The Cornish Arms — Restaurant in England

A birthday meal to remember. A real surprise and a long hoped for treat to visit this acclaimed venue. The two of us were greeted nicely and offered any table of our choice. Clearly there is some type of booking arrangement going on that customers aren't supposed to understand. When booking we were told only tables available were at 6.30 for a two hour slot. That's fine but when being shown the dining room it was empty bar two tables. Anyway, that said, we made our choice, and a menu and drinks menu were delivered. We were offered water (still or sparkling) although we asked for tap water as this inevitably doesn't come in a bottle or with a charge! The menu covered pretty much every aspect of dietary requirements and potential allergies were explored with us by waiting staff. If you are looking for cheap and cheerful, go to a Hungry Horse, so our choice of this venue came with high expectations in view that it isn't cheap. With so much to choose from we decided to select our meal from the starters menu (so a mezze or tapas type dinner). We chose five plates, two to come first and the last three to come separately, later. Olives and sourdough. Kalamata olives with garlic and beautiful bread. Strong malt taste complimented soft and juicy olives. Excellent. Smoked mackerel pate with salad leaves and warm bread. Just smooth and lovely. Not too strong but full of flavour. Then we waited and waited. We waited for 35 long minutes for the next three dishes. No staff to question. Bare in mind the reservation was time bound but as no one else seemed to worry we enjoyed the location. The dishes (not complicated ones at all) then arrived. They were delicious and our staff made every effort to facilitate sharing plates. Scallops in hazelnut butter. Rich, beautifully prepared and presented and as a starter, three shells was sufficient. Sardines (chargrilled) with squash puree. Be advised, heads on and bones in, so not for squeamish. Sauce was lovely, puree smooth and a real compliment to the nicely grilled fish. Half a pint of prawns. Don't expect half a pint of peeled, defrosted, prawn cocktail type things. These were 5 shell on, big boys with the most delicious mayonnaise with sourdough bread. Totally and wholly recommend any of these dishes. Absolutely every mouthful had a different texture, flavour. A really fantastic taste experience. Dessert? We tried the sticky toffee pudding and asked that the clotted cream be change for vanilla ice-cream. It arrived with cream but this was quickly rectified. Again another triumph. Wonderful taste and it finished a tremendous culinary experience and a really enjoyable evening. The restaurant is dog friendly and although this will be a bonus for many, no restrictions on bark tendancies, size or cleanliness of the pet were apparently checked prior to arrival. Visit at your own risk if other people's dogs at or near your table is a problem. All in all food superb; front of house staff friendly and efficient, decor clean and bright and modern; toilets clean and modern; Menu options fairly extensive, value for money? I'd say, just about, BUT as many others have observed, 12.5% service charge? It takes it over the edge of sense in a market where hospitality is claiming it is struggling. Make your own minds up but do it with...

We always make sure a visit to the cornish arms Is a port of call in our visits down to Cornwall for the last 4 years. This is due to the excellent customer service with even better food (Especially the wings). And we have recommended this place to everyone we know who were visiting. So why only 2 stars? Well we visited 01/10/22 for an 8pm reservation. We arrived 15/20 minutes early. Gave them the name of the booking to be told we were not on the list. We showed the email confirmation and was told to head into the bar at the back why he tried to sort out the issue. 10 minutes later we were told they had a table ready. (Great news)! We Sat down at the table at 19:50 and gave the waiter named Rob our order. One of the party asked for gluten free meal and Robs attitude was very off from the start but came across even worse when asked for this main to be completely gluten free in contact. (Not that hard when the order was a steak). As time passed and people's orders who arrived after us were being served to them we asked the manager what had happened to our order as we had now been there 45 mins. The manager went over to the waiter Rob to find out what was going on. 5 mins later the manager apologised that the waiter had forgot to put the order through. And as a gesture of good will put our 1st drinks through for free. (Nice gesture)! Now Rob returned and never offered so much of an apology. Just said these things happen. And wanted to us to repeat our order and he would ask the kitchen to prioritise it. 1 hour and 10 minutes after sitting down the starters came out by a lovely young lady waitress who was so apologetic and took another round or drinks order. Something that Rob had not down why we sat over an hour at the table. Now the food was as lovely as always so no complaints there. The mains quickly followed after we finished. And my order was wrong. I notified The manager who quickly got it sorted. Again the food was great. How ever the service wasn't. So when we asked for the bill we told Rob that on this only occasion that I've ever visited the service charge of 12.5% would not be being paid based on his poor attitude from the start and waiting over an hour for the starters. And still not getting the mains right. This was not handled very well and unbelievably began to argue with my friend over it. We were all absolutely shocked. Even going as far as saying ' Well your first drinks were comped' like he was trying to make us feel almost guilty about it. I think he read the look on all our faces and said you know what forget about it and then asked us what the bill was without the service charge. We quickly paid up and left. But on the drive back instead of talking about how good the food was we were all talking on the shocking customer service we had. Very poor service and quite frankly I won't be recommending the cornish arms anymore based on this experience. Are they going to be affected by this review? Probably not. But they will with some of the staff members they have working there currently. The two stars I've giving it is 1 for the previous visits have always been amazing. And 2 the kitchen staff did a great job on this occasion as all the previous ones to ensure the...

LONDON PRICES ... VERY AVERAGE FOOD & SERVICE... along with my in-laws we visited last week to celebrate a birthday. For those who don't know, the Cornish Arms is not some quaint pub nestling above the sea where friendly locals welcome you warmly... it's an eatery pure and simple with many tables both inside and given the current restrictions .. under a marquee outside also.

On being seated we immediately noticed the menu blackboard which displayed Lobster as a choice. Given that Lobster was the main reason for the visit all was well with in our world so to speak. Order taken and anticipation levels high. Another waitress returned to the table some minutes later and simply stated "No lobster" in a very surly manner indeed. What? no lobster in the sea or this restaurant I pondered as the waitress made no follow up remark, apology or explanation given that our choice was clearly advertised on the blackboard. We were there for about ninety minutes and during that time I heard a couple next to us ordering the lobster as well clearly none was available but lobster was still advertised.

Having the wind taken out of our sails so to speak along with the surly waitress, my first impressions were to say the least, terrible. Our secondary choices were poorly presented and the two portions of skinny fries .... cold!! Curry was extremely bland and the poppadom accompanying it soggy. In fairness the steak and plaice which formed part of the order were acceptable.

Having eaten at a Stein restaurant in Winchester two weeks ago where the entire experience was totally amazing in every way, I was by now somewhat embarrassed at suggesting the venue to my in-laws in the first place.

Why did I not complain at the time ? because my in-laws were clearly displaying polite stoicism which as I discovered later was because they did not wish to voice their concerns at the time as this was their treat which my wife and I were paying for. Also, I did not wish to spoil in any way whatsoever what was a very special day for my mother in law whose 90th birthday it was so I have taken the opportunity to do so now.

The final bill came very close to £200 which metaphorically stuck in the throat a bit given our experience. Too many people... and what looked like to few staff to cope. It should be said that the majority of staff were delightful and very polite and courteous.

So there you have it... an honest appraisal of my recent visit which you can either take note of or discard accordingly. I am not a competitor in the catering industry have not met any of the Stein family, have no grudges to bear and am not a Cornwall resident with any misgivings about the spread of the Stein Empire in the area. For all of you cynics out there ... no I am not seeking any compensation in any way. It's what happened and if you choose to visit you are at least armed with another view before you tuck into your lobster ... oh sorry .. if indeed there is...