Demuths, Bath

2 North Parade Passage, off Abbey Green,

Bath BA1 1NX

http://www.demuths.co.uk/

Demuths in Bath has a really good reputation among vegetarians however, a recent visit by a friend of mine was quite scathing so I decided to see for myself. The place itself is on two floors and I was shown to a table downstairs. I was the only one there for quite a while, during which time I skimmed through some sample copies of the restaurant's cookbooks that they have for sale, and they looked pretty good, with some nice recipes.

The menu I was presented with wasn't overly inspiring, there were roughly half a dozen choices on both starters and mains menus, and also an appetisers menu with a similar amount of options. I forewent the appetisers and chose the Beetroot and Potato Patties from the starters and an Ethiopean Platter from the mains menu.

The starters menu was quite varied, however the mains contained a curry and the Ethiopian Platter (essentially another curry) a risotto, and a nut roast. As curries, risottos and nut roasts are quite often the "vegetarian choice" on a standard restaurant menu, I didn't think they showed the culinary possibilities that vegetarian food can attain no matter how good they might be.

The Beetroot Patties were three in number and were quite nicely presented spread with pea puree and accomanied by a raita and a few salad leaves. They were nicely spiced and the pea puree was good, but there was little or no beetroot flavour, which was a little disappointing. If the sweet beetroot flavour had been there, this would've been a splendid little dish. However, as it was the only real clue to the presence of the beetroot was the colour of the patties.

The Ethiopean Platter consisted of two different dhals (yellow split pea and red lentil and bean), spiced spinach and potato, and bean and carrot curry served on an pancake, Each of the individual ingredients were fine in themselves, but nothing special. However, the pancake was tasteless and, when eaten in combination with any of the other parts of the dish, somehow had the power to render them equally tasteless which was a touch weird.

For dessert I had Red Wine Poached Pears served with Blackberries and a Honey Labne. Again the presentation was very well done and it tasted really nice. The dish was sprinkled with honeycomb and it complemented the pears really well.

The service was quick and efficient, but not particularly personal. The prices seem to me to be quite high - £6 for a starter and £14 for a main course is a bit steep for this kind of fayre. My three course meal with a coke and a water came to over £35, which is very high.

Would I go back? Probably not. The food was okay, but nothing special, and it was expensive. It is nice to be able to be given a menu in a restaurant where I can eat everything on it, however I'd much rather have a smaller choice of really imaginative and tasty food than a dozen "so-so" items.

I have had some fabulous meals in vegetarian restaurants, Terre a Terre and Il Margutta in Rome, for example, but the majority of the best meals I've had have been in restaurants where the non-veggie meals have been top quality too, like Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons or The Lanesborough.

I guess, in the end, it all comes down to the skill and imagination (and attitude) of the chefs no matter what kind of restaurant they are in.

Last day in Italy

We woke early and finished packing before going down to meet the taxi to the airport.

The airport is very close to Pisa and within ten minutes, we had arrived. We had a coffee and a croissant while waiting for the check in desk for Alicea's flight to open. Once she had checked in and joined the queue for departures we said our goodbyes, and I caught the bus back to the hotel. On the way, I bought a ticket for the Leaning Tower and the surrounding buildings.

I went up the tower (more steps!) and popped back to the hotel to check out before looking around the baptistry and cathedral.

I then went to find somewhere for lunch stopping on the way to watch as artist creating a picture using spray can paints. It was fascinating.

I then came across a huge market that spanned several streets selling everything from furniture to soap to records to pottery.

After an hour walking around that, I went to a restaurant in one of the piazzas near the Leaning Tower for lunch. The food was fine but the service was awful, I'm not sure whether it was because I was on my own - I wasn't even given any bread! So, I left no tip.

From there I went to look around the cemetery building that is part of the Leaning Tower complex. I'm sure that in its heyday it was fab, but as a museum, it lacks a certain something. It could be that virtislly none of the exhibits are labelled and those that are have label that read "square sarcophogus, 4th Century" or similar, and that's the extent of the information you get!

From there, I wandered back to the hotel to get my bags, picking up an ice cream on the way and caught the bus to the airport.

The plane was about 15 mins late taking off, but landed on time.

Goodbye Cinque Terre

Today we return to Pisa ready for the return to the UK (for me) and the USA (for Alicea). But before we left we took one more trip to Monterosso where we say on the beach for a couple of hours and the went for lunch at the place where Alicea enjoyed her salmon and dill the other night.

Unfortunately, that particular dish was unavailable so she had smoked salmon which wasn't as nice. We both then had a pesto dish before returning back to the hotel to await our lift, with our bags, to the station.

The train was fairly on time and we arrived in Pisa around 7.20pm. With the help of one of the locals we caught a bus to the Campo dei Miracoli and then walked to the hotel.

