Feasting at Fistral

I think it's safe to say we filled our boots on our weekend away. My excuse is that we needed the extra padding against the bracing at Atlantic winds.... or that the food was just too good to resist.

We started our Saturday morning off in true lazy holiday style...full Cornish breakfast in bed with an unbeatable view.

However, the views and food downstairs in the restaurant are just as good. There's the usual cereals and fruits, a self serve buffet of full English items and cold meats, and you can also order from the hot menu. FYI, the eggs benny are awesome.

In between breakfasts, we found a food truck called Wild Foods, and devoured an incredibly crunchy wild garlic and nettle falafel. Very filling and just enough garlic to keep the vampires away.

Of course, who visits Cornwall without one of these? Heartbroken that my favourite pasty shop was shut, (I'm hoping that it was just for the winter) but this one filled in quite nicely.

Our deal included a 3 course meal on one night at The Headland, so Saturday night we stayed safe inside from the elements with a bottle of red to keep us warm.

Golden crunchy Cornish crab fritters with a creamy curried mayonnaise, with just enough spice.

Szechuan pork and spring onions. This dish was 100% prettier in real life than in this grainy light! A light and zingy starter with spicy marinaded pork.

Braised shin of beef, with a slice of fried polenta and garlic broccoli. The beef literally fell apart as soon as I stuck the fork in, and never underestimate the power of perfectly cooked broccoli! I could jump through the screen and eat this again right now.

The venison was pinker than the picture, and just as soft. The parmesan crisps added a nice crunch, and look striking, but are a lot harder to eat as a meal than they look.

I was a little disappointed with dessert. Cornish Gouda, quince jelly and biscuits. The jelly was both sweet and a little sharp, but that cheese barely stretched to two of the generic crackers.

Especially when over the other side of the table was this huge slab of sticky toffee pudding with popcorn ice cream. Deliciously sinful. It's probably a good job I only had a little slice of cheese, as Mr P was struggling and what kind of wife would I be if I didn't help out eh?

The restaurant is open to the public too, so if you're down this way at all, pop in for a cosy meal and nose around this beautiful building.

Headland Hotel, Newquay

So when you've got the Winter blues, and your favourite hotel pops up with a great deal on Secret Escapes, then what's a girl to do? Be a bit spontaneous and snap it up sharpish, that's what.

I know it's been a while, as we visited on the last weekend of November, but I had such a wonderful weekend that I just have to share it with you.

The deal with Secret Escapes was for a two night break at the Headland Hotel in Newquay, including breakfast and dinner for one night. I loved this hotel last time we visited (previous post here) and we received the same great service this time around.

We upgraded to a 'Splendid' room, which was well worth spending that little bit more! Take a look around our home for the weekend...

Undoubtedly the best views I've ever had on waking in this bed...

After running around the room squealing at every corner and new discovery, we calmed down enough to unpack, and decided to crack open the champers left for us. We toasted the weekend out on our balcony, and recovered from the 4 hour journey by taking in the view and watching the waves.

A little bit blustery!

After a few hours of chilling out in luxury, we decided to wrap up warm and head out for the night. First stop was The Stable, where you can find the best pizza and cider with incredible panoramic views over Fistral beach.

We shared a 'Headland Herbivore' pizza, packed with herby roast potatoes and creamy Cornish blue cheese. I know, carb heaven right?

 All washed down with a speciality cider or two!

All fed and watered, we prepared ourselves to face the bracing wind once again, and headed into town. The annual Music and Cider Festival was in town, with a giant marquee full of cider loveliness and the best beachy acoustic music to sway along to.

That night also happened to be the night that the Christmas lights were turned on, so we headed back outside down to the Harbour, to watch the best firework display I've seen in years! A pretty magical start to our winter weekend...

Hub, St Ives

Looking out over the harbour in St Ives is the uber cool restaurant and bar 'Hub'. Stripped back with the usual urban decor, Hub emanates a chilled out atmosphere, enhanced by the ground floor windows that completely open up, giving a full landscape view of the sea.

