As you roll into Bath, whether by train or car, you can’t ignore the verdancy of the Somerset city’s welcome committee. All rolling hills and green pastures for days, it’s a place that promises a wholesome, soul-nourishing stay.
That sense of sustenance is impossible to avoid once you do alight, the world famous Roman Baths and open-to-the-public thermae spa complete with rooftop pool are two of the city’s defining features. At the former, visitors can take a deep dive into Bath’s history and its most famous landmark, whilst at the latter, the opportunity to bathe in the city’s naturally warm, mineral-rich waters, just as the Celts and Romans did over 2,000 years ago,
But while Bath might be best known for its Roman-built baths, it’s also a haven for vegetarian and vegan food lovers, with several long standing plant-based cafes now rubbing shoulders with modern vegetarian restaurants here. With that in mind, here’s where to eat the best vegetarian and vegan food in Bath.
Oak
Ideal for Bath’s finest fine-dining experience…
A contemporary and chic restaurant just a stone’s throw from the Roman Baths, Oak promises innovative, forward-thinking plant-based cuisine as dreamt up by talented chef Richard Buckley and his dedicated team of ‘growers, grocers and cooks’.
Formerly known as Acorn and one of the first vegetarian restaurants in the country to be recognised by the Michelin guide, you’ll find no sad looking salads and unadorned quinoa bowls here. It’s pure indulgence; a celebration not specifically of vegetables but, rather, the south west’s superb produce.
If that so happens to lend itself to a plant-based menu, then so be it. No wonder Somerset has, in the past, been referred to as ‘the garden of England’, and, here, the focus is on organic, biodynamic and low intervention ingredients, many of which are cultivated by the restaurant.
On the current summer menu, a dish of summer squash, cubed then roasted until its corners are burnished and caramelised, served over sweet, chilled ajo blanco, is given points of perkiness by a lovingly made salsa verde, all hand-chopped and charmingly rough-hewn.
Before this bowl of summery heaven, you’d be foolish not to open proceedings with the fermented cashew nut croquettes with punchy aioli, which manages to be both a complex, thoughtful plateful and a delicious, dirty beer snack. Bravo!
There’s a tendency for veggie joints to phone in desserts, but not so at Oak – see the superlative custard tart with rosehip ice cream if you’ve got this far and still need convincing. Yep, all in all, Oak more than lives up to its billing as the best vegetarian restaurant in Bath. It may, in fact, be the best of its kind in the country.
Address: 2 N Parade, Bath BA1 1NX
Website: oakrestaurant.co.uk
Noya’s Kitchen
Ideal for vibrant vegetarian Vietnamese food…
Whilst the independent, utterly charming Noya’s Kitchen serves up an excellent beef pho, pork-pronounced bun cha and other Vietnamese street food classics, we’re pleased to report that their vegetarian and vegan selections are also some of the best plant-based plates you’ll find in Bath.
On a tight, thoughtfully curated menu that’s almost half composed of vegetarian dishes, you’ll find life-affirming summer rolls, bouncy with marinated tofu, pert with sliced green mango, and seen on their way with a punchy dipping sauce of soy sauce, and plenty of sliced garlic and fresh bird’s eye chilli. A squeeze of lime rounds it all off.
There are bao buns, too, here filled with pannéd, deep fried oyster mushrooms, pickled bits, fresh coriander and a good dose of hoisin sauce. Then there’s crispy spiced cauliflower, tossed in chilli and garlic served with sriracha mayo; another must-try.
Still hungry? Try the crispy tofu curry – rich with coconut milk in the Southern Vietnamese style – as well as a tangle of vermicelli noodles with all the goodies (pickles, chilli oil, peanuts…the works) mixed in. Simply top with Noya’s version of a nước chấm dipping sauce and dig in.
This is both fresh and fortifying in that unmistakable way that Vietnamese food is so adept at delivering. We’ve even included Noya’s Kitchen in our list of the very best restaurants in Bath, by the way. High praise indeed.
Address: 7 St James’s Parade, Bath BA1 1UL
Website: noyaskitchen.co.uk
Henry’s
Ideal for a sophisticated vegetable-led tasting menu…
Another Bath restaurant that’s not vegetarian but delivers some of the best food of its kind in the city, Henry’s offers a vegetarian tasting menu alongside its usual, more carnivorous affair.
