The Salamander, Bath

Situated in the City Centre and owned by the Bath Ales group, the Salamander started out as a coffee, steak and chop house according to a sign in the front bar area. The interior is quite plain with bare floors, dullish colours, basic furnishings and a few divisions that effectively turn the main bar into 2 rooms but both opening out into each other. Upstairs is a large dining room and lining the starcase can be found old adverts and clay pipe displays among other artfacts. There is a good selection of Bath ales across the 6 hand pumps (I noted Gem, Festivity, Spa, Barnstormer and Golden Hare with 1 pump unused on our visit). I had no real problems with the ale quality but some of my group (who have far more expertise than me on such matters) did take issue with the beer quality. The Salamander is a fairly safe choice among the city centre pubs and a pleasant enough place to while away a few pints but I would think that locals would generally steer clear due to its Bath Ales tie that would be fairly commonplace in the area.

Official pages of the Salamander at the Bath Ales site - www.bathales.com

Official pages of the Salamander at the Bath Ales site - www.bathales.com

The pub has possibly been refurbished since ROBC's review below. Most of the woodwork is now painted a dark/olive green colour. The flooring is wooden, seating still includes high backed wooden settles and benches. A long narrow room with the bar in the middle. The room opens out each end beyond the bar, and although busy, one end was populated mainly by a younger studenty set with the front end having a quieter more mature group. I sat at the bar in the middle. A Bath Ales house with lots of bottles, large cans and other brewery related merchandise heavily advertised and displayed shop style in the front window. Six handpumps, Bath Ales Gem x2, SPA, Barnstormer, Festivity and Ginger Hare. Various others on sale in bottled form. I also noticed a few bottles of Belgian stuff and a reasonable selection of malts. Bath Ales Bounders cider and Dark Side stout on draught/keg. Framed displays of old pennies in date order, clay pipes and a sign "The Original Coffee House and Steak and Chop House" although I have no idea if this has any relevance to the pub. A nice enough spot, and yet again a friendly Bath pub.

Decent Bath Ales pub conveniently located just behind Milsom Street. Fairly traditional interior with lots of wooden benches and flooring, and some decent rustic grub. Usual range of Bath Ales beers, plus their new Bounders cider, which was much better than last time I tried it at The Hare on the Hill.

This is a fine little pub with dark wood panelling, some good bits of glass around the place and wooden settles and stools. It’s a long thin bar with 6 handpumps serving the Bath brewery range. I had a pint of the Gem which was pretty good. It’s no longer in the GBG (2010) but it’s still a decent pint. We called in on a Wednesday early evening and it was busy but the one girl behind the bar was coping. We tried again on Thursday evening and the place was rammed, there was still only the one girl behind the bar and no-one was getting any beer. We left.

Visited at a quiet time but was meeting old friends so it was ideal to sit and chat over a few decent beers. The whole Bath range, both draught and bottled, seemed to be available and in good condition. They also have an organic lager. I imagine it can get a bit claustrophobic when it's packed but for a long afternoon beer it was ideal.

Serving a good selection of Bath Ales in great condition (no other beers available) this is a nicely decorated pub inside although there is not much atmosphere and it is not very welcoming. A must if you like Bath Ales though!