The Gurnard's Head Hotel

Cornwall, England

Scurry up the coast from St Ives until you reach the tangerine-coloured haven that is the Gurnard’s Head. With enviable views of the Atlantic surf, it glows like a lighthouse attracting travellers weary from the sub-par pasties and sky-high prices often found throughout the rest of Cornwall’s tourist circuit. Here you can expect rustic, beamed interiors and a friendly mix of locals and their four-legged friends sipping locally brewed St Austell ale and chatting tide times. On our visit, the menu mixes fresh-from-the-boat seafood flavours and reared-around-the-corner meat with a dash of Eastern flair. Witness Thai-style mussels doused in a fragrant coconut broth laced with chilli and ginger. Tender pork belly is topped with tangy fennel kimchi and a slightly sugary barbecue sauce, while a wonderful cheeseboard arrives laden with Westcombe Cheddar and home-baked biscuits. The next morning, we awake to a herd of cows cropping the lush pasture below our window and the smell of a full Cornish drifting upstairs – heaven. Doubles from £135. gurnardshead.co.uk

Words by Tim Broad. Photo by Paul Massey.

This review was taken from the April 2020 issue of Food and Travel.

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