The Crystal Palace, Bath

The Crystal Palace is a Fuller's pub very close to the Baths and the Abbey. Indeed, 4 of the other customers here were about to attend a wedding at the Abbey. Quite a few of the other customers were tourists. The bar staff needed to have exceptional amounts of patience to deal with some of them. There are a couple of rooms inside, with a covered area and garden to the rear of the pub. The two rooms inside are a public bar and a much more formal dining area. All customers were either in the bar or the outdoor areas at the rear. London Pride & ESB are the regular ales, with the other 2 handpulls occupied by Oliver's Island & Harry's Dirty Harry Raspberry & Blackcurrant Cider. Halves of the Oliver's Island and the cider came to £5.90. The young owner seemed fairly down to earth and was chatting with a local. It seemed they were moving back to London over the weekend to Bromley. We presumed to take over another Fuller's pub. Compared with the Huntsman, the other Fuller's pub a stone's throw away, I marginally preferred the Crystal Palace, but there's not too much to choose between them.

A little away from the madding crowds, this is a three roomed upmarket Fuller's house in an attractive square by the abbey. It's done with a touch of class; boxed wood panelling comfy seats and retained glasswork on the rear extension. Four cask advertised though my choice was deemed as not ready, so a pretty good (NBSS 3.5) Pride with polite service was my lot. Beware that you’ll be paying a consecutive price combo uplift of it being a) Fuller’s and b) central Bath. A decent place, I could have stayed for a second on a different day. GBG’23 listed. 7.5

Hidden away down a quiet side street near the main shopping streets, in the sort of location you’d never just stumble across, this is a large Fullers dining pub with a reputation for well-kept beer. The pub has a two bar layout, with a large conservatory-style area out the back. We entered through the left side - a bafre boarded room with full height wall panels painted in drab neutral colours. The bar is to the right, also serving the right-hand room which we didn’t explore, and has a nice traditional counter and gantry in front of a smart bar back. The room has plenty of mixed eating, including a couple of very comfy looking armchairs in front of a fireplace which had a plain mirror above and lots of ornaments on the mantelpiece. Doors to the rear lead out to the conservatory which has floor to ceiling windows along the back wall, bare floorboards, wallpaper and similar decor to the bar area. The windows look out to a pleasant courtyard garden which seemed to be well stocked with high-end garden furniture, large umbrellas and plenty of greenery. Music played quietly in the background throughout our stay and I didn’t spot any TV screens. The usual Fullers ales were available - London Pride, ESB and Spring Sprinter on this occasion, plus Moor Resonance as the sole guest. The bar staff were really friendly and I can’t fault the pint of Spring Sprinter they served up either. Clientele seemed to be mainly middle aged, middle-class holiday-makers, so the atmosphere was a little stilted. This is a decent Fullers house which offers some familiar, well-kept beer in a predominantly food-led environment, although we visited between lunch and dinner and found the place was mainly occupied by drinkers. The pleasant courtyard and friendly staff were definite plus points and I’d say this is worth including on any cavity centre crawl.

Three roomed Fullers pub with little pub ambiance, typical Fullers lineup , though my Wild River was decent this is one for the tourists.

An historic Fuller’s pub which is still much as described below. The rear conservatory was open, which allowed smoke to drift in and mingle with the scent of stale chip fat from the kitchen and the aroma from the open disabled toilet to make the atmosphere less pleasant than it could have been. The staff were not at all welcoming, rather officious and fairly inefficient. The clientele seemed to consist mainly of elderly tourists, one of whom spent rather too long whining at the waitress about an unwelcome piece of lemon in her diet coke. Ales on were Oliver’s Island, ESB and Pride plus a guest, Butcombe Bitter. The prices are extortionately high, even for Bath. I find this pub falls short on many levels and I shan’t be returning.

Official site of The Crystal Palace - www.crystalpalacepub.co.uk

Official site of The Crystal Palace - www.crystalpalacepub.co.uk