The striking evolution in British food since the 1980s owes a lot to Cornwall. It was here during the dark days of the 1970s that many of the first wave of pioneering destination restaurants were set up, relying on the beauty of the local landscape and quality of the seafood to attract gastronomes from all over the world. Since then, the region's food has gone from strength to strength, and no holiday in Britain's best beach country would be complete without sampling some of its wonderful fish restaurants.
The Seafood Restaurant
Riverside, Padstow, Cornwall PL28 8BY
Rick Stein's influence over the once quiet fishing town of Padstow is so great that many locals now refer to the place as ‘Padstein'. He owns three other concerns in town, in addition to The Seafood Restaurant, but this is the one that put Cornwall on the world gastronomic agenda when it opened in 1975. Since then, Stein has been serving up consistently brilliant and adventurous seafood dishes.
A recently installed seafood bar in the middle of the restaurant allows diners to watch the chefs whipping up platters of oysters, langoustines, sushi and sashimi. The reshaping has also doubled the capacity of the dining room, and therefore slightly reduced the waiting time for a reservation.
Garrack Hotel
Burthallan Lane, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 3AA
Situated on a quiet hill, serenely detached from the hustle and bustle of St Ives, but still within appetite-raising walking distance, this restaurant-with-rooms is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of Cornwall's finest. Like many of the best restaurants, there's a strong emphasis on local, fresh produce, and most of the fish is caught within sight of the dining room (on a clear day at least, when you can see more than 20 miles across the Atlantic, along with fantastic views of Porthmeor Beach).
Unusually for Cornwall, there's a car park nearby, although walking – or at least booking a taxi – is recommended since the wine list is so good. Better still, book into one of the guest rooms for the night and enjoy breakfast too.
New Yard Restaurant
Trelowarren, Mawgan, Helston, Cornwall TR12 6AF
This increasingly popular and feted restaurant claims to source more than 90 per cent of its ingredients from within a 20-mile radius. It's handy for them, then, that the kitchens are located by the Lizard Peninsula, where wild herbs and organically farmed delicacies abound, and the oysters are said to be so good that the Romans had them shipped all the way back to Italy.
The New Yard serves a fine variety of game and locally-reared meat as well as seafood, but it is dishes such as the succulent, pan-fried, hand-dived scallops served up with fennel shavings; and carefully roasted monkfish, samphire and summer greens with lemon butter sauce that make critics' mouths water.
Restaurant Nathan Outlaw
St Enodoc Hotel, Rock, Cornwall PL27 6LA
The wonderfully-named Nathan Outlaw's first restaurant, The Black Pig, won a Michelin star within eight months of opening when the chef was aged just 25. ‘Our philosophy is to use local produce and keep the menu simple and very seasonal. We're not The Fat Duck, we're not trying to break the mould. We're progressing slowly,' Outlaw remarked at the time, which made everyone wonder what he'd achieve if he decided to move fast. Now we have the answer: Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Rock, which has just won its second Michelin star thanks to some of the best seafood dishes you're ever likely to taste.
The Lugger
The Lugger Hotel, Portloe, Truro, Cornwall TR2 5RD
This hotel boasts one of the most stunning locations in the southwest, in a conservation area which has a coastal path cutting right through the hotel grounds. The dining room looks down on Portloe's small and romantically old-fashioned fishing cove, and plenty of the catch landed here goes straight to The Lugger's kitchens. If you arrive early enough you can even see it being brought ashore. Dishes are served up with traditional simplicity and are invariably delicious - the menu changes frequently, depending on what gets caught in the net, but fragrant seafood chowder and bouillabaisse are frequent staples.
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