Spoilt for choice?!

After last week’s marathon shop when I left you no room to pause for breath let alone caffeine, I thought I’d remedy it this week with great places for coffee breaks and light lunches to break up the retail therapy.  With the onslaught from hemispheres Southern and Eastern of coffee culture, Bath as a tourist haven has wasted no time joining the ‘non-fat, vanilla, no whip latte, to go’ bandwagon.  

The great thing is you don’t have to go to the chain stalwarts (Starbucks, Caffé Nero, Costa etc…) unless you have your staple fix, there are plenty of great deli-style cafes all serving fantastic quality coffee and food.

Loft's egg inspired Easter window

So lets start at the top of town again.  The Loft www.theloft-bath.com is a homewares and designer clothing shop situated in a spacious department store sized space on tucked away Bartlett Street.  Whilst the clothing and interiors are high end and lovely it is also host to the cosy Café Lucca with quiet and intimate surroundings for a really good catch up – preferably child free.  It’s the place I took my Mum for a light bite if you catch my drift?! (excellent salads, quiches and delicious and unusual cakes).

Moving down onto George Street, the Adventure Café has been a Bath staple for a long time. Food tends to be plentiful, sandwiches and dishes with a tex mex twist – and a really good range of smoothies and chocolate milkshake that are hard to resist.  It's family friendly during the day and has a great garden space at the rear for summer chilling.  Next door’s Jika Jika is newer to Bath and owned by ex Bath rugby player Matt Stevens, so encourages a rugby supported crowd. It’s much more about the coffee and unusual and delicious range of suko teas. Barista’s in here are well trained and keen and don’t like to heat the milk too high! (destroys the quality of the coffee apparently!!)

Head further off the beaten track to Walcot Street – home to some great retro, specialist interior and vintage shops and you will happen across some great foody finds.  The Fine Cheese Company at the bottom of the street has the best selection of deli goods, breads and, of course, cheeses in Bath and its adjoining café has great lunchtime food and a mouthwatering selection of cakes and great coffee.  

Further up the road, relative newcomer to Bath, Sam’s Kitchen, has a tapas feel and is great for healthy but wholesome lunches and has a small but rustic and relaxed interior.

For a more kid friendly venue, head to the cafe at the Egg, Bath’s children’s theatre venue, which  has a spacious interior and plenty of toys and hidey houses for children to enjoy.  It has basic but fine coffee, sandwiches and organic snacks for parents and children alike.

Play den in the Egg

Finally, the Chapel Arts cafe is a great venue hosting a really eclectic range of music gigs from all over the globe.  By day it has the best cafe with great food and displays by local artists and craftspeople. www.chapelarts.org


Tip of the Week: If you fancy watching the thousands that rush into Bath this Sunday for the Bath Half Marathon 2012, head to Widcombe School where you can send your kids into the park whilst you watch the runners and enjoy great cakes at the pop up cafe...


Next Week: Vintage and Retro clothing in Bath as the Vintage Fashion celebrations hit town...