On one of our recent date nights, we headed down to Marazion to try out Ben’s Cornish Kitchen.
If you hadn’t noticed from all the restaurant posts and reviews I’ve been doing lately, Alex and I made a list a while ago of all the eateries in Cornwall we’d like to visit, and have slowly been getting through the list on our date nights.
Ben’s Cornish Kitchen is in the top 10 for restaurants in Cornwall, so naturally we wanted to add it to the list. Plus, it’s based in one of my favourite Cornish towns – Marazion – famous for its causeway to St. Michael’s Mount!
The restaurant itself is tucked away on Marazion’s high street, and with its cosy atmosphere and bare stone walls, it has a rustic, bistro feel. It’s won several awards and is mid-priced, with 2 courses costing £27 or 3 courses for £33; I personally really liked the minimal menu, and the way it was laid out with wine recommendations next to each dish – I hate being overwhelmed and unable to choose!
For starters, Alex and I had the same – a delicious seafood dumpling. Unfortunately I did have to pick the coriander off… I’m not a massive fan of it and found it quite overpowering but the dumpling itself and the sauce was great!
My main course was amazing! I had the halibut with a potato rosti base and tenderstem broccoli. The sauce with capers and garlic was so good too – I could have eaten it twice over.
Meanwhile Alex had duck, which looked great but once again I think he was rather jealous of my main course! When will people learn that the fish dishes are always the best??
Although we started the meal saying we would only have 2 courses, we couldn’t help ourselves! Yes we were already full but I’m a sucker for finishing with something sweet, so I ordered the salted caramel tart with chocolate sorbet, and Alex ordered the Creme Catalan with rhubarb and a raspberry sorbet.
Funnily enough, we both ended up swapping our sorbets around! My chocolate one went much nicer with his vanillary dish, while the raspberry complimented my salted caramel tart and helped make sure it wasn’t too sickly.
We had a lovely evening and I’d definitely recommend going for a special occasion or birthday, especially in Summer when you can finish the evening walking along the promenade with the spectacular castle view!
Book a table and view a sample menu on the Ben’s Cornish Kitchen website.
As the landlord of what used to be Ben’s Cornish Kitchen, you are invited to see the filthy state he left it in upon his sudden liquidation without notice. The upstairs bathroom has been ripped out; grease-coated surfaces and broken ovens, and an extractor system full of dirt.
The upstairs flat which we let him have to increase his seating space was supposed to have been returned to its previous condition. Contrary to his word, signature, and other promises, he has left what had been a new flat in an unrentable condition.
I can understand someone going broke, but not in his case. Even stacks of empty wine bottles are piled up outside for me to discard.
What a let down from someone I had trusted. No character and no hope of future success with this kind of behaviour.