Four Boys — Restaurant in England

If you’re ever in Rock, Cornwall fancying a nice breakfast and consider going to Four Boys, do yourself a massive favour and go somewhere else. Maybe jump on the ferry across the estuary to Padstow, or into your car and go anywhere else. However, if your fancy is to visit a mediocre cafe, serving poorly cooked, greasy, tasteless food then look no further.

My wife, Ann and I went there this morning and were extremely disappointed sadly. A very nice waiter soon came over with a carafe of water and took our order, he was followed soon after by an equally nice waitress who came over with a blackboard which had the menu on, also to take out order. Very swift and attentive we thought considering the cafe was quite busy but not full. Ann had a bacon roll at £7.00, I have the full English at £17.00 wow, but it is Rock I suppose and it did have black pudding. After a wait of well over 30 minutes Anns very weak tea arrived, then our food and then my latte, then the cutlery after I’d had to ask for it and then the used bottles of sauces (brown for Ann and ketchup for me) Anns toasted and soft bacon roll contained 5 rashers of very greasy bacon which tasted of nothing whatsoever. My full English which I was anticipating to be quite substantial given it’s cost, consisted of a slice of toasted sourdough with an insipid looking sausage, 2 inch long chunks of black pudding also tasteless a very nice looking perfectly round egg, 3 rashers of the same tasteless bacon and had and a small glass ramekin full of overcooked baked beans which had been made so spicy that they overpowered everything. Presumably that was in an attempt to disguise the fact that everything else on the plate (except the egg which was quite nice) was just bland and devoid of flavour. Anns tea never gained any strength whatsoever and my coffee which was very nice indeed to be fair was very small considering it was latte and £3.50 per cup but I did have two, once I’d managed to attract the attention of a one of the now very inattentive waiting staff.

This is a recently opened cafe located in very much a ‘foodies’ environment with The Mariners and other very well regarded establishments for neighbours and Padstow with its fine cafes and restaurants opposite. It is a very mediocre cafe serving tasteless poorly cooked food at Michelin Star prices. Overall we feel we left Four Boys very underwhelmed and even more overcharged. Sorry, this review my be a bit harsh but at the prices they are charging, they deserve my honest opinion. In future I’ll be having my weekend treat breakfast at my usual haunt on the St. Kew Highway, just north of Wadebridge and very near a...

Our family of four experience was at odds with the 4.5 star average Google reviews. Service was woefully short of expectations. There is a training and etiquette issue which I’ll allude to below. I’ve been holidaying in Rock since the 70s and have seen several iterations of this cafe/restaurant. I can see what Four Boys is trying to do. Simplify the menu, serve quality food with a slightly upmarket edge and charge accordingly. I don’t think it’s overpriced but our meal for four (three adults, one child) was £145 before service with only one beer and 2 glasses of wine. Four Boys has a prime view and an opportunity to create a special experience. We would expect a somewhat casual beach vibe but we were effectively made to feel like an imposition with a 3pm booking at the end of the afternoon shift.

It got off to a bad start with the host’s welcome. Initially told we didn’t have a booking, then passed some menus and we seated ourselves. No smiles or warmth from the same person taking the drinks order. A complete lack of awareness about how she was projecting herself.

Drinks took 20 mins to arrive. Bottle of San Pellegrino water was handed to me unopened to pour ourselves. Focaccia bread was delicious, hake and chips tasty, burger possibly over dressed with sauce but was enjoyed. The crab tagliolini served on a plate swimming in sauce. It might be trendy but I don’t think it works. Mackerel very good, monkfish ceviche pleasant but not memorable.

It feels like the staff are holiday jobbers with limited experience - hence having to ask for plates to be cleared several times and there being a general lack of awareness or care to create a special experience.

We fed back our dissatisfaction after we were told the kitchen was now closed and we couldn’t order desserts. Why weren’t we told about kitchen timing restrictions when we booked or were seated? They did in fact come back and say we could have a dessert but by this time, we all wanted to leave.

To the owners of Four Boys - get a basic playbook for the staff. This just isn’t good enough on service. You clearly have a good chef which is the foundation to create a positive experience.

I should add service was waived on the back of our feedback at the end of the meal. Thank you but we’re more than happy to pay fair service when we walk away as happy customers. On this occasion...

We were really looking forward to lunch at Four Boys today but sadly it was a very poor experience from start to finish.

We arrived for our midday reservation to find the staff still eating their own lunch, looking embarrassed as they cleared it away. Our booking was then not on the system, despite being made the day before. After being seated, we waited over 10 minutes before anyone took a drinks order.

I informed the team of a lactose intolerance and the menu was adjusted, which was appreciated, but the food that followed was extremely disappointing. We ordered one scallop to share – three arrived. The pâté resembled a gala pie rather than a terrine. The half roast chicken came with a tiny splodge of mash on a side plate and carrots covered in butter, despite being told to omit them. The “garden salad” was simply lettuce leaves with vinaigrette. Most concerningly, the chicken was undercooked, with pink liquid coming out when cut into.

When we raised this, the dish was taken away but we were told by the kitchen that “this is how we do it”, which came across as dismissive and arrogant. At that point we declined any further food and left. To be fair, the food was removed from the bill and we paid for the wine only, but the apology felt half-hearted and the most junior staff member was left to handle the situation.

Overall, disappointing food, undercooked poultry, poor service and a lack of ownership from the kitchen. Sadly, we will not return and cannot recommend based on...