Rosevine Restaurant Guide

Olga Polizzi’s “wonderful hotel” – a whitewashed former yacht club – is the stuff of interior mag dreams, with its ultra-chic rooms and unbeatable seafront location on the edge of picturesque St. Mawes; it’s not all about show, though, with credit again this year for the “delicious food” (even if, according to one regular, “service is not what it once was”). Visitors can eat in the main dining room, with views of St Anthony’s Lighthouse, or more informal Dog’s Head bar.

2022 Review: The “lovely riverside setting” – complete with moorings and showers for passing yachties – is the main attraction at this inn, parts of which are believed to date back 800 years. But the low volume of feedback tells you something given the stunning position – it’s well-rated by reporters but doesn’t have to strive that hard given the place’s other virtues.

Richard Boon’s “slowly expanding West Country chain” – which emerged from his original venue, the Hub in St Ives, which opened 21 years ago – owes its success to doing simple things properly: namely “good burgers” from grass-fed Cornish beef. “Cheerful staff” and “fabulously crunchy onion rings” add to the appeal and it inspired a good degree of feedback in this year’s annual diners’ poll.

2022 Review: “Interesting food in an intimate dining room” makes Nigel Tabb’s former pub a “favourite local fine-dining venue”, making “great use of local Cornish ingredients”. It also helps that there’s a “small but well-constructed wine list which offers exceptional value”. It’s “a little difficult to find, away from the centre of Truro, but worth the effort”.

2023 Review: This “glorious spot” by the sea, close to the SW coastal path and with a front-conservatory to take advantage of sea views, was taken over by high-profile chef Michael Caines of Lympstone Manor in 2020. Quell hopes of any culinary fireworks, though – reports here didn’t hit the heights this year, with the experience too often “let down by chaotic service and pedestrian food”.

2023 Review: This “hidden gem just outside Truro” from husband-and-wife team Ben & Sam Harmer features “impressive” cooking, “exceptional service” and a “splendid outdoor eating area” for warmer weather. Ben’s classical training took in the kitchens of The Savoy and Le Gavroche – hence “the soufflé is impressive”.

“People come for the glorious view” over the Helford estuary at this “lovely pub”, in a three-century-old building – accessible either by car, in which case you risk battling for a space, or “on the foot ferry from the other side of the Helford river”; despite the “beautiful setting”, it’s no one-trick pony, and the “above-average pub food” includes “great local fresh fish but also a superb and original take on chicken schnitzel and vegetarian choices full of originality and flavour”.

“A must if you’re in Falmouth” – this “hipsterish bar” from Penryn’s Verdant craft brewery “serves very hoppy cloudy beers and some seriously good seafood, in all its forms from raw to frittered”. “Knowledgeable staff” are on hand to help you pair tapas-size plates with the brews on offer. “The cheese fritters are also stunning, light but flavoursome and perfect with that edgy beer!”

Hylton Espey and his wife Petronella are already winning awards for their hyper-seasonal approach with many foraged ingredients at their ambitious yearling, on Custom House Quay: a 30-seat venue presenting a seven-course menu for £75 per person. As yet, we’ve had too limited feedback for a definitive rating, but all reports to-date are ecstatic.

2022 Review: A “fabulous location with stunning views of the Fal Estuary” remains the main draw to this smart quayside brasserie, though its “good, varied menu” is “well presented and precisely cooked” too. Getting a window seat is something of a challenge – as is getting a spot for breakfast and brunch, so think of booking ahead.

2022 Review: This large harbourside chippy is well-liked locally owing to fish “so fresh it makes me want to go back again and again”. (For the fish-averse they also have a line in burgers, pies and sausages).

Tucked away near the high street, this “small plates” venue is the debut restaurant from Cornish-based chefs Harry Cartwright and Nathan Outlaw-trained Jay Brady, with a focus on seasonal local ingredients, and delivers “very good, Cornish-style tapas” in a modern (“acoustically reverberant”) setting. There’s also a six-course tasting menu.

A “buzzy atmosphere and great views” over Swanpool beach and nature reserve add to the charms of this cliffside venture; the “best scallops” are a feature of the menu, which has a strong focus on sustainability. Ratings for the food are a little middling overall, but the worst anyone has to say is that its popularity means some dishes soon run out – and that “starter portions were more like mains” (first-world problems, eh?).

Opening 4 June in 16th-century listed Carvynick House, in woodland between Newquay and Truro, a pub and restaurant from Adam Handling, of Frog in London and Ugly Butterfly in St Ives. Expect 'sustainable local luxury', using Cornish ingredients – including produce grown in its own garden.