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The Pig & Fiddle, Bath

2 Saracen Street
Bath
BA1 5BR
Phone: 01225460868

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Pig & Fiddle

Corner pub with numerous different drinking sections. Cask ales are all from Butcombe - Original, Gold, Adam Henson's Rare Breed and a guest which was Club Tropic. I had the latter which was better than most Butcombe beers I've had before.

The interior felt quite dark, but perhaps that was the passing rain showers. There is an outdoor area to the rear with another exit onto Saracen Street.

On 26th August 2023 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Quinno _ left this review about The Pig & Fiddle

My memory is struggling to fully recall my visit back in the day but it feels like things have changed a bit – certainly the clocks and porcine objects d’art have gone, so assume new ownership. Anyway, enter to an oblong room in neutral shades with a bit of slanted modern window where roof would have been. Up some steps to the bar which is off right. A bit more trad here with faux sodium lights, varnished wood panelling and exposed wood ceiling, presumably the floorboards of the room above. There's a bijou garden out back. A couple of TVs showing the Ashes to general disinterest. Four Butcombe cask on, the West Coast IPA was of interest and it came out surprisingly well (NBSS 3.5). Solid crawl fodder, I’d happily head back. Looks like things have taken an upswing since the last review a year previous.

June 2010
A busy, bustling pub aimed primarily at younger folk and sports fans with a modern-meets-old interior. However five ales and a cider are available, sourced from local micros. My Old Walloper last visit was excellent. Darts and table football available, if you can get to them. Loads of Premier League club clocks, though oddly half were either stopped or showing the wrong time. There’s also a pub cat and fish tank. In addition, as expected, there are plenty of porcine objects d’art to be seen. I like it here and it should definitely be on the crawl list. Rated 8

On 15th August 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


E TA left this review about The Pig & Fiddle

As described below, it’s a bit of a pub parody, chaotic, cliquey and clumsy.  The staff were ill-prepared and didn’t seem to know what was going on.  In particular the barmaid knew very little about beer while the manager was just disorganised.  Still 6 pumps on the bar, four dry.  The one clipped Butcombe Rare Breed dispensed undrinkable sludge  which, the barmaid did eventually agree.  This was replaced with the other pump’s Liberation Gold, unusual in these parts and, to be fair, was in good condition.  The pop music was annoyingly loud, it was all a bit theme-park, certainly not as much fun as anticipated, and I wouldn’t include it on a crawl or come here for a few beers when there are much better pubs within scratching distance.

On 22nd August 2022 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3272 recommendations about 3237 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Moby Duck left this review about Pig & Fiddle

A nice enough split level Butcombe owned pub, it had a bit of a gastro bar feel about it and reasonably well attended on a weekday afternoon. Six handpumps in total with four in use, all from the owning brewery, the Haka was pretty good. Not a destination but worth a look.

On 18th March 2020 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1868 recommendations about 1841 pubs]


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Blackthorn _ left this review about The Pig & Fiddle

A good sized pub just a short stroll from the centre of Bath, there is a good amount of seating on an outside terrace which is something of a rarity in central bath, and this is a popular spot in the warmer weather.

Internally it’s split over two levels, with a smaller upper part wrapped in a U-shape around the bar counter, and a longer lower section with entrances at each end. Décor wise there is a wood strip floor as well as much wood panelling on the walls, although the plethora of bits and pieces plastered all over it means that this does not have the elegant feel that such décor often imparts. Besides this there was some khaki green paintwork on the walls, and a large glass roof section in the central part of the pub makes it almost feel as though you’re sat in a conservatory. As mentioned, the pub had all manner of items scattered around and fixed to the walls, and this included numerous posters, an old accordion, ski boots, an oar, an old telephone, a stag’s head, a tennis racket, an old tube type TV set, an old gramophone complete with horn and a few signed rugby shirts in glass cases. A small tiled fire-place was off to one side as well as a shelf with a small selection of books and a projector and rolled up screen suggests that perhaps sporting fixtures are screened on occasions.

Beers on tap were Butcombe, London Pride, Ruby Red, Pope and Castle Rock Preservation. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold, Ashton Press and Ashton Still. Overall I quite like this, it’s a traditional pub with a pleasant ambience and a relaxed atmosphere.

On 31st October 2017 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Pig & Fiddle

I found this pub to be very clicky with the bar staffs pals hanging around the end of the bar. If you're a regular face in here, service at the bar would be prompt, but as a non-entity, one of the bar staff made great effort to get me a pint, but a hello or a smile was definitely out the window. I got my drink and the barmaid rushed straight back to the end of the bar to continue with her chat.
The interior of the pub was dated and scruffy, the up side in here was their beer was well kept and they had a choice of six on handpump. I went for Black Hole Brewery No Escape. The pub lacked atmosphere and wasn't comfortable, so didn't stick around too long.

