Bath on a clear, chilly early December evening is a fantastic place to be. The streets are jam packed with late night shoppers and those out early on the razz and there is a great vibe about the city. Classy Christmas lights (off white...no flashing tacky multi coloured stuff here) illuminating the Georgian architecture and silhouetting the famous landmarks against the pitch black skyline. I'm in the south end of the city and the Abbey looks resplendent as does Pulteney Bridge and the weir. This all puts me in good spirits as I head to the Herd which is just over the bridge. The Herd Steak Restaurant opened its doors in July 2013 with the stated aim of providing Bath with a unique destination that offers locally sourced award-winning steaks in a quirky and contemporary setting at the heart of the world heritage city.
The sense of arrival and entrance to the Herd is odd and honestly a bit off putting. A front door leads you through a corridor of bare walls and then you descend down, what feels like, a never ending vertiginous, twisting and turning set of steps. No sense of arrival or theatre along the way just a manky old stairwell carpet and naff messages scrawled on the walls like "follow the herd"; "keep going" and "you're nearly there". Some people will think this is cool whereas I just think it's a bit cheesy and, ehrm, American style schmaltz. Joking aside the mobility challenged will find this journey on a par with a trip to Dante's inferno.
Eventually the final step and the door opens out into the restaurant itself, a collection of small rooms, simply decked out in a sea of whitewashed walls and bright lights. If I wasn't dining out, I could have been entering a clinical operating theatre. The place was rammed with, in the main, under 40's and the music was banging and the atmosphere buzzing. I was with six other lads being treated by one of them for helping out to set him up in business (Barbers Lounge). Eating out amongst younger generations intrigues me. It winds me up no end to witness the on-trend style for holding the knife and fork in fist clenched, meat cleaver fashion, stabbing away at the hapless piece of meat. Heaven forbid my 10-year-old daughter adopts this caveman approach.
For a group evening like this the Herd is perfect place to go to. The menu is a straightforward one pager much of which is periphery to the main event which is steak (sourced from 21 to 28-day maturity Aberdeen & Hereford crosses). Those expecting sophistication or food finesse will be found wanting; conversely if you are after a slab of sirloin, fillet, rib-eye, porterhouse or T-bone you have arrived in meat nirvana.
Some of the lads had the £50 Herd steak sharing platter to themselves (yep...you read that right) whilst I opted for a rib-eye. All served with twice cooked chips and all plates demolished and left finger lickin' clean. The steaks were cooked to medium/rare perfection and I can't recall enjoying a rib-eye as much as this for a long time. All in all, a good craic with good food and a great night out with the lads. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I didn't see the bill but I'm guessing a 2-course meal for two with a bottle of wine and service charge would come in at about £120.
Rating
· Ambience & service (out of 5): 3.5
· Value for money (out of 5): 3.5
· Food (out of 10): 7.5
· Total (out of 20): 14.5
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