Ship Inn Bar and Restaurant
Mousehole – Penzance
Cornwall TR19 6QX

Mousehole

Mousehole's harbour

The Ship Inn (in the centre)

The entrance

Mousehole! I had to come here because of its funny name but actually it is a lot more than that. It is a lovely tiny fishing village really worth the trip.

The Ship Inn is a hotel and pub/restaurant superbly located right in front of the harbour. The old building in stone is quite nice and inside there is a rustic feeling with the wall in stones, the beamed ceilings and the heavy wooden tables. There are several model boats near the windows. There is a pub area and a separate restaurant area.

Inside the Ship Inn

The choice in the menu is restricted compared to some gastro pubs: some sandwiches, some jacket potatoes, a rump steak, a double cheeseburger, mussels in white wine, home made fish pie, home made steak and ale pie, fish and chips and that’s about all.
We ordered the beer battered fish and chips and a home-made fish pie. As drink we had a beer and a lemonade.

The drinks

Home-made fish pie

The home-made fish pie was very tasty. It was mainly potato and cheese with not too much fish and seafood, but there was enough to make it worth eating and both taste and texture were very good. It came with a nice fresh salad and some crispy chunks of fresh farmhouse-style bread.

Fish and chips

The beer battered fish and chips was good: well fried, and with a firm texture. The fries were not great but then I am not a fan of those thick fries. I prefer them when they are much thinner. The only thick fries I like are the ones cooked at Gourmet Burger Kitchen because they are crispy.

Cost and conclusion: It was just less than £25, not bad for decent food and for the excellent location. The Ship Inn is also a hotel so you can rest there and enjoy the view over the harbour from your bedroom.

Some other photos taken at Mousehole:

Another view of the harbour

The Mousehole

Funny!

Carnon Inn (Table Table)
Old Carnon Hill, Carnon Downs, Truro
Cornwall TR3 6JT

Carnon Inn (Table Table)

Inside

Good cold Stella beer

Carnon Inn (part of the Table Table restaurant chain) is a restaurant based in Truro, which is a city conveniently located for visiting most of Cornwall. From outside it looks pretty basic and it is next to Premier Inn hotel. Inside, things are much better with interesting decoration and large tables and decent space between tables.

As starters we ordered the Yakitori skewers (£3.95) and a duck pate (£3.99). We both took the same main course which was the duck and apples (£19.98 for the two) and as desserts we had a tasting plate with Eton mess, lemon tart and strawberry ice cream (£4.99) and another tasting plate with strawberry ice cream, chocolate tart and Belgian waffles (£4.99). The drinks were a bottle of sparkling water 330ml (£1.65) and a pint of Stella (£2.90).

The two starters

Yakitori skewers

The yakitori skewers were ok. They really looked like those already made food coming from Sainsbury etc that you just have to heat. They were a little too sweet.

Duck pate

The duck paté was nicely presented and good but far from a foie gras of course. The toasted bread and the chutney were good too.

The main courses

Duck and apples

The ducks and apples were not bad at all. They came very warm and the skin was crispy. They were like duck confits but not too greasy and the apples were a good balance to that dish.

The desserts

Tasting plate with Eton mess, lemon tart and strawberry

Tasting plate with strawberry ice cream, chocolate tart and Belgian waffles

The desserts were generally good. The strawberry ice cream was average, the Eton mess was a little bit too sweet but the chocolate tart and the Belgian waffles were good.

Cost and conclusion: it was just over £42 with no “optional” service charge automatically included to the bill and euphamistically  “left to the client’s discretion” as restaurants often do in London. Here, there was no service charge at all which is very appreciated. Since the waitress was friendly we of course left a good tip. The food was not fantastic but it was better than in most pubs and the price was fair. Nice relaxing atmosphere too. I would not hesitate to go back there.

The Godolphin Arms
West End, Marazion
Cornwall, TR17 0EN

St Michael's Mount

The Godolphin Arms. View from St Michael's Mount.

