Portreath Arms — Restaurant in England

My wife and I visited this pub for an out of season, midweek, lunchtime meal. We chose it because of the many 5* reviews it has. The pub is well placed close to the harbour/beach and the restaurant area has pleasant, modern decor. The menu is relatively simple and we only had the main course with drinks. The "Catch of the Day" was salmon which we thought rather odd as it could only be farmed salmon. It was in any event unavailable. We chose the beer-battered fish (cod) and rustic chips (£12) and the seafood linguine (£16) – "prawns, squid and crab in a cream, white wine and chilli sauce with rosemary and garlic focaccia, parmesan and rocket." The portions were modest but well presented. The fish had crispy batter and the chips were from frozen. The linguini looked so much better than it tasted. It came with a piece of hot focaccia which was the best bit. It was actually linguini in a parsley sauce with 5 large, shelled prawns and 3 pieces of squid. There was no sign of any crab or chilli whatsoever. It reminded me of the boil in the bag parley sauce portions. I have since Googled 'seafood linguine' recipes to see if there was anything similar online to see if perhaps I had mistaken what the dish was supposed to look and taste like but nothing resembled the very poor attempt I was offered. I was dreadfully disappointed. My wife would give 3* for the fish and chips and 2* is generous for the linguini. The drinks were fine and the service was excellent.

Update in response to reply from Portreath Arms.

You are correct in that the waitress asked whether everything was OK and we said that it was. I have no issues whatsoever with the waitress. It is impossible to respond to the question by replying that your cook (deliberately not chef) fundamentally does not know how to cook seafood linguini and instead puts pasta in a parsley sauce with 3 pieces of squid and 5 prawns. I wouldn't ask for a discount, refund or another meal, I simply vote with my feet and make others aware of your limited talent. In all my reviews I give credit where it is due but, in my opinion, it wasn't due in your case. There are many other places in Cornwall that can do better although, as you point out, I think many local restaurants are getting away with dismal dishes despite having the world's best seafood on your doorstep. I am aware of the fish situation but the meal you presented me with will easily have cost you less than £3. It isn't good enough and borders on a Trade Descriptions Act issue. 3 stars was...

Booked 5 rooms for 3 nights to attend a wedding locally. We really struck gold booking with you as other wedding guests who had booked in other locations paid £40 per night more and didn’t get breakfast.|We arrived early after a long drive from London and received a warm welcome, we were too early to check in so had a few drinks in the bar waiting for our friends.|Every time we used the bar it was always very busy, not surprised as it has a great atmosphere.|When we did check in we were shown to our rooms and given milk for the tea/coffee station, which you can get fresh everyday, getting to the first floor was ok but then the stairs narrow and the steps got smaller, I do struggle with my mobility but there is a monks bench on the first floor where I stopped before going up to the second floor.|The rooms were all spacious and clean with a well supplied tea tray. Beds were soft and some towels provided.|Breakfast was from 7.30am and had a great choice of food, continental was cereal, fruit, yoghurt and plenty of replenished juices. Hot food was delicious with very fresh eggs, tasty sausages and the hogs pudding was so tasty especially given that I said I didn’t want it thinking it would be like black pudding 🙈|We were in room 6 which shares the bathroom with room 5 (my sister & partner were in that room) adjoining door wouldn’t open and looked like handles were just screwed in place as no hole for a key 😂 bathroom was cleaned daily and all other rooms have en-suites.|Every staff member we spoke to was polite and friendly.|11 of us had dinner in the restaurant on the Monday evening, we had pre booked the table as read it can get busy.|The fish was very fresh and we all enjoyed our food.|Of the 9 of us staying with you there is not one negative thing we can say, overall a perfect very reasonably...

Luxurious inside, and good value, in a good location in a lovely village. Food was good too. I think it has been recently redone, so probably suffers from most reviews being out of date. We stayed in two of the rooms upstairs without an en-suite. Shared bathroom looked small at first sight, but was fine, and shower was decent. Had a tiny bit of noise from pipes in the night, but it sounds like it was a problem being fixed and it didn't bother me. There is a popular/busy bar downstairs, but we heard nothing from it, despite it being a night to celebrate on, so nothing to worry about there, got a great night's sleep. Staff were lovely. All around solidly recommend the Portreath Arms.

Good cliff walks, good beach and good pastys and heavy cake from the bakery opposite in Portreath - it is a great place to go, and wasn't too busy when we were there. Highly underrated place. Porthtowan nearby is good for surfing, but less nice beach otherwise and busier. Plenty of things to do when it isn't beach...