Spectacular and Everyday: Same Same But Different

Although Bath is absolutely packed with lovely places for cream teas it can sometimes be hard to find somewhere that does real food.  Earlier in the day I found myself settling for another panini from an Italian coffee shop, and promising I would find somewhere really healthy and nourishing after the spa.  (Still not as bad as ending up eating chicken McNuggets in Wales the day before!)

The very nice receptionist at the spa recommended a sushi place right next to Same Same But Different - but it was pretty empty at 3pm (and an empty sushi place is not much fun.)

I was lucky to catch the chef - they serve until 3.30pm, and lucky to have waiter Christophe on hand.

Having had a pretty rough weekend, I was still feeling delicate despite the healing time in the spa - and this is when great restaurants, hotels and spas come into their own.  I couldn’t have had a more charming welcome, a wonderful tour through the options still available on the tapas board (they sell out pretty quickly as everything is fresh), or just a nicer person to look after me, whether it was letting me dither over my herbal tea choice, offering me toasted marshmallow syrup for my coffee, wriggling my plate and telling me the fish was still alive (I laughed) or asking me when I finally dragged myself away “why are you leaving so soon.”

Yes, the toilets are average and down a little winding stairway - but for someone who has no problem with stairs this added to the charm of the place.

The fish was wonderfully fresh, perhaps a little undercooked for everyone’s taste, but as I was about to eat some sushi it made no difference to me.  Afterwards Christopher told me that this is the way the chef liked to cook it so that it didn’t dry out - but I am sure they would have cooked it a little more if I had asked.

The toasted marshmallow syrup was actually a little sweet for me - but it smelled gorgeous, and I would have been happy to just relax there for hours, like a quintessential French girl sitting in a cafe staring into her espresso - but there was still lots more of Bath to see.

I was really sad to leave this lovely, cosy little place.  I like to look for a special and an everyday place to eat everywhere I visit, and I would highly recommend Same Same But Different for both (and for a little coffee stop) if you are ever in the neighbourhood.  

Other places to eat: The food is also very good at The Crown and its sister pub (where I stayed) The Old House At Home just outside of Bath.

Freshly baked treats: If you are happy to sit outside on one of their plastic chairs, you can stop for a lovely cup of tea (with complimentary biscuits) at the Marshfield Bakery Shop.  They do wonderful miniatures of all their favourites, plus they also sell home made sausage rolls (good but not quite as good as Konditor & Cook).  My favourite is the Honeycomb Tiffin which I was very happy to discover in my room at The Old House At Home - and their apple and coconut flapjack is sensational (and I am not a flapjack person.) 

Drink: Well it has to be the Bath Spa water surely - available in The Pump Room for 50p - free if you shell out for the tour of the Baths, or if you are disabled or a local resident.  Warm, but doesn’t really taste very different from normal water - and didn’t make me sick in any way!  But apparently they used to drink up to a 2 pints a day to get any real effect from it!