This text about West Cornwall is a break from The Choosy Glutton’s traditional London-based protection
Replace 26/7/21 – added particulars of follow-up visits to eating places and eateries in Penzance, Newlyn and Fistral/Newquay.
It could appear incongruous for me, as a London-based restaurant reviewer, to have my first indoor catered meal post-lockdown in a mattress and breakfast in Cornwall. To be shocked by that although, you’d need to assume two issues. First, that I’m so eager to dive again into the much-missed world of eating places that I’ll blindly belief each the Authorities and the general public to do the correct factor in terms of furthering the collective curiosity throughout a public well being disaster (spoilers: I don’t).
Second, it assumes that I totally base my holidays round the place and what to eat. In case you thought that I inevitably spend my holidays louching round gastronomic hotspots reminiscent of San Sebastián or Tokyo carrying nothing however a bib and a bank card, then you definitely wouldn’t be the primary. Most of my eating companions and non-food obsessed associates assume the identical. However moderately than prioritise consuming out above all else, I select no matter exercise or location I need to expertise after which attempt to eat properly as greatest as my vacation spot permits. Which, I believe, is how most individuals strategy consuming out whereas on trip.
Cornwall has an outsized popularity for top of the range produce, however mountain climbing the South West Coastal Path from St Ives to Falmouth isn’t essentially one of the best ways to understand its bounty. Social distancing necessities meant that many countryside gastropubs had restricted menus and an much more restricted variety of tables that have been onerous to come back by on a last-minute vacation. Whereas mountain climbing from village-to-village and town-to-town might help construct up a ferocious urge for food, some settlements actually solely had one or two locations to select from – and sometimes with none to put in writing house about.
Which is why – as a basic rule with few exceptions – I’m not going to put in writing in regards to the lone wolf consuming choices within the varied out-of-the-way villages I handed via. With out spending greater than an evening or two in every one and doing correct evaluations, I don’t see the necessity to stick the knife within the sole pub or takeaway of a number of successive Cornish villages and hamlets. When confronted with restricted choices, for those who can journey to the following village alongside and its extra bountiful choices then you’ll. In case you can’t, you’ll lump it and prefer it as I did.
What follows then is much less a sequence of evaluations and extra a weblog in the old fashioned sense of the phrase – a vaguely thematic sequence of reveries which might be simply as a lot for me as they’re for you.
There’s only one full-on correct assessment because of this journey. To be notified of latest evaluations and articles on this web site, join e mail notifications by way of the homepage, subscribe by way of RSS or comply with me on Twitter or Instagram.
The Searoom, St Ives
Whereas the Searoom does certainly supply sea and seaside views, it’s not an particularly massive institution. In case you’re nonetheless feeling hesitant about eating indoors with out a lot elbow room or respiratory house, as I’m, then the Searoom additionally gives takeaway.
In case you solely order one factor from The Searoom’s takeaway menu, then make it the mussels. As if the very thought of getting takeaway mussels wasn’t wondrous sufficient, they have been additionally value digging in to with wild abandon. The l’il molluscs not solely had a agency chew and a plump, fleshy follow-through, but in addition got here swimming in a richly buttery sauce. These weren’t simply delectable for takeaway mussels, these have been simply the perfect mussels that I’ve had in a very long time.
The Thai sizzling canine wasn’t very Thai and never a lot of a sizzling canine. The grainy sausage and excessively chewy bread needed to be rescued by the mixed moreishness of the relishes. Even this was relative although with the undistinguished melange of relishes lower than the sum of their components.
Spiced crispy squid was barely spiced and extra gentle and fluffy than crispy. That texture was nonetheless mouth pleasing although, regardless of the floppy squid beneath, particularly when dredged although the surplus buttery run-off from the mussels. The included srirarcha-ish mayo, however, made the damp squid a moist squib.
I’ve been unimpressed with London’s makes an attempt at poke. Whereas Searoom’s model was oddly deconstructed, it did profit from buttery salmon which blended neatly with nutty sesame, savoury edamame and the nutty sweetness of candy potato. The small-grained rice may’ve been fluffier, however this was nonetheless nonetheless one of many few pokes I’ve tried within the UK that was really pleasing.
If solely every part I had from The Searoom was as superlative as that bath of mussels.
Common price per essential dish: £10
Ice cream
Cornwall has a few native ice creameries, essentially the most eclectically named of which must be Moomaid of Zennor. By way of sheer mouthfeel, Moomaid’s ice lotions have been among the many luxuriant I’ve had this facet of Rome with a lusciously thick creaminess that was nonetheless refreshing. It’s subsequently an actual disgrace that each the pistachio and vanilla flavours have been muted, whereas the salted caramel and honeycomb was excessively candy.
Roskilly’s ice cream wasn’t wherever as thick and creamy as Moomaid’s. It was not solely a bit too wispy in locations, however had the occasional crunchy ice crystal too. Whereas each the gooseberry and vanilla flavours had little to say for themselves, the Cornish cream tea flavour was fairly evocative of the supply materials. Its creamy folds got here layered with seams of strawberry jam and studded with gentle and scone items that got here throughout a bit biscuit-y.