On 18th October 2016 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Dan Griffin left this review about Pig & Fiddle

Many years ago I was employed as a barman in the centre of Bristol. The pub was vast and a focal point for the jeering chavs and honking oiks of the city. Other than the occasional theatre-goer beating a hasty retreat within seconds of entry, it was primarily frequented by loud, vulgar and crass individuals with all the charm of asbestos, many regularly guzzling alcopops and lager and going all out to explode their own kidneys. Food was almost always served in baskets with chips, and the Old Bill would often be stationed outside in eager anticipation of the booze-fuelled idiots fighting within being dragged out to them by the doormen. The Pig & Fiddle in Bath is nothing like this. It has never been so, and I hope - saluting a magpie of a morn and wielding a cat around my head at midnight while barking like a sea lion at the moon - it never will be.
Anyhoo...
In a pseudo-descriptive kind of way, I think of The Pig & Fiddle as a really good old friend; the type of friend you can see every day for a coffee and a quick chat, or not see for ages and pick-up immediately where you left off. It won’t judge you or laugh about you behind your back, and it will always share its pork scratchings and its crisps.
It’s a friendly, welcoming place with a clientele evidently absent of jeering chavs. Sure, you’ll observe the occasional knife-licker or boisterous oik, particularly when football oozes out of the large-screen TVs. But proper people don’t have to get involved, often preferring to enjoy the vastness of the beer garden (nay patio, nay outdoor bit) as the afternoon sun bathes us all in a warm puddle of pleasantness, keeping us toasty on a chilly evening with patio heaters the size of a giant horse.
Food-wise, The Pig and Fiddle’s menu is pleasant and so fairly priced that on occasion you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ve received too much change. It is not flash - does not describe a cheeseburger as ‘drizzled’ with ketchup or offer anything with a whatever-berry coulis or jus. But it’s way more betterer than other places quite good an’ that, innit. Locally-sourced and prepared by chefs too relaxed and professional to hurl insults and pans at kitchen porters, bowls of organic fair-trade grass at thirty-quid a pop are pleasingly omitted from the menu - although if you enjoyed the TV show ‘Skippy’ (about a kangaroo), you’ll be delighted with the option to order bits of his relatives mashed-up with chopped onion and salt and shoved inside a bun with some cheese and a side order of chips. Bonzer!
For those preferring to ingest an alternative to animal-based bellycheer The Pig serves green stuff too. And the odd carrot. And plenty of things with cheese. There’s occasional live music and a table-football... table as well. Blend it all in with decor as interesting as a book, and with the good food and the generally exceptional service you’ll undoubtedly conclude the same as I: that the Pig & Fiddle is one of the city’s truly outstanding outlets for booze an’ that.

The Bog Report:

Sadly there is little to prevent ill-educated plebs either urinating on the seats of loos or realising the function of a flushing mechanism. Therefore it is a testament to the civility of the venue whether the toilets are maintained in accordance with this understanding. A bog without ‘things’ floating across the floor is equally as important as a kitchen without rats and fungus and in finality I’m happy to report that Bath’s Pig & Fiddle pays an above-satisfactory level of attention to its facilities. It would achieve a rating of about seven (out of ten), if indeed I had a rating system like that.

On 15th April 2011 - rating: 9
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]


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Malden man left this review about Pig & Fiddle

An unusual layout with a long narrow room from what I took to be the front entrance in Broad St, and the bar to the rear area which then opens out. I found out however that the rear area is the original pub, the long narrow area being the conversion of a former shop. Wood boarded flooring, a part glazed roof, otherwise boarded or open joisted ceilings. Round to the right hand side of the bar is a bar football table and a dartboard.
Seemingly popular with a younger trendier crowd than some of the more sedate pubs visited while in Bath, the clientele was however still fairly mixed.
More of a random mix of stuff decor wise, including a fish tank next to a stone fireplace, football and Bath Rugby motifed clocks, the usual signed Bath Rugby shirt in a case plus a rotating rugby ball, a set of skis and an oar.
Mainly traditional seating, but some stools at a wall shelf and some seats like half round barrels.
Sky Sports News on TV while music played.
The beer choice at the time was Otter Ale, Youngs Winter Warmer, Butcombe Bitter, Bath Ales Barnstormer, Wadworths 6X plus Bulmers Traditional Cider.
Some outdoor seating behind the bar under "jumberellas" but overlooking a road junction.
Another excellent if a bit different Bath pub.

On 18th November 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]


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ROB Camra left this review about Pig & Fiddle

Many years ago when I first visited Bath this was the only pub I managed to get to as I only had an hour to spare. At the time it was owned by the now defunct Ash Vine brewery and was about half the size. It’s been broken through into the shop behind it since then and is now much more spacious.

At one end is the bar area where an island bar serves the eclectic mix of visitors. Students, punks, bikers, French girlies on tour, they were all in. The newer area is long and thin with assorted seating all around including a couple of tables with Marvel comic characters under the glass. There’s a mural that looks like a religious artefact from ancient Greece until you notice that there is a Bath rugby ball floating in the sea etc. Pigs all around the place as you might expect especially when you go upstairs to the toilets. Every time you look around you see something new. There’s a fish tank as well, oh and Xbox games can be played. There’s loads of stuff in here, the food was pretty good as well.

6 handpumps on the bar including a traditional cider. Abbey Bellringer plus 4 changing guests. I had four different pints in here over two days and all were very good. It’s a great place.

On 1st February 2010 - rating: 10
[User has posted 3216 recommendations about 3127 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


an_ ecumenical_matter left this review about Pig & Fiddle

Visited during a Bath home rugby match,that is when they were all gone to the game so it was quite civilised and the ale was excellent. The staff were young studenty types but were efficient and friendly.(one lad shared his jelly beans with us!!) The lady bar manager was very amicable,however the arrival of a Hidden beer on a pump being changed raised a few eyebrows......

On 1st February 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 39 recommendations about 38 pubs]

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