The Cornish Arms, St Merryn, Cornwall

We spent a week in Cornwall recently, in a little bay (Constantine Bay) just outside of Padstow which was lovely. During our stay, we enjoyed two great meals at The Cornish Arms - a refurbished old pub that has been given the infamous Rick Stein treatment.

It’s a real mix of modern and traditional inside, the main restaurant side veering more on contemporary, whereas the more traditional bar area, where we enjoyed one of our meals, being slightly more laid back and informal. The staff here were friendly, knowledgeable and attentive on both visits.

On our evening visit, I enjoyed a ‘special’ Goan Chicken Curry that came with fluffy basmati rice and a homemade poppadom and was to die for. Fragrant, with a dash of fresh heat but light too, just lovely. Glen had the devilled kidneys on toast - not something he would usually opt for but he said it was really well executed, perfectly tender and seasoned offal with an earthy richness served with woody, local mushrooms on a generous sized toasted doorstep, with a green salad on the side. He enjoyed it so much, he had it again when we returned.

Devilled Kidneys on Toast, The Cornish Arms

On our second jaunt, knowing the portion sizes were generous but wanting to sample more from the menu, we shared a starter - salt cod brandade, a rich, fishy paste, immense served with toast topped with a homemade olive tapenade - a really great combination.

Salt Cod Brandade with Tapenade Toast, The Cornish Arms

I opted for the fishcakes for my main course - made of cod and a little potato, and coated in breadcrumbs. They had a good hint of aniseed tarragon about them, which I enjoyed and which complements fish so well, and were topped with a delicious chunky salsa verde. These came with chips and salad and this was exactly the kind of hearty, homemade pub food you would expect and that was extremely well received on the Saturday lunchtime when the weather outside was chilly.

Fishcakes with Salsa Verde, The Cornish Arms

Among our group – all of the dishes on both visits, were well received. One included the steak and ale pie served with chips (you could have had mashed potato), broccoli and a thick, glossy, beefy gravy. The meat packed out the pie generously and was beautifully tender - another great dish enjoyed by two in our group.

Steak and Ale Pie, The Cornish Arms

A thick cut ham, egg and chips, 6oz hamburger, scampi in a retro basket and a lamb karahi all went down well. The children enjoyed homemade fish fingers, with chips and peas – excellent quality and a decent sized portion for children too.

We also enjoyed some fantastic desserts here, from the local Cornish ice cream, a beautiful sunken chocolate cake, a gorgeous carrot cake served with crushed walnuts and special mention to the sticky toffee pudding and the most insanely good cheesecake cheesecake served with a salted caramel that would make grown men weep. Delicious!

Our meal at The Cornish Arms on the day that there were eight adults and 2 children eating, came in at just over £200.00 which given the quality of the food, the comfort of the surroundings and the friendly staff offers really good value for money. The Cornish Arms has a beautiful garden overlooking the picturesque Cornish countryside of St Merryn, we sadly didn’t get the opportunity to take advantage of it, but I would imagine in warmer months, this is a truly prime spot.

The Cornish Arms strikes that true balance of being a credible restaurant offering good-quality, honest, home-cooked food, whilst holding its’ own as a local pub offering a wide selection of local ales and ciders and with a roaring log fire. It’s a great venue and we’ll be sure to return if visiting Cornwall again.

Rafferty's Cafe Wine Bar, St Merryn, Cornwall

During our recent week-long stay in Padstow, Cornwall we enjoyed a really beautiful traditional Sunday lunch at Rafferty's Cafe Wine Bar, St Merryn, which was in very close proximity to where we were staying in Constantine Bay.

There were six adults and two children and they squeezed us in on enquiring, just about, as the last sitting of the afternoon. We wanted to try the restaurant as we’d had a couple of good experiences, on returning to Penrich late in the evening after a full day of sight-seeing, with the takeaway outpost of Rafferty’s Pizzeria, the sister restaurant.

We were welcomed by a friendly and knowledgeable waitress and the continued warmth throughout our meal from the staff was appreciated, especially with our young charges (plus two sleeping children).

The menu was small but rather well formed - I chose the fish tostada to begin which were really tasty - sharp pickled red onion with a little refreshing tomato salad pepped up with coriander complemented the delicately flavoured soft white fish (cod so I believe) and the satisfying crunch from the baked tortilla made for a very pleasing start to the meal.

Fish tostada, Rafferty's

Another appetiser among our group was the patatas bravas - spicy tomato sauce coated fried potatoes which went down well with several around the table.

Patatas Bravas, Rafferty's Wine Bar

For our main, we, all of us, opted for the traditional Sunday roast dinner - a mixed sirloin of Cornish beef with pork belly and we were glad we did.

Presented to the table on two big china serving dishes, everything looked incredibly appealing dished up this way and meant we could each take a little (or in some cases, a lot) of what we fancied. The sirloin was just a little pink in the centre, which was perfect for our group and the pork was lovely and tender to the bite.

Roast Sirloin of Cornish Beef and Pork Belly at Rafferty's Wine Bar

Duck fat roast potatoes were deliciously crisp on the outside with fluffy middles and the perfect amount of seasoning and light and fluffy homemade Yorkshire puddings to soak up the deliciously beefy gravy were very welcome too.

The vegetable selection was fantastic - a rich and creamy cauliflower cheese, roasted heritage carrots of many hues and that were deliciously sweet, curly kale that still had some bite and not the sometimes-over-wilted excuse for greens that comes from overseeing this many covers and a particular favourite of mine, roasted beetroot that was rich, earthy and beautiful in both colour, appearance and taste, just wonderful. Being the only person in our household that likes beetroot this was a real treat.

The children's mini roast dinners came up already portioned and were a good size.

The desserts were equally enchanting, simple but gorgeous Cornish ice creams for the girls. I had a delightful vanilla panna cotta with the perfect amount of both sweetness and wobble plus plenty of pretty specks of vanilla. This was served with a homemade shortbread biscuit and some balsamic glazed strawberries.

Vanilla Panna Cotta, Raferty's Wine Bar

Another dessert was the chocolate torte served with Cornish clotted cream which also went down very well.

Chocolate Torte, Rafferty's Wine Bar

The three course option for adults was priced at £23.50, or two courses for £18.50 which I thought, given the top notch quality of the food, provided excellent value for money. Children's mini roasts were £6.50. Our entire meal for the eight of us came in at just under £200 before service - and was well worth the price.

If we venture back to this area of Cornwall again then we would return in a heartbeat to Rafferty's for the excellent food and warm, welcoming service.

Glen, Bridget and I enjoyed a lovely late afternoon family walk from Constantine Bay to Treyaron Bay to walk off the excesses of Rafferty's which proved absolutely delightful. Cornwall really is beautiful.

Constantine Bay

Fun on Treyarnon Bay Beach, Cornwall

Trayarnon Bay, Cornwall