To celebrate our engagement, my father offered to take us to a highly renowned and recommended restaurant in the town of Penzance upon our return for the festive period. Being an employee of the restaurant, one of my friends had spoken of The Bay, and with her sister cooking in the kitchen, who was I to argue? The Bay it was!
Having survived the day on relatively meagre offerings (compared to the hoards of food I'd wolfed down on previous days)- a couple of slices of toast and a turkey and ham sandwich, I was quite ready to indulge in some fresh, local seafood.
We began by sitting in the lounge, simply perusing the menu. We were then offered drinks and some appetisers of prawns with aoli- a simple sample of the quality of the food yet to come. The toast was crisp, the prawns fresh and juicy with the tangy mayonnaise dressing to complement.
Upon ordering, the manager informed us, to our surprise, that my lovely friend, Jenna, had bought us a bottle of Prosecco to go with our meal- a jolly good start to the night!
We were ushered through to the restaurant where we were seated by the window. We shared a toast over the tall, bubbling glasses of fizz and looked forward to our courses to come. Crusty onion and poppy seed bread was served to us from a wicker basket- in keeping with the nautical interior, and we readily ploughed through the dish of Cornish butter, lavishing every corner and crust.
The evening menu was very good value for money, £24 for 2 courses or £29.95 for 3. To start I had pan-fried south coast scallops, butternut squash ravioli with a hazelnut and shallot dressing (paying a small supplement for the privellege). The contrasting flavours and textures between the plump, juicy, scallop and the nutty, crunchy toasted hazlenuts was superb. The ravioli was somewhat lost with its delicate flavours and velvety texture amongst the crunch of the green micro-salad.
For my main course I had pan-fried free range West Country Duck, chicory with proscuitto ham, pickled plum and red wine jus alongside panache of vegetable and potatoes boulangere. I asked for my Duck medium, and it was cooked to perfection. Pink, plump and juicy with crisp, hazel coloured flesh. The wonderful jus that accompanied it was bitter-sweet. The plums provided the acidity which cut cleanly through the rich, dark meat of the duck. Simply divine!
The vegetables were al dente- as they should be, and the potatoes were rich and creamy, as to be expected.
All in all, the meal was fabulous, the only thing that was noticeably absent, was the presence of my friend, so I could thank her for the unexpected bottle of bubbly!
My advice- book it (if you're in the area of course!)
We began by sitting in the lounge, simply perusing the menu. We were then offered drinks and some appetisers of prawns with aoli- a simple sample of the quality of the food yet to come. The toast was crisp, the prawns fresh and juicy with the tangy mayonnaise dressing to complement.
Upon ordering, the manager informed us, to our surprise, that my lovely friend, Jenna, had bought us a bottle of Prosecco to go with our meal- a jolly good start to the night!
We were ushered through to the restaurant where we were seated by the window. We shared a toast over the tall, bubbling glasses of fizz and looked forward to our courses to come. Crusty onion and poppy seed bread was served to us from a wicker basket- in keeping with the nautical interior, and we readily ploughed through the dish of Cornish butter, lavishing every corner and crust.
The evening menu was very good value for money, £24 for 2 courses or £29.95 for 3. To start I had pan-fried south coast scallops, butternut squash ravioli with a hazelnut and shallot dressing (paying a small supplement for the privellege). The contrasting flavours and textures between the plump, juicy, scallop and the nutty, crunchy toasted hazlenuts was superb. The ravioli was somewhat lost with its delicate flavours and velvety texture amongst the crunch of the green micro-salad.
For my main course I had pan-fried free range West Country Duck, chicory with proscuitto ham, pickled plum and red wine jus alongside panache of vegetable and potatoes boulangere. I asked for my Duck medium, and it was cooked to perfection. Pink, plump and juicy with crisp, hazel coloured flesh. The wonderful jus that accompanied it was bitter-sweet. The plums provided the acidity which cut cleanly through the rich, dark meat of the duck. Simply divine!
The vegetables were al dente- as they should be, and the potatoes were rich and creamy, as to be expected.
All in all, the meal was fabulous, the only thing that was noticeably absent, was the presence of my friend, so I could thank her for the unexpected bottle of bubbly!
My advice- book it (if you're in the area of course!)
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