Cork and Fork — Restaurant in Great Britain

Hard one to review and it's such a mix of great and less great. The place itself is in the sad tired and rundown wharfside shopping centre in the old New Look shop (this causes issues later discussed). To get to it from the main car park (you have to pay for), you need to get an escalator, stairs or lift. The escalator was busy and fenced off, both lifts broken with a staff member from Iceland (the shop below) saying they very rarely work. So taking the stairs it was. Which were disgusting. Blood, glass, rubbish. Not a great entrance to the restaurant. Yet once in it's lovely. Great decor and a really lovely vibe. Really well done so no bad echos and a lovely busy buzz. And the staff were fabulously friendly and lovely. A real credit to the place. Our orders were taken promptly. But we were never pointed to the specials which were on a concertina'd board that we didn't ever see. The starters of pork belly, beetroot and scallops were all excellent. Then things started to go a bit so so. From having an individual waitress at the start we were then switched to a weird system of either no one checking on us for 15 mins to three different staff checking for drinks in 90 seconds. Then mains. The £29 steak was poor quality meat. I'd asked how chef would prepare it and they said medium rare (as they always do sadly). But it was served medium to medium well done. No pink. The pasta dish was dry. And one member of the party asked for a main of scallops but was told no. So she had two started scallops. Which you would have thought they would at least put on the same plate. But no. Three people. Two courses each and two drinks each. £185 including tip. But with it being a New Look there appeared to be no extractor fan..coming home afterwards clothes absolutely stank of stale dead cooked animal. Took me back to days of smoking allowed in pubs. So a hard one..some brilliant..some not. And, while it's not their fault, when you have to pay for parking and the access is broken and rundown, you can see why people dine in our of town pubs and bars... I do wish them the best as the pride from the front of house folk was exceptional even if the food didnt...

Sadly I wasn't impressed. Poor service from arrival to paying the bill. For a start the location, don't be fooled by the idea of views. One or two seats have a view, most don't. The ?manager? Chose to question us about the party organisers arrangements rather than making us (just guests, not the organisers) feel welcome. Only part of the drinks menu was provided, later arrivals got the other part on a different piece. Serving our dishes was amateurish. Lots of waiting meaning those who got served first had food getting cold while waiting for others. Scallops as a starter was one, maybe 2 small scallops cut into 1/4s, tiny portions, but the belly pork starter was quite substantial. Wide spread of fairly plain main courses. Dessert saw us back on smaller rations again. Pavlova was missing one of the claimed ingredients and was a tiny portion, even if flavoursome. The atmosphere of the place just isn't right, a big empty hall of a room with a still somehow cluttered feel and an untidy storage platform/staff cloakroom looming from up some stairs (some had started collecting bags and coats while many tables were still eating). I'm sure everyone at Cork & Fork is trying to give the best experience they can, but it's missing the mark and the town has several better options at this...

I live in Newlyn, so believe me, I KNOW about fish. I've walked past the Cork and Fork for several years and the menu never attracted me, far too meat-based (I'm a Pescatarian). Recently, I noticed that the menu had changed (obviously new owners) and was more fish-based, so when our younger daughter was down from Brighton for a visit, we thought we'd try it out. SO glad we did! I had line-caught Mackerel as a starter and the trio of fish (Hake, Red Mullet and Hake) for my mains. The Mackerel was lovely and the horseradish cream not overpowering. The fish cooking of the trio of fish was outstanding. My partner was a little disappointed with the amount of seasonal greens accompanying her hake dish; she told the waiting staff and within a couple of minutes, they brought us an additional side of seasonal greens. The sour cherry and pistachio cake was to die for; moist, but crumbly. I NEVER have a dessert when I go out for dinner, but that dessert....WOW! Waiting staff lovely; ambience, relaxed and welcoming; food, excellent quality...what's not to like? I understand hat they're relocating to the Wharfside soon....I'm definitely...