Once we had dropped our stuff off we went to one of the restaurants near the Leaning Tower (having learnt our lesson last week). We ended up sitting next to an Australian couple who were quite loud and stereotypical (at least to begin with) and Alicea spoke very quietly so that they didn't realise she was Australian too and begin talking to her!

Once we had finished eating, we returned to the hotel and booked a taxi to take Alicea to the airport tomorrow morning.

An aborted swim...

We arrived at Bonasollo station to catch the train to Monterosso and then onto Riomaggiore.

I'm not sure why there is a ticket office at Bonosolla station as it is never open, even when it is supposed to be! In fact someone has scribbled "if we feel like it" above the opening times. So, we had to buy a bottle of water from the bar next to the station to get enough change for the only one of the three ticket machines that was working.

Once in Monterosso, we bought a Cinque Terre day pass and our ticket for Pisa tomorrow and also rang the dive people to book ourselves in.

Then we caught the next train to Riomaggiore.

Once there we walked to Manorola along the Via Dell Amore and had our piccy taken on the kissing seat... What romantic fools we are!

We then had lunch in Manorola before walking back to Riomaggiore to go for the dive.

We were all kitted up and followed the guy who was leading us out into the harbour. Once I began to go under the water my mask began to fill with water - my moustache was stopping the mask from getting an airtight seal - and try as I might I couldn't stop it. In the end I have it up as a bad job and left Alicea with the instructor while I went and got changed.

She was gone for about forty five minutes and said that she was a little disappointed as what she saw was pretty much what you could see snorkeling.

Once she had got changed we caught the train to Vernazza where we had dinner at Gianni Franzi's before ruturning to the hotel.

A walk in the dark

Last night we went into Monterosso for dinner at one of the restaurants on the front. We say out on the balcony overlooking the sea which was lovely.

After that we caught the train back to Bonassola and walked back to the hotel up a long line of steps. Luckily we had bought a torch earlier as some of the way was quite dark.

Today, we are hoping to go diving, which should be good and finishing our day with a meal in Vernazza. That's the plan anyway.

More walking

Last night's dinner was okay, but not up to the standard of the food that we've been eating lately.

Once the dinner was over, we retired to bed. There were no church bells this time, but the bed creaked so much, that every time one of us moved, it woke the other one up!

This morning we walked to Levanto, the next town for lunch (about 5km) and then walked back again, taking a slightly different route. Levanto was really quiet compared to the other places we visited, I guess that not being one of the CT villages really takes its toll.

Our knees are aching again and Alicea bought a couple of sticks to help when walking over the hilly bits. The one that she got me for my birthday has been great and has really helped during the tougher stretches of the walks.

It's quite a walk from the hotel here in Bonasolla to the station, and there are no taxis, so if we want to go anywhere else to eat its quite a trek. We've tried ringing a few other hotels in the Cinque Terre villages, but they're all fully booked, so it looks like we are stuck here for the next couple of days.

A new hotel

Last night when we got back to the hotel after dinner we started to pack, ready for today's change of hotels.

I went to get all my bits out of the room safe but it wouldn't open. Luckily, this morning the one of the people that run the hotel came along and opened it for me.

After leaving our bags to be transported to the hotel in Bonassola where we are staying for the rest of the holiday, we said our goodbyes and took a boat to Porto Venere, a town at the lower end of the Cinque Terre peninsula and had a wander around for a few hours.

It's another pretty town with stepped streets and a large harbour. Overlooking the town is a 12th century church.

After lunch we caught the boat back to Monterosso and then boarded a train for the two stops to Bonassola. After asking several people where the hotel was, including a workman who beckoned us over to talk to his English speaking employer we finally arrived, only to be told that they would have given us a lift from the station if we had rung!

The hotel is on a hill overlooking the town, the view is beautiful, but its not very convenient for getting anywhere.

Our bags had arrived okay, and we were booked in for dinner. Unfortunately the set menu wasn't really to our taste so we've ended up with a pasta dish and a salad.

The room itself is okay, but small. It sounds like we were bumped out of a better room (with a balcony) by some guests that arrived earlier. It's not as nice as the hotel in Monterosso which was really nice and the service was superb!

Still, it might be one of those places that grows on you...

Return to Riomaggiore

This morning we caught the train down to Riomaggiore so we could have a look at the village. We'd started our walk from here yesterday but hadn't walked up from the station to the village.

It's quite a pretty little place with a single road leading down to the station and marina. However, there isn't an awful lot to see, so we caught the train back to Monterosso and were back for lunch.

The afternoon was spent checking the boat times for our trip tomorrow to Portovenere and sitting in a café on the seafront.

An unexpected journey

We decided to go to Vernazza for the evening to eat, so met up at the station to catch the train.

The train came in on time, so we boarded and then were somewhat bemused as the train passed all the local stations without stopping.

We alighted at Le Spezia and jumped on a train that was heading in the opposite direction. This one stopped in Vernazza so we got off, finishing a half hour journey that should have taken five minutes.

