Green Park Brasserie – the lively, multi-faceted restaurant, pizza emporium, bar, alfresco hotspot and live music zone (phew!) situated in a historic former railway station on the buzzing Green Park Road/James Street West intersection – opened its doors back in 1992, making this family-run, proudly independent business a veritable stalwart of the Bath merrymaking scene, as enduringly popular today as it became in its very first year.
A big part of the secret of GPB’s ‘secret of success’ is that the venture never rests on its laurels, regularly moving with the times while still retaining all the original charms that made it so popular from the get-go.
Case in point: the Bath Pizza Co, which popped up on the terrace towards the rear of the handsome former railway station site in 2016, plays a vibrant supporting role in the heterogeneous life of its long-established big sister operation. But how to make a good thing even better?
Around this time last year, BPC and GPB menus merged, resulting in a thoroughly tempting, tastefully dizzying array of plates in small or large format supplemented by, of course, the pizzas that regularly scale the highest heights in the prestigious National Pizza Awards (the pizza world equivalent of the Oscars) and rated by Bath’s pizza perfectionists as the best of the city’s pizza pack.
The harmonious selection puts the diner in charge of how much they want to eat, spend and/or discover, in the ‘choose your mood’ environment that Green Park Brasserie established aeons ago. Seriously; what’s not to love?
We didn’t ‘do’ those pizzas this time around; having been there and done them on multiple occasions, I guarantee that they go beyond living up to their reputation.
This time around we plundered the rest of the menu instead, sitting at a heated terrace table under the porte-cochere to the front of the building with pre-dinner cocktails (a must-do here, especially during Happy Hour) to make the most of the chill-out experience on our groovy little urban oasis.
We started off so elegantly, grazing on oozy, melting, rosemary- and honey-baked feta served with a stack of sesame flatbreads, and a tumble of crispy, super-frangible calamari.
But can you really dive into a triple-stack Somerset beefburger oozing with Monterey Jack, caramelised red onions, pickles, garlic mayo and more whilst still keeping up an ‘elegant’ facade? No, you can’t – so I didn’t. At least his massive rump steak – pink, succulent, richly-flavoured top-notch beef in a perfectly-caramelised jacket – was elegant on the plate… before the juices dribbled down his chin.
We dived into two bowls of fries too: the ‘Sexy’ variant topped with slow-cooked brisket, barbecue sauce and cheese (a standalone feast in themselves, chip fans) and the Truffle and Parmesan combo that turns an erstwhile prosaic side order into a luxuriously sophisticated treat.
Similarly, if you think fruit crumble could be called an erstwhile prosaic pudding, your preconceptions will be seriously challenged here.
Despite its ‘Bath institution’ status, Green Park Brasserie feels young for its age. This lively, welcoming, versatile business knows how to keep people happy in all the best possible ways, and proves that skilful adaptation and well-considered diversification are the cornerstones of that elusive, restaurant-world success. Here’s to the next 30 years.
6 Green Park Station, Bath BA1 1JB
01225 338565
www.greenparkbrasserie.com
