please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
No changes since my last visit (thank goodness) except that the range of beers last Saturday was Tinners Ale (aka St Austell''s Trelawny), Sharp''s Zennor Mermaid (aka Special), Skinners Porthleven and Bays Devon Dumpling on handpull with Cornish Crown''s Helter Skelter on font. Bar staff can be a little uninterested but probably because of so many tourists passing through the doors (many of whom seem to get caught out by there being no all-day food).
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A Cornish Pub as it should be.
The first time I visited I knew as soon as I walked in the door it was going to be good.
Good beer, friendly staff, and everybody talking to everybody else.
I cannot remember what draught beer I had, but I worked my way along the bar
and back.
They even have the bus times on the wall.
So if you are in the St Ives area
give it a go.
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Amazed at negative comments. Went in at lunchtime twice whilst on recent walking holiday. Beer, food and service all very good, but I agree the prices are highish, but this seems common in this part of Cornwall.
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I agree with all the comments about the idyllic location especially if the weather is good enough to sit outside and one can soak up the view of the sea and the old church. Equally as impressive is the single bar with its low ceiling and wonderful feeling of history.
However like may pubs in idyllic spots that are well and truly on the 'list' of places to see and, given its proximity to St Ives, it doesn't have to try too hard knowing full well that another punter will be along 'dreckly' . So if you fancy indifferent service and grossly inflated priced drinks.....pint of 'Tinners ale', (ie St Austell's Trelawney), half a lager and a lemonade for the princely sum of £8.15...all of which were flat, then pop in.
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Tiny, atmospheric pub in beautiful village. Small garden and outside terrace suppliments the narrow single bar. Plenty of diners and drinkers (mostly hikers). Three ales were available, Tinners Ale (brewed for the pub by St. Austell but is most likely Trelawny re-badged, Sharp's Own and Zennor Mermaid. Both the Sharp's beers were fine. Hasn't changed much over the years.
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Superb building, and should be a superb pub - it used to be. Seems to have become a gastropub. Of course, at our most recent visit we may have been witnessing an anomalous situation, but that was the impression it gave us.
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Having done a strenuous coastal path walk, I enjoyed good pints of Sharp's Own and Zennor Mermaid (aka Sharp's Special). The Tinner's Best sadly ran out as they started to pull a pint for me. Maybe the Sunday lunch brigade who were starting to arrive as we started walking had drunk it all.....As the local CAMRA website describes it, an ancient and timeless granite village pubs close to the cliffs and, as previous reviewers have said, difficult to imagine what more I would want from a pub. Loved the tables made out of old barrels! The nearby church and museum are also well worth visiting.
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A lovely old pub with great atmosphere. A good range of well kept beers and ciders (some local). Friendly, efficient and enthusiastic staff. A varied menu with Delicious, hearty meals, cooked and presented beautifully for a very reasonable price. In short, this is everything that I am looking for in a country pub. Keep up the great work!
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Only had time for one pint but this is the kind of place that you'd be happy to stay in until the early hours
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Tries too hard. Nice enough food, but you don't have to offer foie gras with virtually everything on the menu. Maybe you do to justify the prices, who knows. Not bad all in all, but not as fancy as it would like to be, nor as homely as it's setting suggests. I'd drive right past and continue to the Gurnard's Head every time...
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Well kept local ales and wonderful food in a stunning setting - don't really know what more you could ask for from a pub?
I wouldn't say the bar-staff are the most friendly I've ever encountered, but are very efficient, and certainly handled our large group without any fuss. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the setting. Next time I'm the area I'll definitely go back.
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Characterful and ancient pub serving good quality but overly cold Sharp's beers. Snooty manageress didn't help with what little atmosphere there was. Sat outside and watched a series of Chelsea tractors being driven past the "No Entry" sign only to reappear shortly after!
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I really dont know what some of these strange people are on about with their reviews!!!????!!! my partner and i once again visited this pub and found the ales to be spot on, the range of food amazing and intresting. what other pub do you know that sells foie gras with chutney or black truffle risotto or cornish rose veal. and once again i must say to everyone, that this is a proper pub, doing proper food and i love it.
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Fine old traditional pub, in a picturesque village setting, surrounded by glorious Cornish countryside. The interior houses a fabulous old bar.
The quality of the Zennor Mermaid / Sharps Special and the Doombar was OK, but with my usual complaint of being a little too cold.
