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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about Sub 13
A somewhat chaotic two-storey bar with none of the positive features of its nearby sibling, Circo. We mistakenly entered the cellar bar first, only to find it blocked with furniture and packing cases piled high. We backed out and went up the steps to go in the main door which was barred by a rope. There is an outside terrace at the back but we didn’t venture out there. When we were eventually let in by a surly member of staff, after whose IQ the bar may week have been named, we found no real ale, nothing remotely resembling draught beer or cider. Various bottled lagers were available, but their main fare was overpriced contrived cocktails. We didn’t particularly enjoy our visit so probably won’t repeat it.
On 8th December 2022
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Sub 13
This is very much a cocktail bar rather than your traditional pub, but it is nonetheless an unusual and popular spot, as is one of only a handful of pubs in central Bath with a garden.
From the outside it's easy to miss, the only sign of the pub being on some railings outside an estate agents. Some rather steep steps then take you down to the basement where the pub is located. The pub is divided in to three different rooms, but all are quite compact and it was very much standing room only on a recent Saturday evening visit, even though it was not yet 6:00pm. The main bar has exposed stone walls and little natural light, understandable given it's location below street level. The bar counter runs along one wall. A further lounge bar is down a few steps to a lower level and has a some white leather armchairs and the final bar is under the pavement at the front. This has reclaimed wooden flooring and a low arched stone ceiling which makes for a cosy spot.
Drinks wise, cocktails are very much the focus here. Most of these were in the £7.50 - £10 range, although you could if you wanted spend £250 on a bottle of champagne. My Chocolate Orange Martini was ok, but I'd have preferred more dominant flavours. A Grapefruit and Kaffir Gimlet was very well received though, and with many of the cocktails including this one, being available as part of a "two for £7.50" deal between 5:00pm - 8:00pm, this represents very good value. The bar staff seemed competent and efficient, and managed to extract the longest piece of zest from an orange I've ever seen (about 18 inches probably) before curling it in to a tight spiral and adding to my drink.
There are no drinks on tap, but the menu did list a bottled beers section. These were in fact all lagers though other than various options from Bath Ales. Quite what these various options consisted of was not specified. The solitary cider was Weston's Wyld Wood.
On 12th December 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]