With the promise of good New York style big American food, and a poster advertising Tiny Rebel Brewery beers outside, we were sold, and fought our way inside.

Hit with the threat of an hour wait once we walked in, we grabbed a table and hung onto it for dear life. Being a Bank Holiday, St Ives was looking crazy busy, and we had already struggled to make reservations in other restaurants. Figuring a couple of cocktails would ease the delay anyway, we studied the immense menu.

The Hub specialises in gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and just generally a bucket load of smoky meat. Being the huge glutton that I am, I wanted everything on the menu. Luckily for me, The Hub does a fantastic slider tray. A mini version of the pulled pork bun, cheeseburger and hot dog, you get a little bit of everything including added fries, pickles and a whiff of a salad. 

The wait for food wasn’t as long as we expected (or we were numbed by the excellent mojitos on offer) and out came this cracking lot.

Vegetarians avert your eyes now.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the epic slider tray. Let's take a closer look shall we?

I am not ashamed to say I needed a little help finishing these bad boys off, the tray was so huge! The 'Boston Bun' (the pulled pork roll) was by far my favourite. Packed full of juicy pulled pork, and plenty of sauce to dribble down your chin. I know amongst all of the outstanding meat on show that this might sound odd, but the buns are incredible, and really make the burgers and rolls shine. The Hub uses a local artisan baker, and they are fiercely proud of their fresh local produce. Quite rightly too, when it tastes this good!

The round up of the other mains...

 The 12 hour slow smoked Cornish beef brisket topped with meltingly gooey Swiss cheese.

The 'Double Double', a fantastic tower of pulled pork and sauerkraut hiding under a smoked pork hotdog, and balanced precariously on a bed of hand-cut fries. 

We also ordered a bowl of pulled pork nachos for the table, as we all wanted a bite, but no-one was ready for the commitment. We needn't have worried, they were huge. Chunky tortillas topped with pulled pork and grilled cheese, with healthy helpings of guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

It's fair to say, we were completely stuffed. All of our meals were of such a high standard, especially considering how busy the restaurant was. The prices were excellent value for the size and quality of the meals, and also the seafront location.

I'm looking forward to a repeat visit, especially to work my way through more of the cocktail menu!

Splashing Around

After a good sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed and ready to get out in the sun! Sinking the obligatory two morning cups of tea that I need to function, we threw on some clothes and wandered down to the beach before breakfast.

We stayed in Hayle, which is only about a ten minute drive from St Ives, but in my opinion, the beaches here blow St Ives out of the water. Slowly shelving blue seas and a huge expanse of golden sands, and when the clouds disappear and the wind stops, you could easily feel like you were hundreds of miles away.

Losing track of time, we collected shells and paddled for a while, until our bellies rumbled for breakfast. We trundled back to the van for some food, and then jumped on the little train into St Ives for a bit more aimless wandering.

If you can jump on the train into St Ives, even if it's only for two or three stops, please do. You'll be rewarded with the prettiest view, as the train meanders along the coastline for a few miles. You can jump on and off to a few of the smaller beaches dotted around the area too, and it's much cheaper than the in-town parking.

I haven't been to St Ives for so many years, that everything seemed to different from memory. Hence lots of trawling up and down little alleyways, getting lost numerous times and getting sidetracked by pretty doorways and cute houses!

An hour or so later, the clouds started dissolving into baby blue and we headed down on to the beach to chill out for a while.

And 'chill out' we did. Utterly proud of myself, I did what I'd been threatening to do all weekend. Get brave and get in the sea! 

I felt pretty smug legging it back out of the sea in a bikini when 90% of the (sensible) population had chickened out in wetsuits! Challenge completed, we bundled ourselves up in fluffy towels and headed back on the train to warm up before our night out. But more on that later, as there is way too much food to come to fit on one post...