Unfortunately, a rather snooty and supercilious woman behind the bar, serving us. I don�t know whether this was the same person that �iandsmith� referred to below, but there does seem to be a continuing theme of staff with an attitude problems running throughout reviews.
The much lauded beer garden is indeed a real suntrap, but depending where you are forced to sit you may end up gazing adoringly at the pub and the backpacker hostel car parks! Incidentally, parking may be a problem. The pub car park is tiny and there is only room for half a dozen or so cars on the road outside. The enterprising hostel next door charges a pound to park there. A little cheeky I thought.
Despite some concerns, worth a return visit.
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Nice old unspoilt pub attacting regular walkers. The beers we tried were all on form. The barman did have an argentina football top on though !!!
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I visited this pub 8 years ago and found it very friendly with good beer and great cake for sale at the bar. I went back again thinking to find much the same today put oh how times have changed. Four tables taken in the bar with only a small child making an attempt at an atmosphere ever body else in silence and no wonder the barman was rudeness itself. he could hardly hide his contempt for his customers. Good beer Tinners would have tried the Mermaid but could not face the barman again. Oh and no cake
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Loved this pub really good food not trying to be anything it is not. loved the evening we had there. Menu was limited as they don't do many customers in winter which is a real shame as the menu was still exciting fresh game birds ,real stews, duck,venison and a veggi option. Must see pub.
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Visited once - not a member of bar staff to be seen, and two punters sat there saying nothing. A massive disappointment - much better pubs to be had in Pendeen / St Just.
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I know this idyllic, famous and historic pub very well, and it's my favourite pub in the world, but in November 2008 my visit was ruined by a rude and ignorant barmaid. I thought I was being filmed secretly when the sandwich board outside said food was being served, only to have her say, "Can't you smell the wet paint? Kitchen's closed." But she was no joke. Having been persuaded to stay by my partner, the next people to wander in were treated to, "Didn't you see the fridge being delivered?" It really isn't funny to treat people this way.
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Lovely pub with a superb garden . Really enjoyed relaxing with the good ale on offer. We were too late for food that afternoon, but could not fault the beer.
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We ate, drank and stayed here in April mid-week out of season and this pub won hands down out of the 7 B&B's we stayed in that week. The beer was excellent especially the Zennor Mermaid, another tick off the list. Food was great, a superb menu, not sheets of A4, well one sheet of A4 actually, and all excellent quality. We managed to stay awake to experience the live folk music, when they loosely arrived around 9pm, and rounded off the evening with great accomodation in the pubs own B&B, the White House, which was pure luxury after 8 miles hiking from Pendeen.
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Nice food but horrendously expensive for the size of the portions. My friend ordered gammon steak (I think he paid around �12) and that's gammon steak is what he got... no vegetables. You have to pay extra for that!
A nice place, lovely beer garden but felt utterly ripped off
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Nice pub, very cosy and a welcome destination after a day on the SWCoastal Path. Ale and food good, reasonably friendly (although the barman was unexpectedly surly and sarcastic for such a nice place.) Worth the walk from St. Ives.
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A higgledy-piggledy pub in a beautiful, tiny Cornish village that nestles in the countryside about four miles west of St Ives. Serves real local Cornish ales, the Zennor Mermaid being a fine example. Friendly staff, a good sized garden and although the menu wasn�t particularly inspiring, it does a delicious Ploughman�s with Cornish cheese. It even has a pool table! Well worth a visit if you�ve been coastal walking or just driving by admiring the beautiful scenery.
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The perfect conclusion to a Cornish cliff top walk. Great little bar: good beer; reasonable food; good ambience. Tourist places sometimes get a bit complacent but this place is everything you'd want.
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Many happy memories of Cornish holidays here. A lovely pub serving good real ale. Perfect for a conclusion to a cliff-top ramble.
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A lovely cosy pub on a cold, windy winter's night.
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Great country pub in a picturesque tiny village. Handy for coast path walkers, 1km off the path and the only refreshments in the area. Well kept St Austell ales, great food, wonderful warm welcome. Gets very busy in high summer, but you can also be alone in the bar some nights off-season.
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Excellent pub with good St Austell beer and fine fresh food. We arrived in pouring rain but we were well looked after, as were our dogs.
Peter McGuffie - 21 Oct 2004 14:51 |
