The Hare and Hounds
Lansdown Road, Bath BA1 5TJ
Mains £14–22. Sunday roast £16–19.
Recommended at weekends — book 1 week ahead
A proper pub on Lansdown Road with a large garden and honest cooking — Sunday roasts are the main draw, reliably busy and genuinely good. The garden functions well on summer evenings; the terrace looks southwest across Bath. Food is not ambitious but it is consistent. The walk from the city centre is 25 minutes uphill; the walk back is faster. Worth the trip on a Sunday when the city-centre alternatives are overloaded.
The Hare and Hounds — website
→ The Blathwayt Arms
Lansdown Road, Lansdown BA1 9BT
Mains £13–20. Lighter menu at lunch.
Advisable Friday and Saturday evenings
A country pub rather than a Bath restaurant — the Blathwayt sits at the top of Lansdown Road near the racecourse. Interior is genuine pub rather than gastropub affected. Good on race days, when it fills with the Lansdown crowd and tables are better booked. The food is solid and unpretentious. Walking distance from Beckford's Tower, which makes it the natural end-point for that visit.
Café Retro
18 York Street, Bath BA1 1NG
Brunch £8–14. Lunch £9–15. Cash only.
No bookings — arrive before 11am for a table
Technically in the city centre rather than Lansdown, but this is where Lansdown residents come for breakfast. Cash-only, deliberately basic, and stubbornly itself for 25 years. The full breakfast is £8.50 and reliably good. The coffee is not speciality but it does the job. Tables fill from 9am on weekends. The Lansdown descent via Sion Hill ends 5 minutes from the door.
Marlborough Tavern
35 Marlborough Buildings, Bath BA1 2LY
Starters £7–12. Mains £16–24.
Strongly recommended Thursday–Sunday
The Marlborough is the restaurant that serves upper Lansdown and the Weston Road catchment — a genuine pub with genuinely good food, not the other way around. Menu changes regularly, cooking is consistent, and the room is warm without being styled within an inch of its life. About 10 minutes' walk from the top of Lansdown Road downhill through Weston Road. Probably Bath's best neighbourhood restaurant.
Marlborough Tavern — website
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