The Square At Porthleven — Restaurant in England

Been to Porthleven a couple of times but not managed to visit the Square until last Sunday. The weather was unexpectedly great at lunch time and the restaurant was really busy. The service was a little chaotic and I got the sense some staff were new or slightly on the back foot with how busy it was. Most importantly however is that every member of staff was incredibly polite, friendly, helpful and provided great service. When our Sunday roast came out it was exceptional, no hesitation in saying this was the best Sunday roast I have had when eating out in many months. Every element of the roast was cooked to perfection, the meat (I had lamb) was tender and packed with flavour, the roast potatoes and vegetables all had perfect cook and again loads of flavour, the sides of cauli cheese and greens were delicious, and there was plenty of gravy (it's always awkward to ask for more!). Everything was hot rather than warm, which is really important as nothing had gone cold by the time we'd finished eating. Ordered a bottle of rioja, which happened to be the cheapest on the menu, and felt a little overpriced, but it was still a good bottle of red. However overall value for money was superb, the quality of the roast was top notch and the staff gave great service even while it was clearly busy. I would not hesitate to return. It also has a fun location in Porthleven looking across the harbour out to sea, though most of the time the local tourists (including ourselves) or vehicles are going past...

Have been here many times before and always excellent. Went last night under the new ownership. We had an email saying tables of 2 will get an hour and a half - yeh ok. We had one starter, 2 mains, 1 pud and 1 glass of wine each. Bill was £129. The place was nowhere near full but we waited an hour and 15 mins for the mains so no idea how they will turn those tables. The prices are very expensive, the wine choice very limited and expensive. Food wasn't bad but again very expensive. Service was not good. No apologies for the long waits for food and was on the verge of having to go to the kitchen to ask for the bill because that's where all the staff were chatting away. They need more training. If I am paying £129 for a meal I expect much better service for that Also as someone in the trade if your waiting staff have to explain the menu then there is something wrong with the menu. Btw the whole BBQ John dory was very good. The potato portion is too small for £7 extra. The broccoli at £7 extra was a decent size and rather good. On pricing we shared the sides but you will know that one piece of that potato each is not enough but paying £14 for 2 portions is way over the...

It’s just too expensive to be this average.

The food was fine but we seriously considered paying less than the exorbitant prices. There were also minor issues front of house like not having a table cloth, having paper napkins, not having our unnecessary cutlery cleared away once we’d ordered. I didn’t get a steak knife with my steak, but as it turned out, it was tender enough not to need one and delicious.

It’s just a bit weirdly off the mark somehow.

There is kind of a half open kitchen area and I saw the chief sniffing the raw steaks before deciding which one to give me, which is weird to see. The balance of protein, vegetables and carbohydrates on the dishes we had was all over the place. I think they’re probably very skilled chiefs but they’re maybe too innovative?

I’d give it a wide berth, at those prices, until they’ve got more feedback and honed it more.

I apologise to the owner for this review. I’m sure you crave potential to be a lot better. Go and visit some really well renowned restaurants; keep your menu simple; reduce your prices or make the front of house match the...