The Dolphin Tavern — Restaurant in England

I was just in time for the close of service (or play!) on Wed eve 27Aug 25! The staff were very welcoming and I quickly ordered. There was an excellent choice, but I went for the whole plaice with crab and tarragon butter, served with crushed new potatoes and a range of green vegetables 😋 All of it was delicious and beautifully presented. I accompanied this by a lish Shirley Temple cocktail of ginger ale, lime etc. ! This was recommended by the very charming Bar Manager, Joe. For dessert I selected the Sicilian lemon tart with a berry compote! Wünderbar! I followed this up with a Flat White coffee . After my meal I chatted with Joe and Thomas, the latter a very knowledgeable and kind young man. We had a diverse range of conversations and all good fun. It was approaching closing time so the guys could be a little more relaxed as they cleaned and cleared up. We were later joined by the very talented Chef, Nathan, who taught me a lot about cuisine. Not only is he an outstanding chef, but he is also incredibly interesting, knowledgeable and is someone who also listens carefully and values the opinion of others, even if he disagrees! I learned much and we shared many similar views, particularly about politics! His historical knowledge, in particular, was surprisingly wide! He must've been reading and learning for years! Most impressive. All the above meant that I had a superb and unexpected evening of delicious food, charming company, fun and laughter and a large increase in my historical knowledge! Thanks to you all, particularly Joe, when he had so much to do at the end of the night! Wow! That was a brilliant introduction to Penzance. I'll be back, as Arnie once said, but not quite in the same...

My wife and I are in Cornwall helping my very infirm father. We are very regular visitors to Cornwall currently.||We have our regular haunts for food but we wanted to check options for new places to take dad.||Tripadvisor suggested that this place is really good. We have just tried it this evening. We had not booked ! We managed to squeeze in. We saw others turned away - so book !!||The menu is not huge but it is varied. Our waitress has personal experience of needing to vary a menu item due to allergies and diabetes etc. so when my wife asked for several changes she accepted it with precision. ||I had the belly of pork. Absolutely delicious. The small rosemary dusted roast potatoes were a delight. The pine nuts and other extras tolled into the pork added to the flavour. ||My wife got her burger as ordered, complete with LOTS of cheese and a plentiful supply of onion rings in place of the several deleted items.||She had also ordered a side of macaroni cheese. The burger was excellent. The onion rings sounded excellent and were apparently perfect and the chips were 'bang on'.||The macaroni cheese - well, one mouthful and she sat back smiling !||Service was very friendly and relaxed but efficient and speedy. ||The building is very old. There are several steep steps up into the building. Dad will not manage that. That will apply to anyone in a wheelchair or unsteady on their feet.||In dry weather such people can partake of the excellent food and atmosphere in the small collection of tables at the front. ||Go again ? I have...

The Dolphin Tavern was everything we hoped for and a lot more. After a rough journey we came to drop our bags and wait for check in a few hours later. Rather than send us back out into the hailstones the team brought us in, sat us down in a warm room; gave us a coffee and told us they'd get the room ready for us. One hour later we we were in - they were just so kind to us. So, the room - it was amazing - warm, bright, spotlessly clean with a new ensuite. The room had a great view of the harbour. The bed was just super comfy. The food - we decided to eat downstairs in the pub and glad we did, the food was great and the service from the front of house team was superb - 10/10. Next morning breakfast was more of the same - delicious. We loved our stay here - the team working there are just superb - the service just felt genuinely and sincerely friendly from every single member of the team. The pub is great and the rooms upstairs just a delight. This is a 10/10 place to stay, well located near the harbour, great pub, great rooms, great food , superb service....