Rick Stein's Cookery School — Restaurant in England

It is with a heavy heart that I write this review having seen such a lot of Rick on TV. He has talked a lot about "good food" and "good service" but how does it really stack up?

I gave his Padstow chip shop a try on a super hot day in July with my family for a last day holiday treat. We had avoided the typical standard food on offer in a lot of places in Cornwall and kept the pennies for a nice meal. Sadly the meal was pretty average and service pretty poor. We stood and waited for ages for a table due to slow staff. Then eventually we ordered again slowly. Asking for Starters first of course!

They forgot the jug of water and when we asked the  Manager she seemed put out when I called her back to order a 2nd beer for £5. They seemed to want to rush around but produced not much. They only have a few tables to serve.

Some time later..... (over half an hour) starters arrived which two were wrong and had to be sent back. To arrive instantly again! Clearly sat there cooked already!  Her eyes actually rolled!

Salad on starters pretty poor and dry long since cut cucumber. The dressing had a huge amount of sesame and not much soy. You don't put thet much oil on a deep fried, battered scallop of course. Sadly both were overcooked!  The dressing needed an emulsifier. Also £10 for three scallops is a touch steep Rick unless they are tip top.

Oyster battered starter tasted good but same salad and dressing issue was there. Shame really.

3 fish and chip meals. They forgot the tartar and mushy peas for one even though it costs extra. Fish was very good and nice size. Chips were dry and not crispy also dry inside. I think they had sat a long time and been left. Not sure about dripping cooked?

Dressed crab special. Sad as at £15 it was very salty and lacked "dressing". Needed more seasoning not salt!

So Rick sadly not the best and we will not be coming back a 2nd time I think.

Also the toilet although nice inside had not been checked all afternoon and between time of arrival and leaving the same cling ons were still there and bins full. You need to ensure your toilets are on point for all customers. Many people went in and out and tried to flush that one away and failed.

They did at least knock off £10 for the poor scallops but I think they can do a lot better overall. It was really not very busy and the staff are not very sharp. The service slow and food just chip shop pretty much but done in an average way. Shame as we were really looking forwards to it.

Need to look back to Keith Floyd for more...

Posting on behalf on Mr Geoffery Smethurst who visited the restaurant & Hotel last year with his wife. Geoff travelled from Doncaster with his wife Joyce. They are both elderly & Joyce has Dementia which has restricted her speech. Geoff had dreamt of this stay for many years & knowing last year was likely to be the last time they would travel, decided the time was now. They arrived by taxi to the Seafood hotel (he thinks it was called) just around the corner from the restaurant & was greeted immediately by the lovely staff. They arranged for Geoff & Joyce to be assisted to the restaurant for their booking. Geoff is a seafood addict so was looking forward to trying Rick Steins lobster. A year later, Geoff still raves about it been the best lobster he's ever eaten & asked me to help him write this review to let everyone know. This trip was indeed the last trip they made together as both their health has massively declined since. He'd like to thank the staff at both the restaurant and the hotel for ensuring they had the best few days in Padstow & him getting the opportunity to...

We attended the one day Classic Seafood Dishes Cookery Course on the 28th of May. Nick was our head chef, instructor and Aarran was sous chef. The day was an amazing, fully packed day of presentation and participation of creating our own dishes (which are regulars on the menu at The Seafood Restaurant). Fundamentals such as how to select, filet and prepare fish and shellfish were meticulously taught as well as filleting and dressing our own fish. We created some intricate sauces such as beurre noisette and hollandaise. We certainly didn't leave hungry by the end of the day and generous amounts of wine were given to compliment each course that we prepared. The freshest and highest quality of ingredients were used and Nick gave some very interesting insights into restaurant operations. Our cooking stations were beautifully designed and equipped with the very best pots, pans and tools. The views were breathtaking. In summary, the course was interesting, entertaining and delicious. This was a bucket list item that exceeded my...