So off we went...early start on Saturday morning to make the
most of the day. We decided to grab breakfast in the station so we didn’t have
to faff around at home. We did double check before we made that decision that
there was somewhere I could get food (obviously). I knew there was a Pret in
Paddington, which meant there was a gf breakfast.
I have previously tried the Pret porridge which is gluten
free. Although I was incredibly pleased to see they had introduced gf porridge,
I was really disappointed with the bland taste and odd texture (sorry Pret!). I’d
have it again if it was the only thing there, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a
tasty breakfast option.
This time I noticed they did another gf option – the veggie
power pot. It is made up of beans, mushroom and a poached egg, so I thought I would
try this as it would probably make for a filling breakfast. Oh man it was good!
Way better than the tasteless gruel that is the gf porridge. The power pot was
delicious. The egg was perfectly poached (although concerningly small…Pret...should
we be concerned by the ridiculously small eggs?) the beans were a delicious mix
of beans, tomato, onion and mushroom and it as big enough to keep me full until
lunch! All in all, a good breakfast.
We got on the most crazily busy train to bath and off we
went! An hour and a half later,we had arrived. First stop was the Christmas markets.
I can understand why they are voted one of the best in the country – it was
great! Mostly because a lot of the produce was local. I’m a big fan of buying
local produce wherever possible and supporting small businesses, so the market
was perfect! From gin to soaps to honey, all from Bath. Buskers were playing
Christmas music, the streets were full of cheery people, smell of mulled wine
in the air – it was a perfect way to kick of the day of festive fun!
After walking around pretty much most of Bath we decided to
try and find some lunch. We walked around seeing if we could find anywhere that
was gf that did a good pizza or something equally treat like but I couldn’t
find anywhere that wasn’t packed and that did gf food. While walking around we
stumbled upon a bagel shop called the Whole Bagel. Usually bagel shops don’t do
gluten free so my hopes weren’t too high…but how wrong I was! They actually did
do gluten free bread and they told me they use a different toaster and clean
knives to make the sandwiches! Amazing! I was so pleased! I ordered a brie,
bacon and tomato chutney sandwich, oh it was delicious! We decided to take them
away and eat them in the park near the crescent in Bath. It was perfect,
surrounded by autumn leaves, beautiful architecture and eating one of the best
sandwiches I’ve had in a long time. 
After our sandwiches we has a walk around the crescent,
through the park and had a poke around the shops (the sales were on so when I say
a poke around, I mean I bought more Christmas presents than I could actually
carry!). After a spot of shopping we decided to go on a hunt for cake.
Will and I are a big fans of coffee and cake – wherever we
go we like to find a good cafe. Will is becoming a bit of a coffee geek and I’m
becoming more obsessed with cake as the days go by. The unfortunate thing about
Bath is that a lot of the cafes and restaurants seemed to be chains. But after walking
into a few coffee shops and deciding it wasn’t for us we found the most perfect
coffee shop for us - Cascara! It sold only gf cakes and delicious coffee. We
decided on a Columbian chocolate cake and a raspberry and marshmallow cake. I had a cappuccino and will had a late.
The cake was actually to die for! Now, not to blow my own
horn, but because I do bake a lot and can bake good cakes, sometimes the cake
we have in cafes can be a bit of a let down. Not this time…the cake was so good!
The cholate cake was moist, rich and full of chocolate chips. The marshmallow
and raspberry cake was like no other cake I have had – the marshmallows
provided a great texture and the raspberries cut through the sweetness. I would
highly recommend Cascara to anyone, not just gluten free people!
We finished the day with a walk around the Christmas
markets, a glass of red in a cozy pub and then headed back to London for
dinner. I wasn’t blown away by the dinner options in Bath and it seemed to be getting
busier and busier. We decided we were better off going back to London and
heading out to my fave local pizzeria Zia Luccia.
Overall, I would say that Bath didn’t have the biggest choice
of gluten free options, but they few they did have were fab! I would definitely
go back just for the café and bagel shop!
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