Pub with rooms in Port Gaverne, Cornwall
Curator's notes:
Rooms from
15 doubles: £130
Good to know
All credit cards accepted
Private & alfresco dining
Limited parking
Dog stay £15
Port Isaac
Just a 5-minute walk up the hill (or take the free tuk-tuk in summer), the pretty fishing village is famous for being the film location for the TV series Doc Martin.
Pilchards Cafe
Perfect for morning coffee or a light lunch following a coast path stroll, Pilchards thrives as an all-day eatery from May until September.
Walk the coast path
Savour the exhilarating and challenging 6-mile cliff-top walk to the magnificent beach at Trebarwith Strand.
Upstairs, along the warren of corridors lined with attractive paintings lie fifteen spruced up and comfortable bedrooms, all individually refurbished without losing their traditional quirky character.
Expect to find old beams, nooks and crannies, antique furnishings and a seaside feel to the decor - fish motive wallpaper, porthole mirrors, rope lamps and the odd toy boat. Cossetting extras include Sky TV, Nespresso machines, fresh coffee, homemade biscuits, and Molton Brown toiletries, slippers and bathrobes in fresh, simply furnished bathrooms. The best room affords magnificent cove and sea views.
Ex-Nathan Outlaw chef James Lean knows a thing or two about cooking fresh fish and seafood so look to the ever-changing chalkboard menu for mackerel hooked from the rocky cove, or the best crab brought in from Jim's boat, just 50 yards from the kitchen door.
Naturally, given the coastal location, menus focus on the freshest local fish and seafood, yet they evolve with the seasons, using the best Cornish produce available and featuring game from local shoots in the autumn. Expect, also, well-cooked pub classics like cider-battered haddock with hand-cut chips and crab mayonnaise, and sausages, mustard mash and red onion gravy.
Typically, tuck into a delicious salt cod and langoustine scotch egg with curry sauce and lime pickle, then follow with whole roast plaice with anchovy and tarragon butter, leaving room for dark chocolate sponge with espresso ice cream. At lunch, try the ploughman's board of Cornish ham and cheese. You're spoilt for choice at the bar - four ales on tap, farm cider, 40 gins, 30 malt whiskies, and an interesting, eclectic list of wines (20 by the glass).
