The Old Spot

[Andy Lynes]

Had lunch at chef Ian Bates's new place The Old Spot, Wells, Somerset yesterday and just wanted to say that I agree whole heartedly with Jay Rayner's review in last weekend's Observer.

My only (sort of) disagreement is with his final point where he says "Is it the kind of place I would normally travel half a day to reach for lunch? In all honesty, no" Although I don't normally travel half a day to eat anywhere, I was reminded a bit of all those journys to Ludlow to eat at The Merchant House. Ian Bates's food doesn't taste like Shaun Hill's but there is a similar integrity and intelligence about the approach, and if this doesn't sound too poncy, the flavours have a similar resonance. It's proper grown up cooking and if I hadn't have had to eat in Cornwall that night, I would have booked in for dinner on the spot.

The Old Spot also recieved a maximum 5 stars from the Bristol edition of the metro. You can read the review here.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Andy Lynes (log)

[Matthew Grant]

The new ludlow eh! How very apt as we will definitely be needing one after today's news However, If Wells is the new Ludlow, what does that make Torquay

[Andy Lynes]

The last but one new Ludlow.

By the way, did you know that Darron "Bunny" Bunn has left Orestone and is opening his own gastroenteritis called The Chasers in a village just outside of Torquay. Don't have an address as yet - maybe Ginger Chef can fill us in?

[Matthew Grant]

No I didn't know that!

[sunbeam]

Hey if someone picked up the tab for me travelling 4hrs in a first class carriage to have lunch I'd go just about anywhere. Mind you 4hrs on a train can only get you about 4 miles these days.

Good to see a critic tackling the west country, far too many seem to either do London or luxury long haul.

Can't imagine why

s

[Basildog]

Where in Cornwall were you eating Andy?

[ginger chef]

hello, bunny has gone as reported to the chasers arms in stokeinteignhead not sure when all will open but am sure it will be good. the orestone manor was sold by our owners last week after 5 1/2 years of ownership.the new owners of the manor are the sous chefs parents. the elephant is not for sale and money from the hotel sale will be used to invest into the restaurant. andy nice write up in olive saw it yesterday cheers. simon

[Andy Lynes]

Where in Cornwall were you eating Andy?

←

The Boot Inn in Calstock which is close to the Devon/Cornwall boarder, a really beautiful part of the country . Its run by brother and sister Harry and Lucy Crabb. Lucy was the first head chef of The Blueprint Cafe in London and was Delia's head chef at Norwich football club. Really lovely place, proper locals boozer but with a nice dining area on the side with simple, seasonal dishes but really well done.

[jayrayner]

Hey if someone picked up the tab for me travelling 4hrs in a first class carriage to have lunch I'd go just about anywhere.

←

First class? I should be so bloody lucky. I have to go with the bikes.

I should point out, for the benefit of the pedant of a reader who wrote to tell em that trains do not run to wells (and that therefore my review was incorrect), it did also require £52 in round trip cab fares from castle carey. I'm intrepid me.

[Richard_D]

Had lunch at chef Ian Bates's new place The Old Spot, Wells, Somerset yesterday and just wanted to say that I agree whole heartedly with Jay Rayner's review in last weekend's Observer.

The Old Spot also recieved a maximum 5 stars from the Bristol edition of the metro. You can read the review here.

←

No doubt the Old Spot is very good (I tend to agree with Jay Rayner) but I wouldn't put much stock in some of the Bristol Metro reviews, after all (if I remember the correctly) this is the paper that gave Que Pasa (the chain tapas pub) a better write up than Le Champignon Sauvage......

This weeks review of Barnsley House was 'accidental' as the clientele of Bibury House was a bit old?!?

Edited July 28, 2006 by Richard_D (log)

[Sarah74]

We ate at the Old Spot last night to celebrate my birthday. Was chuffed to pieces when it opened on the site of the once okay local Market Bar which went downhill extremely fast when they thought £13 was good value for a badly cooked burger.

Anyway, Wells is my local town and basically there hasn't really been anywhere to eat unless you felt like a curry (Cafe Romna - lovely) or some amazing fish (Goodfellows - run by Adam Fellows ex-Charlton House/Michelin star). So the Old Spot is very, very welcome.

Arrived to be greeted by two nice glasses of champagne as a girl friend had dropped in earlier in the day to request them (so sweet!).

I started with Chicken livers on toast, mushroom duxelle and green peppercorn sauce. Hearty, tasty, pink liver with lots of mushrooms. A really autumnal starter and it hit the spot. Husband had Steamed mussels with cider, thyme and cream which were good. Very small mussels (time of year perhaps? or just because they are sweeter?) with a rich sauce. I couldn't really taste the cider (for some reason I thought they had ginger in them!) but other half wolfed them down. Good portion sizes too - really decent amount of food for a starter.

I then ate Monkfish poached in Pistou broth which was delicate - tasted very pesto-ey (word?!) and the broth was good, full of beans, cucumber, tomato and A.N. Other pulses. A light dish - good chunk of monkfish and lots of soup.

