The closure of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen at Watergate Bay must have been quite a blow for this little tourist hotspot. But is there a new contender for the Newquay culinary crown?
Emily Scott has picked up the gauntlet for the Watergate Bay Hotel at a new restaurant on the sea wall.
We booked lunch there today to take it for a test drive.
The restaurant is on the same level as the old Fifteen site and is orientated to maximise diners’ exposure to the view over the bay, which is spectacular. Today, the weather was calm, so the sea looked like a duck pond. This meant no distractions and we could focus on the food.
Our party ordered monkfish tempura and a beetroot dish. For mains, two portions of porcini risotto and a monkfish steak, with green salads and a portion of potatoes. Everyone had the tonka bean creme brûlée for dessert. The menu was fairly limited in all sections and there were spelling errors on the suggested wine list.
The food, when it arrived, was excellent, but heavens, the service was slow.
When I questioned where our main course was, the waiter denied we’d been waiting for nearly an hour. Not great. Who argues with a customer’s polite enquiry?
We finished our meal, with just one other table still occupied, at about 3.45pm.
Will we go back? Probably, but we’ll take a packed lunch to eat between the courses.
Overall scores?
Food: 7 / 10 (when it arrived).
Service: 5 / 10 (dissing a polite customer is just wrong).
Dystonia Girl 