Tuesday 30 July 2013

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 2


Rock can be an expensive place to eat but you really don’t want to head over to Padstow every time you feel hungry. If it’s big portions and good quality pub style food you are after then the Rock Inn is the place for you. You also have the added bonus of being able to look out over the beach and estuary as you eat from atop their balcony area.

I ordered a burger but what arrived can only be described as a small cow placed between two buns. This was accompanied by a small fields worth of chips and salad. Certainly not a light lunch but one of the best burgers I have had in ages and I didn’t need to eat for a fair while after having it.

Despite a busy lunch period service was also excellent. Members of staff were very friendly and the whole place had a nice relaxed atmosphere. I plan to head back at the earliest opportunity. 



Saturday 27 July 2013

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall: Part 1

Four places to Lunch in Cornwall
Cornwall has many excellent restaurants but they often fill up quickly or are a little too expensive for the everyday holiday goer. There are also a number of excellent and unique café’s to be found in the county. In this article you will find a handful of places that are either very difficult to get into at night or provide something a little different.

The Mermaid (St Ives)  


Set just away from the bustling harbour in St Ives is this rather charming French restaurant. Already well known in the area, the Mermaid can be difficult to get into by just walking in off the street. However, turning up for lunch usually allows you to sample the delights of its menu for a reduced price as long as you get there early.

On this visit I decided to try the chorizo chicken. I’m not a fan of chicken normally as I think it often comes across quite bland in many restaurants. At the Mermaid however, everything is done with a craft that means you are always going to get something filled with flavour. As expected the dish was excellent and the spicy sauce and chorizo complimented the chicken perfectly.

For desert I took a gamble and went for the Crème Brulee. Most of the time you can’t get a decent brulee outside of France but this was light and sweet and had been flavoured perfectly. It’s certainly the best example I have found away from French shores and if that isn’t something to be celebrated then I don’t know what is.






Thursday 25 July 2013

The Magic of Cesky Krumlov


Just across the Austrian border, in the Czech Republic lies the Unesco World Heritage site of Cesky Krumlov. Before heading here I’ll admit that I had never heard of the place before. Another rarity was that I hadn’t even done any research on the location and I really didn’t know what to expect. With this in mind it was with a real sense of delight that felt upon entering the imposing fairy tale fortress city. 

Entering under the aqueduct gate, I was presented with a wonderful town fashioned from narrow cobbled streets that climb, twist and fall. There is also a rapid river circling the city filled with canoeists paddling and drifting their way along the river.


Crossing the bridge over the white water I began to search out a route to the imposing castle that overlooks the town. As if bewitched, I followed the sound of pipe music and climbed up to the castle grounds. Guarding the entrance in a dry moat are three bears. As the temperature today was over thirty degrees they had wisely decided to sleep in the shade instead of being on guard duty. It’s worth pointing out that the bears had a huge enclosure and were mainly left to their own devices. There certainly wasn’t anyone forcing them to come out into the heat or do any kind of performance.

Once in the castle grounds it was time to enter the tower and climb the one hundred and fifty or so steps to ge the best view across the city. Most places in the town accept Euros but places such as the castle, tower and museum require Czech currency to enter. None are very expensive and a combined ticket for the museum and castle works out to be about four pounds.


Having enjoyed the views from the top it was time to find somewhere to eat. I stumbled across a place called Papa’s on the winding road back down to the town. Specialising in Italian food, the real treat here is to get a table by the river. Here you can watch the canoeists as they thunder by and shout up to you as they pass. 

As well as the good food and ambience there is a selection of rum based cocktails on offer (the Elderflower one is particularly good). Everything is also decent value with two meals with drinks costing around twenty Euros. Meals with beef as a main ingredient will cost somewhat more however.


There are also cocktail stalls around the town selling a variety of drinks for a stupidly cheap sum. On a warm day like it was it seemed a shame not to invest in a couple and sit down by the river for a while. Drinks drunk and the sun fading it was time to leave this enchanting town. I’d never heard of it before but it proved to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. You really should add it to your list of desired destinations as well.