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September 2019: for the next four months, the Old Coastguard team will be cooking at The Vault (17-18 Market Pl, Penzance TR18 2JP - tel 01736 733033) while repairs are ongoing in Mousehole after the fire in June 2019. Their sister establishment The Gurnard's Head is local to St. Ives and Zennor - or there's also The Felin Fach Griffin, handy for Brecon and Hay-On-Wye.
Harden's survey result
Summary
In a “simply perfect spot” gazing out to sea and St Michael’s Mount, this hotel dining room “has gone through many variations”, but has clearly settled into its stride under the Gurnard’s Head team. The “mainly locally sourced” (fish-slanted) food is “melt in the mouth”.
Summary
With a “lovely setting looking out to sea”, this “cosy” yet “spacious” hotel dining room – offering “gorgeous” fish-centric cuisine – feels “more south of France than Cornwall”; “come here during the day and sit outside to enjoy the wonderful views towards St Michael’s Mount”.
Owner's description
The Old Coastguard is a small seaside hotel at the edge of the iconic Cornish harbour of Mousehole. Run by Charles & Edmund Inkin and owned with the Tresco Estate, it sits immediately above the sea, with a palm lined garden running down towards the rocks. It has 14 bedrooms, nearly all looking out over glistening inland waters, with views to St. Michael's Mount and the Lizard.
Informality is immediately apparent: deep sofas surround coffee tables, oak and distressed pine tables for drinkers and eaters alike and an open fire lit during the autumn and winter. Guests are welcome to eat in the dining room, bar or on the sofas overlooking the terrace and the sea. The walls are hung with the work of the community of artists inspired by this part of West Cornwall with regular temporary exhibitions.
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £16.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £2.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
Restaurant details
The chef
Head chef and Cornwall native Jamie Porter started at The Old Coastguard in June 2019, bringing entirely compatible experience from a career that has packed in senior roles across Cornwall. After two years at a junior level at the 3 Michelin Starred Waterside Inn in Berkshire, Jamie has worked for much of his career has been within the Stein group, including an extended spell as Senior Sous Chef at the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow.
Wine is as important as the food at The Old Coastguard and ours was recently named the overall UK Wine List of the Year in the Imbibe 2016 Wine List of the Year awards, rewarding our team for their approach which sets quality over margin by encouraging them to source their wines from different suppliers.
The Old Coastguard Restaurant Diner Reviews
"The best meal of the year, albeit my first meal out in 2019! Was pretty fantastic though. This talented young chef knows how to present a very tasty local fish biased menu. Wine list interesting and reasonable including an excellent Franciacorta fizz to challenge a good champagne."
The Parade, Mousehole, TR19 6PR
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm-2:30 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm-2 pm, 6:30 pm-9 pm |