For £70 here, you can enjoy a five course (with the added accoutrements you’d expect) tasting menu of real poise and precision, chef-owner Henry Scott’s experienced hands just as capable at manipulating a tempura broccoli floret as they are a glazed Creedy Carver duck. Now, there’s an image.
And should you be of the vegetarian rather than vegan persuasion, don’t miss out on the cheese board here, which boasts a selection of choice Somerset cuts. Yours for a supplementary £12.
Address: 4 Saville Row, Bath BA1 2QP
Website: henrysrestaurantbath.com
Read: 6 of the best restaurants near the Roman Baths
The Green Rocket Café
Ideal for soul-nourishment in dappled sunlight…
Small but perfectly formed, and just an oolitic limestone’s throw away from the Roman Baths, the Green Rocket Café is a more laid back affair than the other restaurants we’ve covered so far, and no worse for it.
Primarily a breakfast and lunch spot, the light and bright dining room catches the midday sun and holds it there, and it’s a buoyancy that’s reflected on the plate; these are vibrant dishes full of pep and pertinence.
We’re particularly enamoured with the café’s signature artichoke ‘fysh’ cake, its oceanic notes brought to the plant-based party by seaweed. On the side, a carrot som tam – that much loved, assertive Thai pounded salad – feels just right in the sunlight. A side order of oyster mushroom satay skewers, grilled and gnarly, feels like proper conduct.
Fully licensed and boasting a selection of gluten free and vegan wines and beers, The Green Rocket Café has picked up several local awards in recent years, including Best Vegetarian restaurant at the Bath Good Food Awards several times.
Address: 1 Pierrepont St, Bath BA1 1LB
Website: thegreenrocket.co.uk
Chai Walla
Ideal for grab and go Indian street food snacks…
It might seem hyperbolic to dub somewhere so small and unassuming as a Bath institution, but Chai Walla is more than deserving of that title. Just seven months after opening, this grab and go, hole in the wall Indian street food purveyor was already sitting pretty at the top of Bath’s Trip Advisor restaurant rankings, and it’s only gone from strength to strength since then; operations have now expanded to Bristol and Cambridge.
At the dainty mothership, it’s a menu as compact as its surrounding, with just a handful of vegetarian snacks and wraps, none of which veer above £7. Go for the onion bhaji wrap and samosa combo if you’re feeling hungry – you’ll get change from a tenner and a sense of deep satisfaction from the heady, intoxicating spice mix deployed in the former. Or, on colder days, Chai Walla’s chana masala – chickpeas in a rich, spicy sauce – is just the ticket.
Whilst there’s no seating inside the restaurant, there’s plenty of public spaces to park yourself just opposite, in Kingsmead Square. Just watch out for those pesky seagulls!
Website: chaiwalla.uk
Address: 42 Monmouth St, Bath BA1 1EN
Cascara
Ideal for vegan bakes and gorgeous coffee…
Just a short walk from Bath’s Pulteney Bridge, we end our exploration of Bath’s best vegetarian and vegan restaurants at the celebrated vegan café Cascara, where you’ll find some of the finest dairy and gluten free bakes in the city. Open from 8am until 4:30pm daily, there are fewer better places to spend a weekend morning, luxuriating in the superb speciality coffee and a slice of gluten free matcha cake.
There are more hearty, warming lunch dishes, too; a recent aguachile-adjacent soup, punched up with plenty of lime and coriander, and lifted further with pink pickled onions, had no right to be this good in a seemingly simple café rather than a properly polished Mexican restaurant. Or, one of Cascara’s classic wraps – whether that’s a vegan gyros or charred broccoli with ginger and soy dressing – always hits the spot.
After hitting this particular spot, we think we might just stay here a while…
The Bottom Line
Eating out in Bath offers the vegetarian and vegan diner the full complement of choices, ranging from quaint cafes to vibrant full-service, fine-dining restaurants. Choose your poison, and enjoy some truly wholesome yet wholly delicious plant-based food.
And while we’re on the subject, you’ll find plenty of vegetarian and vegan options at one of Bath’s many fantastic pizza restaurants. Mine’s a marinara!