Fish and chips
I’ve lengthy been unmoved by fish and chips, failing to see the attraction in stodgy fish and flaccid potato troopers. Judging from the battered cod from Jeremy’s in St Simply (the one in Penwith, not Roseland), it’s totally doable that it’s been London’s fish and chips which have completed a disservice each to me and this style of quick meals.
Jeremy’s feather gentle batter, moistened by an utility of salt and vinegar, was not solely moreish in its personal proper however encased flaky, moist and meaty cod that had been cooked just-so. The chips have been nonetheless unimpressively floppy although.
Though the cod from Smuggler’s close to Lizard Level was a bit too mushy for my liking, the batter was remarkably, evenly crisp – extra like a crunchy shell or carapace than batter. The chips have been additionally crunchy, which just about made up for his or her typically hole/billowy interiors and the stubby, smaller chips which verged on brittleness.
Cornish pasties
It ought to come as a shock to no-one that grocery store Cornish pasties are a pale imitation of the numerous pasties accessible within the peninsula itself. All however one of many pasties I attempted had pastry that was far sturdier than the grocery store commonplace – extra strong than puff pastry, however not fairly as dense and crumbly as most shortcrust pastry shells. All however one additionally benefitted from a feathery pastry underlayer that neatly led into the sticky gravy.
The pasties from St Ives Bakery, the department of Warren’s in St Simply (Penwith) and the Porthcurno Seashore Café have been nearly extra winsome for his or her fillings of candy and starchy diced turnip and potato than the steak. Whereas tender and reasonably tangy within the pasties from Warren’s and the Porthcurno Seashore Café, the steak was nonetheless however outshone by their vegetal stablemates. The steak within the St Ives pasty was barely deserving of the title, whereas the Porthcurno pasty suffered from pastry that was only a bit too greasy. On steadiness then, the Warren’s effort was the perfect of the lot I attempted.
A particular place in culinary hell is reserved for the pasty served by the 5 Pilchards pub in Porthallow. The stodgy pastry verged on onerous, whereas the mysteriously mulchy filling was extra just like the sodden and muddy Coastal Path itself after a heavy downpour than one thing enjoyably edible.
Landed, Porthleven
Positioned a really quick jaunt away from Porthleven’s essential drag, Landed is a seafood-only takeaway that serves a rotating menu of a number of creative dishes alongside the standard fish and chips.
A few of them are pescatarian variations of carnivorous dishes, which is both an eye-rolling train in drained advertising tips or an creative sleight of hand relying in your viewpoint. Fortunately, the pulled skate ‘brisket’ was extra of a center class filet-o-fish than a misconceived barbecue homage with gills. The bun stayed out of the way in which, permitting the moist, hefty strands of ‘pulled’ skate to take centre stage. Candy pickles and a surprisingly pleasing and tartare-esque tacky mayo supplied the flavoursome counterpart to the meaty mouthfeel of the fish.
Whereas the curled whirls of Southern-style batter have been completely and evenly crunchy and not using a trace of oil, its toothsome charms arguably obscured the bouncy meatiness of the monkfish they cocooned in all however one occasion. The chipotle mayo was nothing of the type, whereas the pickles have been far too candy with a cloying presence not helped by the addition of dill which is a herb I normally get pleasure from. Regardless of the numerous disappointments on this carton, the textural snap and crackle of that paprika-hued batter will reside lengthy in my reminiscence.
In an identical vein to the deep-fried monkfish, the crunch of the wee noodle-like deep-fried batter nest arguably detracted from the creamy oyster it encased.
The crustacean in Landed’s lobster roll was served at room temperature and the bread roll stayed out of the way in which. Whereas largely agency, the lobster’s mouthfeel was nonetheless compromised by inconsistently sized chopping – a lot of which have been too weeny. The thick crimson-hued mayo, whereas eye-catching, added little. There’s the core of lobster roll right here, simply ready to be unleashed.
My takeout meal from Landed was an uneven affair, however there’s clearly a substantial amount of promise at this unassuming takeaway.
Common price per essential dish: £9
My time across the coast of West Cornwall might have been typically uneven and even perhaps undistinguished gastronomically. And but the peninsula has tantalised me so on a number of ranges. I’d be very shocked certainly if this primary go to finally ends up being my final.
Summer time 2021 replace
I hadn’t meant to return to West Cornwall fairly so quickly after my stroll across the occidental extremity of the South West Coastal Path. Nonetheless, a short journey for the day job did give me the chance to pattern a number of extra eating places and eateries on this eminently picturesque and windswept a part of the UK.
Rick Stein Fistral, Newquay
I used to be underwhelmed by celeb chef Rick Stein’s London outpost, however I had a obscure hope that one in every of his Cornish eating places would possibly show to be at the very least considerably much less risible. That hope was dashed by his quick informal joint on Newquay’s Fistral Seashore. Whereas the lilliputian portion of battered hake shimmered in the summertime night’s golden halo, it was only a bit too damp to be pleasurable. The hake beneath was fairly moist and meaty, however there simply wasn’t sufficient of it with many of the energy right here supplied by a number of shovel a great deal of flaccidly floppy chips.
