La Perla Restaurant on North Parade, just down the road from the famous Pulteney Bridge, is a gorgeous Spanish tapas restaurant. It is hidden down a spiral staircase tucked away from the city, if we hadn’t taken a detour from the car to the hostel we wouldn’t have found it.

Rows of tables are situated in a moody vaulted cellar and the atmosphere is electric. They have a gorgeous open kitchen where you can watch the chefs at work, and we were lucky to be seated at a table right next to this.

La Perla have a small signature cocktail menu and I had to try the cucumber fizz. Described as Hendricks, elderflower syrup, lime juice and tonic, it was so refreshing and woke me up a little after walking around Bath all day. Eleanor went for the Raspberry Cosmo, with Absolut Vodka, Cointreau, lemon juice and fresh raspberries. These were our first cocktails in Bath and they were delicious!

We were advised to order 5 dishes between us without bread, but you’ll know by now that I always over order. Today was no exception. The menu sounded so incredible that there was no way I was only having 5 dishes!

We went for a side order of breads, olives, allioli and olive oil with balsamic. The bread came out warm and crusty which I loved. There were three types; a tomato, an olive and a seeded loaf. They were beautiful. The favourite for me was the tomato dipped into a little oil/balsamic.

From the tapas menu we ordered:

Cóctel de Cangrejo; fresh white crab meat with a chilli and lime and a passion fruit chutney. Presented in a cocktail glass, you really had to dig deep to get the passion fruit but when you did the flavour was amazing. The sweetness of the passion fruit against the slight saltiness of the crab was amazing.

Pato Confitado; confit duck leg cooked with Pedro Ximenez and oranges served with a wild berry sauce. This has to be my favourite dish. The duck was beautifully cooked and slid off the bone and the sweet sauce and orange created an explosion of flavour in my mouth that was like nothing I have ever tasted. It was very rich, so I am glad that we shared it!

Chuletas De Cordero; lamb chops with tarragon and honey sauce. This was purely Eleanor’s choice as I am not a massive fan of lamb. It was a lovely dish but the slight aniseed taste along with the honey wasn’t to my taste.

Gambas Al Ajillo; huge king prawns cooked in lots of garlic. chilli and white wine. These were incredibly garlicky and the prawns were so juicy! Another fantastic dish.

Calamares a la Plancha con salsa verde; seared squid with a basil allioli. I love squid and this certainly hit the spot. Some of the pieces were huge, basically whole squid! The basil allioli was amazing and I just wish there had been a little more. It was beautifully presented though.

Ensalada de Cecina; a salad consisting of smoked beef slices, lettuce, tomatoes, mandarin, pickled cucumber and cranberry-hazelnut pralines. The saltiness of the beef combined with the sourness of the pickles and the sweetness of the pralines was amazing. I wish I knew how to recreate this dish at home as I would have it every day!

We had no room for dessert, the waiter was correct; we had over ordered. Literally no regrets though!

The meal cost just under £80 for the both of us, which for the standard of food and service we received I think this is perfect value for money. In fact I probably would have paid more in all honesty. The restaurant is stunning and witnessing the chefs at work made the anticipation for the food even stronger. I’d love to go back.

You can find La Perla on TWITTER or FACEBOOK 

To find out more about our stay in Bath, click HERE