Lucky 7 Canteen

 

Launched under the proud banner of ‘no frills, no fuss’, one might expect Lucky 7 Canteen to be an in-and-out, wipe-clean kind of a joint; the mellow lighting, cheery welcome and private wooden booths are all a pleasant surprise, with an overall mood that encourages lingering rather than bolting.
The brief, parchment sheet menu has a reassuringly limited range of starters, mains and puds, none of which tip over £7 (£4 for starters and sweet things)- pretty impressive considering its city centre location and policy of sourcing from local farms. To start, Inverloch goat’s cheese salad was a perfect, crusty-oozy disc of dairy whilst chicken liver parfait arrived on dainty melba triangles.

Vegetable linguine didn’t skimp on ingredients, with chunks of courgettes, peppers et al in a fresh, garlic-laced ragu. Rump steak arrives rare as requested and sizzling in a skillet, alongside a wee jug of hollandaise, like a peppery custard. Sides are necessary (in this case sweet chunks of roasted celeriac, parsnip and carrots) and will set you back all of a quid, meaning you can load up those extras and still never break the tenner mark.

Stuffed but unable to resist a steamed lemon pudding when we see one, we went down the never-a-good-idea ‘one pudding, two spoons’ route. Even the inevitable cutlery sparring over the last, tart crumb couldn’t sour the mellow mood of this place. Although the intimate booths make it couples-friendly, Lucky 7 also has its eyes on parties and the private room at the back with large communal table, pour-your-own Heineken tap with electronic ticker (you can’t trick the machine) and Spotify jukebox is custom-made for a memorable knees-up. With honest, feelgood food to set you up for the night (including its Friday & Saturday Supper Club with a limited menu served until 3am), Lucky 7 is the latest venture to give Bath St a much-needed shot of soul.