Moderately peppery and umami strips of chewy jerky-esque fish dotted the ‘Asian’ mackerel salad, however there wasn’t sufficient to go round. The majority of this salad consisted of sharp, punchy purple onions and what I’m fairly certain was astringent lemongrass. There was a lot of it, the overwhelming aftertaste lingered properly into the morning after the evening earlier than.
Rick Stein Fistral does have views of the eponymous seaside from a lot of its home windows and out of doors tables. Even so, it’s uncommon for me to really feel this egregiously mugged by a restaurant.
Common price per essential dish: £10
Lewis’s, Newlyn
Lewis’s isn’t solely one in every of a handful of eateries within the fishing city of Newlyn, it’s now the one fish and chip store as properly.
Though I favor my batter crisp and crunchy, for those who’re a part of the gentle and supple camp then you definitely’ll benefit from the skinny, seamless batter right here. The cod beneath was a moist and flaky affair. The chips have been complete slices of potato moderately than reconstituted mash, however have been gentle and floppy – maybe my desire for crisp batter and chips is unlikely to be met by many of the nation’s fish and chip parlours.
Curiously, Lewis’ does serve up a crispier, crunchier batter as a part of its battered burger. Though the patty beneath was skinny, it did have a beefy tang to it.
Don’t be tempted by the ‘lemon and pepper’ cod. The eponymous citrus and spice was fleeting – at greatest – within the gentle and seamless batter. The cod beneath was dry and even chewy in locations. When a fish supper has extra in frequent with chewing gum than it does different seafood dishes, then one thing has clearly gone flawed.
Lewis’s is not any match for Smugglers on the Lizard, but it surely’ll do in a pinch.
Common price per essential dish: £7-8
Artists Residence, Penzance
This resort restaurant is an attractive-looking house, however the service was embarrassingly slack, uncooked and inexperienced on my night go to. Submit-lockdown labour shortages are most likely at fault, however so is inadequate coaching.
Regardless of being a tad overcooked, the mussels have been fairly fleshy and buttery however the mildly tangy sauce was a milquetoast affair in comparison with the efforts from The Searoom St Ives and the close by Blacks.
Scallops have been comparatively agency and springy, however no matter character they might have possessed had been drowned out by the oddball sauce which appeared to mix candy chilli with a mayo-style concoction. There are worthy however unsuccessful experiments after which there’s regardless of the heck this was presupposed to be.
The heads of the shell-on prawns have been slurpable sufficient with an inexpensive degree of saltiness akin to that of an out-of-tune however nonetheless pleasurable sea shanty cowl on TikTok. The overcooked our bodies verged on the mushy and bland although, with the punchy garlic and parsley dipping butter selecting up quite a lot of the slack.
It was an identical story with the half lobster. The comparatively agency meat wasn’t fairly springy sufficient and was nearly mushy in locations. Each it and the accompanying coleslaw leaned closely on garlic butter for flavour. Poor.
This can be an Artists Residence, however there’s treasured little artistry occurring within the kitchen.
Common price per essential dish: £17
Blacks of Chapel Road, Penzance
Blacks has an uninspired décor that’s greatest described as 90s wine bar ‘stylish’. Diving into a few of the seafood dishes on its small however diverse menu, nevertheless, revealed cooking of unusual ability.
The meatiness of the plump mussels discovered a fantastic companion in a skinny but tangy and moreish sauce. Actually scoffable mussels reminiscent of these are far more durable to search out in West Cornwall than I might ever have thought.
A exactly trimmed starter of monkfish was not solely image good, however an illustration in how a kitchen might help carry out the perfect in a fish. A wafer skinny but crisply brittle crust gave technique to reveal a agency, meaty comply with via. That textural double act was the proper conveyor for the citrusy crunch of samphire. Little cylinders of rhubarb initially appeared misplaced, however their tartness made for an efficient palate cleanser after the relative meaty richness of the monkfish.
The sleek and delicate flesh of lemon sole soaked up the wealthy moreishness of shrimp-dotted butter to gorgeous impact. The punchy tang of capers added one other layer of deliciousness, whereas yielding child potatoes and wrinkly, mildly bitter kale supplied contrasting hits of ballast and texture.
The chocolate and strawberry tart was, disappointingly, a miniature tart moderately a slice of an even bigger complete. Placing apart my insatiable lust for indulgently sized desserts, the sugary candy strawberries wanted a greater companion than the wallflower chocolate chosen. Though skinny, the fairly buttery pastry snapped aside simply sufficient. On the facet was easy raspberry tart with a candy tartness fairly true to the fruit, though the biscuit crumb scattered on high added little. A disappointing finish to an in any other case winsome meal.
Of all of the eating places that I’ve visited up to now in West Cornwall, Blacks is among the few I’d eagerly go to once more.
-TPG
