I accept, but I’m sure they’ll think it privately.

The fish and chips and this would have been better if they changed the oil in their fryers. Having said that, the fish they used was of a decent quality and rather tender and delightful. The batter didn’t taste of much and the fish wasn’t drained before dumping it on the chips, so there was a moistness under it. Given that this was purchased under the Government’s ‘eat out to help out’, the cost of £4.55 was hardly unreasonable though but they’re pushing it at its full price.

The reviews for the pub are pretty poor, I was humoured with the solitary chip reference here:

“Nice old wood beam decor, drinks were good but the food was awful value and quality. Camden Beer and French white Wine was nice but the small plate fish goujons were awful value. Small plate is an understatement £4.79 for two goujons, each no bigger than two chicken nuggets, battered together with a solitary chip, served with a mushy pea croquette which was an inch long, that was it.”

And probably the least thought about this review, the better:

“Visited 14/4 man on next table bare feet which he was fondling while watching his lap top it looked like he was ‘getting off’ on it, complained to bar man 8pm who told me to find another table if I didn’t like it, the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in a pub.”

Dating from the seventeenth century, the building was until recently known as the Bath Hotel, with a rebuild and extension taking place in the eighteenth century. And many restorations and renovations since…. There was a plan in 1973 to turn it into a grand steak restaurant, but this was refused by Corpus Christi College who own the land, with the pub owner at the time complaining (probably rightly):

“The dons seemed to be examining our plans as a viable place for them to eat instead of examining them in terms of popular catering.”

So, the pub was all inoffensive, friendly and quite safe, with numerous children seeming quite happy with their food, so it’s family-friendly. There are quite a lot of other pubs in Cambridge though that I think I’d suggest are better bets, such as Brewdog and the Pint Shop, both just a few metres away. And, since everything was half-price, I only spent £6, which was entirely reasonable.