Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 4

Dolly’s Tea House (Falmouth)

http://www.dollysbar.co.uk/

The last place I visited on my travels was the wonderfully unique Dolly’s tea House. Situated along Falmouth high street, the tea house is set upstairs in a beautiful Georgian room.  It’s known for its quirky nature and if you are in the mood to engage you can have a cocktail brought to you from a proper tea pot or experience their flowering range of teas. Hebe, the pearl wearing Labrador may well also come to see you.

Amidst the playful theatre of the venue are some truly wonderful dishes. The best of which I feel is the lemon and crab crumble. I’ve never really had anything like this before but it is an incredibly rich and beautiful tasting concoction.  Served with gorgeous baked bread it is best described as delicately balanced crab pate with spices and a lemon zing. A unique and lovely thing it deserves to be tried upon a visit. Ever since I had it there are few days that pass where I don’t find my mind drifting back to it. It’s one of those dishes that just makes everything better.

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 3

Sea Drift (Porth Leven)

http://www.seadriftporthleven.co.uk/

One of Porth Leven’s best seafood restaurants, Sea Drift, can have a long waiting list for those looking to eat there at dinner time due to its excellent reputation and limited number of tables. It’s also not the cheapest of places to eat (though there are a number of deals to entice you in). If you’re lucky, wandering along to it during lunchtime may well see you able to sample some of its delights

though.

Everything about the food here is quality. The ingredients, presentation and cooking are all excellent and you can order pretty much anything on the menu with the confidence that it won’t just be good, it’ll be great. You even get beautiful, warm baked bread with your meal. 

There is wealth of options to try and after taking longer than usual on the menu I plumped for the fish chowder. This turned out to be one of the most flavoursome things I have ever eaten. I would go as far as to say that it even beat the sour dough and clam chowder I’ve had in San Francisco.  It’s gorgeous and I recommend to anyone to try it if it appears on the specials board.

While there I also tried Sea Drift’s Mackerel Salad. It’s with dishes like this that you can tell the place is a cut above. What is a fairly standard dish is taken to greater heights through delicate presentation and a superb understanding of how flavours work together. 

The mackerel salad would be a perfect and tasty option for a light lunch if, unlike me, you didn’t want to try out some of their other options as well. For those with a sweet tooth there is also a large selection of cakes but on this fine day I didn’t have enough space left to try any.

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 2

Rock Inn (Rock)

http://www.therockinnrock.co.uk/

Rock can be an expensive place to eat but you really don’t want to head over to Padstow every time you feel hungry. If it’s big portions and good quality pub style food you are after then the Rock Inn is the place for you. You also have the added bonus of being able to look out over the beach and estuary as you eat from atop their balcony area.

I ordered a burger but what arrived can only be described as a small cow placed between two buns. This was accompanied by a small fields worth of chips and salad. Certainly not a light lunch but one of the best burgers I have had in ages and I didn’t need to eat for a fair while after having it.

Despite a busy lunch period service was also excellent. Members of staff were very friendly and the whole place had a nice relaxed atmosphere. I plan to head back at the earliest opportunity. 

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 1

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall

Cornwall has many excellent restaurants but they often fill up quickly or are a little too expensive for the everyday holiday goer. There are also a number of excellent and unique café’s to be found in the county. In this article you will find a handful of places that are either very difficult to get into at night or provide something a little different.

The Mermaid (St Ives)  

http://www.mermaidstives.co.uk/

Set just away from the bustling harbour in St Ives is this rather charming French restaurant. Already well known in the area, the Mermaid can be difficult to get into by just walking in off the street. However, turning up for lunch usually allows you to sample the delights of its menu for a reduced price as long as you get there early.

On this visit I decided to try the chorizo chicken. I’m not a fan of chicken normally as I think it often comes across quite bland in many restaurants. At the Mermaid however, everything is done with a craft that means you are always going to get something filled with flavour. As expected the dish was excellent and the spicy sauce and chorizo complimented the chicken perfectly.

For desert I took a gamble and went for the Crème Brulee. Most of the time you can’t get a decent brulee outside of France but this was light and sweet and had been flavoured perfectly. It’s certainly the best example I have found away from French shores and if that isn’t something to be celebrated then I don’t know what is.