Himself had Bavette steak and calves kidneys with red wine sauce and horseradish (and a large dollop of mash). Yum. Good, chewy meat very rare with a smokey taste and the kidneys were delicious. Again, hearty is the word I would use here. A lot of horseradish I think mixed with creme fraiche so it wasn't too strong.

We had a bottle of Pouilly Fume something something (sorry, I'm not good with remembering the names of wine) which was perfect for my meal. He wasn't drinking much and anyway, it was my birthday..!

He had a coffee and I had Chocolate fondant, caramel sauce which was perfection. Crispy outside sponge, oozing, gooey chocolate. I know it's been done to death but it really is such a star pudding. The caramel sauce was lovely too although there was masses of it.

Total £62 which wasn't half bad. It's 2 courses for £20, 3 for £25 if you are interested.

Also on the menu:

Potato soup with duck confit and truffle oil

Spiced aubergine salad

Pork terrine

Butternut squash risotte

Fillet of place with samphire, brown shrimps and beurre blanc

Roast partridge with cabbage and bacon and bread sauce

Boiled orange cake with blueberry compote

Plum and almond tart

Red wine jelly with strawberries, creme Chantilly and pastry wafers

Cheeses

Can't wait to go back again. Maybe I should have a weekly birthday?

[malcolmwilliamson]

Has anyone eaten lunch at, or viewed the menu outside, the Old Spot recently?

The restaurant doesn't have a website, making it difficult to know whether its an option when I visit the Bath area next Thursday.

[PhilD]

Has anyone eaten lunch at, or viewed the menu outside, the Old Spot recently?

The restaurant doesn't have a website, making it difficult to know whether its an option when I visit the Bath area next Thursday.

←

We ate there on Easter Friday for dinner. It was our third visit and I felt it has slipped (last visit 6 months before), I used to love it so it was pretty disappointing. Hopefully it was simply a menu that didn't correspond with my tastes.

From memory four or five choices for starter: soup, mussels, snails and chorizo ragout, rough pork pate. For mains: roast chicken, lamb rump with minted peas, steak and bernaise sauce, grey mullet on a bed of squid ink risotto, and leek tart. And for dessert a choice of three including cheese and a hazelnut tart

Overall nothing really jumped out to me from the menu - everything seemed a bit boring and predictable. My pate was fine and my partners mussels were very good. Her mullet was again good, but the risotto lacked flavour (not enough ink?). My lamb as very underdone, purple not pink, and quite boring. The hazelneut tart was great.

The wine list is very good especially their bin ends, we had a great slightly aged Charles Melton Nine Popes for £34.

The 3 course menu is approx £27. I can't remember if it was always such low price - I have a suspicion he has changed the menu in order to cook for a price point, with more basic food/techniques on offer. Maybe this is why it didn't seem as good as it used to be. I am not going to cross it off the list yet as it was so good, hopefully I will enjoy it more next time.

[malcolmwilliamson]

I finaly got to visit the Old Spot for lunch yesterday.

I remember little of the menu options(there were 4 for each course and change daily) beyond the choices made. These were: Soused pilchards with pickled cucumber, Casserole of slow cooked pork belly with chorizo on greens, Warm almond cake with passion fruit sorbet and blueberries.

All dishes were well executed, well presented and flavoursome. The dessert was especially almondy. Portion sizes were good.

Bread was restricted to a single chunk of wholemeal. Its plate and the butter were cleared after the starter; it would have been useful to have some bread to mop up the casserole juice.In retrospect I should have asked.

Bearing in mind the prices charged ( £12.50/£15 for 2/3 courses)I felt the meal represented very good QPR.

Wines were also reasonably priced with a 175ml glass costing around £4 and bottles starting in the low teens. Service from young staff was efficient and friendly.

The Old Spot is nicely situated adjacent to the cathedral green. If I lived in or near Wells rather than 150 miles away I would certainly be visiting it regularly.

[malcolmwilliamson]

Duplicate post.

Edited October 15, 2009 by malcolmwilliamson (log)

[malcolmwilliamson]

Repeat post deleted.

Edited October 15, 2009 by malcolmwilliamson (log)

[malcolmwilliamson]

Bad posting morning!

Edited October 15, 2009 by malcolmwilliamson (log)

[countryboy]

I love the old spot. I'm a countryboy, not far from Wells in fact. Ian Bates is a wonderful chef isn't he!! And a lovely man. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. He makes the best potato cake and poached chicken I have ever had in my life.

He was one of the original Bibendum crew working under Mr Hopkinson.

[PhilD]

Countryboy do you know if Ian did adapt the menu to the downturn? As I said of my last visit it did seem to have slipped but I thought that was more a function of the price point of the menu rather than skill in the kitchen.

[countryboy]

Not sure, I'll talk to him next time i'm in there. How was the front of house when you were there? I know they took on a new manager recently. Because they offered me the job.

I must admit, I've found the service very charming the times I have been there. And I went once not too long after having a broken jaw and Ian was wonderful, cooking stuff for someone with problems talking never mind eating.