We headed for the main piazza which was next to the harbour and to a restaurant that was recommended in one of our guide books. It was pretty good and served a very nice ravioli in walnut sauce. After the meal we sat on the harbour for a while before catching the train back, this time without any problems.

Facts

I forgot to mention, the walk from Riomaggiore to Monterosso is rougly 15km and it took us about six hours.

Cinque Terre Walk

The Cinque Terre consists of five villages along the Ligurian coastline in northwest Italy.

One of the attractions is that you can walk between them. So, that was today's quest.

We met Steve at Monterosso station at 9.30am and caught the train to Riomaggiore the southen most of the CT villages where our walk was to begin.

The first part of the walk, to Manarola, is along a man made coastal path and is an easy stroll, lulling you into a false sense of security.

For the next section, to Corniglia, our guide book gave us the choice of a route through the hills or an easier coastal route. Still suffering a few aches from yesterday's trek we decided on the coastal route, which was okay, however it ended with a climb of 382 steps!

After some refreshment we struckout for Vernazza where we planned to have lunch. The path was very narrow in places and there were many, many steps. Eventually, we reached the village and found the restaurant that had been recommended to me for its tomato sauce. It was very nice.

Once we had rested we began the final part of the walk, to Monterosso. Boy was it hard. The start of it was mostly steps going up, all very uneven, and extremely narrow cliff edge paths with no handrails. The descent into Monterosso was down what seemed to be thousands of uneven steps and by now my knees and hips were theatening to go on strike. Eventually we arrived back in Monterosso.

The walk was very hard, but the views were spectacular.

Once back in our 'home' village we then went for a much needed and much dreamed about (during the walk) dip in the sea, which was great.

We're planning to take the train back to one of the villages tonight for dinner, as it's Steve's last day tomorrow.

A long walk...

I slept fitfully mostly due to the local church clock striking every half hour.

We made sure we had a largish breakfast before leaving for the first of our walks.

The walk was 10km long and went through the hills and forests that surround Monterosso. It was very pretty with some amazing views but very hard as some of the climbs were very steep and very long. We also had to change the route slightly after being chased by two dogs! By the time we both arrived back, about four hours later, our legs really ached. And we've an even longer one tomorrow...

The First of the Cinque Terre

We left the hotel and its surly breakfast staff around 9am and caught a bus to the train station, using my pidgeon Italian to get directions to the bus stop.

We had about an hour to wait for the train, however it was travelling straight through to Monterosso without us having to change. The trip was straightforeward except that we had forgotten to stamp our tickets and got fined €5. Barely a day in Italy and already we're criminals!

Once we arrived we made our way to the Hotel Marina. The hotel is really nice, in the old town and a stones throw from everything.

After dropping our bags we wandered around the town looking for somewhere to eat. It's pretty crowded and although our first choice was full we found another place a few doors up that looked nice. I had some really nice peccorino with honey and walnuta followed by troffie pasta with pesto (Liguria is where pesto was invented) and Alicea had a seafood platter that looked as though it had been tipped out of a fisherman's net.

From there we wandered around the town a little more before retiring to the hotel for a siesta. We've a busy few days coming up so we thought we'd get a rest while we could.

Steve SMS'd us to tell us held arrived and to arrange to meet up for dinner.

Around 7pm we met up with Steve and went for a drink. While we were there a huge thunderstorm hit the town and the rain poured down. We then went to a restaurant where we "mushroomed out" by ordering just about every mushroom course on the menu! The waitress brought out a large basket of fresh porcini to show us what we would be having!

Once we had finished, we retired to our respective hotels, Alicea and I to prepare for our walk tomorrow, Steve to prepare for his "duvet day"!

Regards,

Gary Nicklin

Please excuse the short message - it was sent from a Blackberry handheld.

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To Pisa

The flight was uneventful apart from the food service being postponed due to someone fainting a few rows behind us. Once the poor lady had been revived everything was back to normal and the flight arrived in Pisa pretty much on time.

We joined a queue for a taxi and eventually we got one to take us to the hotel. The Grand Hotel Duomo is a stone's throw from the Leaning Tower so, after dumping our bags we went for a walk.

The complex where the tower stands is very impressive and when I'm back here next weekend, I'll take the opportunity to go around it properly.

From there we took a wander around looking for somewhere to eat. We found a couple of places, then went to a bar to wait for the restaurants to open.

We picked a restaurant that was in the backstreets away from the touristy places figuring that it may have more authentic and regional food to those catering for the masses. However, as there was no menu outside we weren't sure what it would be like.

I told the waitress that I was vegetarian and we ordered our food. We started with crostini which were drenched with a very strong olive oil. Alicea then had a
Prawn risotto and I ended up with what appeared to be pieces of pancake covered, once again, in the same olive oil. To follow that we then had a sformati, which I was keen to try as I have made it on a couple of courses, which turned out to be a sort of cheese souffle and nothing like the dish I was expecting. Still, at least the wine was nice.

From there we went back to the hotel.