25 years ago - even 15 years ago, come to that -The Moon and Sixpence was quite a buzzy place. It was loud, with good pictures and pretty staff. Quite where it lost its way I can't remember. I recall the period of insanely good value £5.50 lunch menus, which packed the afternoons out with elderly ladies, and then how the prices in the evening began hurtling rapidly upwards to compensate. Whatever happened, we (and many others) simply stopped going. But on Tuesday we went back to the newly refurbished M&S.to see what they'd done.
First impressions were good. The echoey, warehouse feel and dark, tall bar have gone, with sound dampeners on the ceiling, and good upholstery in the comfortable bar area. The lighting is dramatic, but there's plenty of it, and although the pictures are no longer a feature, there's a giant boar's head in the bar which is at least quite fun, first time around. The place was busy, a good sign, although it meant service was stretched, and while never exactly slow, it seemed to be struggling to keep up.
The traditional Great Western Wine wine list (Bath's local firm has some 18 of the city's establishments as its customers so after a time you learn to spot them) provided small glasses of Jean Moutardier champagne at £6.50 a pop, and a really delicious Montagny as a treat for just over thirty quid. (£12.50 a bottle in the GWW shop, so a mark-up under 300% which is quite restrained nowadays). But then the food turned up.
I had scallops in a butter and bacon sauce of such saltiness I thought I was in the Dead Sea: an antiquated 1970s presentation of no subtlety whatever. Opposite I watched a horror film: a pair of stuffed mushroom of a horrible green colour being pushed around my guest's plate until they languished beneath the cutlery, to be borne away eventually like a child's unwanted Brussel Sprouts.
Then our lemon soles arrived. Again, the intensity of the butter's saltiness conspired to eradicate the fish's genuine freshness...because they were perfectly decent soles, and well cooked, just ruined by cheap butter. When I requested a wedge of lemon to squirt on my fish, the waitress returned to say there were no lemons in the restaurant, but I could have a lime if I wanted. A lime. Great. To add insult to injury, side dishes are ordered separately and are obscenely overpriced. Seven tiny salad potatoes are yours for £3. Two spinach leaves with too many over-salted lardons on them? Again - £3. With main courses running up to over £22 for the beef (our fish were £16 each), and no sign of any "gourmet" ability in the kitchen, these are off-putting prices.
We then shared an elaborately-named but amazingly forgettable pudding, involving apple something-or-other and watermelon ice. It was OK, and a positive bargain at under £6.
So, without coffee, but with a tip for our well-trained waitress, this was a £60-a-head meal worth barely half that. We could have gone to Homewood Park instead and been amazed - again. Funny, isn't it, how some restaurants can get everything right except the actual cooking.
The Moon and Sixpence, which has been closed for a considerable time whilst Milsom's Yard was redeveloped and the restaurant was refurbished, re-opened on the 2nd of August.
Take A Lot of Sixpences
RicCooper — Thu, 21/08/2008 - 15:4425 years ago - even 15 years ago, come to that -The Moon and Sixpence was quite a buzzy place. It was loud, with good pictures and pretty staff. Quite where it lost its way I can't remember. I recall the period of insanely good value £5.50 lunch menus, which packed the afternoons out with elderly ladies, and then how the prices in the evening began hurtling rapidly upwards to compensate. Whatever happened, we (and many others) simply stopped going. But on Tuesday we went back to the newly refurbished M&S.to see what they'd done.
First impressions were good. The echoey, warehouse feel and dark, tall bar have gone, with sound dampeners on the ceiling, and good upholstery in the comfortable bar area. The lighting is dramatic, but there's plenty of it, and although the pictures are no longer a feature, there's a giant boar's head in the bar which is at least quite fun, first time around. The place was busy, a good sign, although it meant service was stretched, and while never exactly slow, it seemed to be struggling to keep up.
The traditional Great Western Wine wine list (Bath's local firm has some 18 of the city's establishments as its customers so after a time you learn to spot them) provided small glasses of Jean Moutardier champagne at £6.50 a pop, and a really delicious Montagny as a treat for just over thirty quid. (£12.50 a bottle in the GWW shop, so a mark-up under 300% which is quite restrained nowadays). But then the food turned up.
I had scallops in a butter and bacon sauce of such saltiness I thought I was in the Dead Sea: an antiquated 1970s presentation of no subtlety whatever. Opposite I watched a horror film: a pair of stuffed mushroom of a horrible green colour being pushed around my guest's plate until they languished beneath the cutlery, to be borne away eventually like a child's unwanted Brussel Sprouts.
Then our lemon soles arrived. Again, the intensity of the butter's saltiness conspired to eradicate the fish's genuine freshness...because they were perfectly decent soles, and well cooked, just ruined by cheap butter. When I requested a wedge of lemon to squirt on my fish, the waitress returned to say there were no lemons in the restaurant, but I could have a lime if I wanted. A lime. Great. To add insult to injury, side dishes are ordered separately and are obscenely overpriced. Seven tiny salad potatoes are yours for £3. Two spinach leaves with too many over-salted lardons on them? Again - £3. With main courses running up to over £22 for the beef (our fish were £16 each), and no sign of any "gourmet" ability in the kitchen, these are off-putting prices.
We then shared an elaborately-named but amazingly forgettable pudding, involving apple something-or-other and watermelon ice. It was OK, and a positive bargain at under £6.
So, without coffee, but with a tip for our well-trained waitress, this was a £60-a-head meal worth barely half that. We could have gone to Homewood Park instead and been amazed - again. Funny, isn't it, how some restaurants can get everything right except the actual cooking.
Moon and Sixpence re-opens
djwadmin — Sat, 02/08/2008 - 15:34The Moon and Sixpence, which has been closed for a considerable time whilst Milsom's Yard was redeveloped and the restaurant was refurbished, re-opened on the 2nd of August.