My husband and I went out for dinner yesterday evening without the children. It was our first date night since Heath was born. As this was long overdue, I completely forgot to take pictures of the food until dessert and they came out blurred because Andy was so eager to eat and rushed me!

Raphael‘s is a cosy, brasserie-style restaurant in Bath serving French cuisine with a British twist. Andy booked it but didn’t tell me where we were going, which was a nice surprise. To start, we ordered bread with oil and balsamic vinegar and a portion of crab cakes. Unfortunately, our crab cakes never arrived due to a mix up but I bet it would have been lovely.

For main course, I ordered the grilled Lemon Sole with Tiger Prawns and a chive cream sauce. It was served with petit pois, broccoli and wilted spinach. It looked and tasted divine with the right balance of seasoning, cream and for portion size too. Andy chose the venison with celeriac purée, Savoy cabbage, green beans and spiced poached pears. The meat was dressed with a Juniper berry and Port jus. Andy thought it was so delicious he could’ve ‘eaten two portions’! He also thought his dish was well balanced in terms of taste and combination of flavours. We shared some ‘Posh’ chips, which were covered with truffle oil and melted Parmesan cheese.

To finish, we had a trio of miniature desserts including a chocolate orange tart, vanilla creme brûlée and hazelnut ice cream. I always have to save room for the sweet course and this didn’t disappoint. There were strawberries and raspberries for a lighter, crisp contrast to the heavier texture of the chocolate and pastry and a sprinkle of mint leaves to cleanse the palate.

We had to book a table as it was pretty busy and customers without reservations had a 30 minute wait but it would be worth it. Address: Gascoyne House, Upper Borough Walls, Bath, BA1 1RN. Tel: 01225 480042 Bx