The Godolphin Arms is a hotel restaurant wonderfully located on the sea wall at the end of the causeway to St. Michael’s Mount. You cannot have a better location. It takes about 10 minutes to walk to St Michael’s Mount which is a Cornish counterpart of the Mont Saint Michel in Normandy but much smaller. You only walk in low tide of course 😉 From Marazion you can also go to the Isles of Scilly by helicopter or boats. These isles are great for people into birds.

Great view

We took the Godolphin breakfast club full English composed of 2 sausages, grilled tomato, a hash brown, fried egg, toast, mushrooms and 2 rashers of bacon, with mug of tea or coffee (£6). They have quite an extensive breakfast menu with smoked haddock fillets served with scrambled eggs (£7.95), traditional kippers served with poached eggs (£7.95), rack of toast with butter, jam or marmite (£1.95), backed beans on toast (£3.75), scrambled egg on toast (£4.25)… They have breakfast baps, like bacon bap (£3.25), bacon & egg bap (£3.95), sausage bap (£3.25) or egg bap (£2.95).
The dining area is quite pleasant, through the windows you have a great view over the St. Michael’s Mount. The breakfast was quite good and large. After eating it, we felt we could brave the cold wind more easily.

The toasts

The two breakfasts

Sausages, grilled tomato, hash browns, fried egg, toast, mushrooms and bacon!

Cost and conclusion: it was £12 for 2, not bad value considering the location and the quite decent breakfast. Highly recommended if you plan to visit St. Michael’s Mount!

Camelot restaurant and bar
4 Braddons Hill Road West
Torquay TQ1 1BG

Torquay

Torquay

Camelot medieval restaurant

Despite living in the UK for over 5 years I have not travelled widely within it: a two week trip to the Highlands of Scotland (Inverness, Portree, Isle of Skye, and even the fairly remote North and South Uist), Glasgow and Edinburgh several times, a short trip to Cardiff and the Peak district and that’s about it. I do not count Brighton, Dover, Oxford etc which I’ve also visited as they’re near enough almost to count a little as London’s suburbs 😉

Having lived in the French riviera, I was curious to discover the English riviera. After all, on the map it is not that far from London. Well, that was without realising how bad the road network is in the UK. The so called motorway is more like a national road in France. Pathetically, the whole UK motorway network is just a little over twice Belgium’s motorway network despite being a much larger country. It is time they invest a little more into it instead of patching unsafe roads. After driving for over 5 hours with a short stop at Stonehenge (a disappointing ripp off place not worth the stop – go to Carnac in Brittany where there are thousands of standing stones instead) we eventually arrived in Torquay.

Near the harbour in Torquay, it is FULL of junk fast food places so we had to walk back inland to find some more original places for our dinner. We found the Camelot wich is a kind of medieval style pub with a knight outside and some solid and heavy wood tables inside.

We ordered as starters the garlic and herb mushrooms (£4.95) and a deep fried brie (£5.45). As main meals we had two ‘holy grail’ with chips and vegetables (£8.95 each) which were pork belly. As drinks, we had a pint of Kronenbourg (£3.20), a lemonade (£1.20), and a still mineral water (£1.20).

The starters

Garlic and herb mushrooms

The garlic and herb mushrooms were very well done. In a nice creamy and garlicy sauce and served with some excellent chunks of fresh bread, this was an excellent starter that gave plenty of hope for the main course to follow.

Deep fried brie

The deep fried brie was very good: crunchy outside, soft inside with a nice taste and the chutney and salad went well with it.

The main courses

Holy grail with chips and vegetables

Another view of the holy grail with chips and vegetables

The holy grail with chips and vegetables made of pork bellies were huge. Unfortunately they were a little on the dry side with a lot of fat. The vegetables were good but the chips were not the best we have had. Still, for less than £9 it is a good deal if you are hungry.

Cost and conclusion: it was just over £33.90 and no “12.5% optional service charge” like in London. We like to have it already included in the meals, like in France and many other places. What’s wrong with London where it is becoming a tipping place like in most underdevelopped countries? Despite the not so convincing main course, the Camelot was still a good place to stop after a long drive and the starters were quite good. The prices are very reasonable. Recommended if you are in the area and want to avoid the fast food.