Pub Review - The Rising Sun, The Square, St Mawes, Cornwall
With its prominent position opposite the sea wall, in the picturesque fishing village of St Mawes, the Rising Sun is a popular pitstop for holidaymakers looking for a genuine taste of Cornwall.
This smart St Austell Brewery-owned pub boasts a lively bar packed with locals, a Good Food Guide-listed restaurant and eight rooms, and there's also a large front terrace with slate tables and wooden benches for alfresco dining.
The restaurant, which only opens in the evening and for Sunday lunch, offers a more gastronomic experience than the bar, with dishes ranging from pink coriander duck breast with morello cherry compôte to chocolate terrine with pistachios and Amaretto crème Anglais.
Chef Ann Long has presided over both the restaurant and bar menu for the past six years and she sources as much local Cornish produce as she can. Of course, with its harbour views, fish and seafood play a major role in the Rising Sun menus, with white crab meat and lemon mayonnaise sandwiches (£8) and white crab meat salad (£14) proving big-sellers at lunchtime.
As well as the printed menu - which includes The Rising Sun fish soup (£5 as a starter or £9 as a main course) and eight different sandwiches, all served with salad, coleslaw, pickled red cabbage, tomatoes and cucumber - there is a selection of main-course salads and a blackboard of daily specials.
For starters, a ramekin of potted crab (£5.20) consisted of a generous pile of local crab meat beneath a thick butter crust. It was served with salad leaves and hot toast, but it would have benefited from being brought to room temperature, rather than taken straight from the fridge, as the layer of butter proved impenetrable at first.
A substantial main course of scallop and bacon salad (£10) consisted of five very fresh scallops, pan-fried with garlic and lime, and placed on a mountain of mixed leaves, pickled red cabbage, bacon pieces and tomatoes.
From a choice of four desserts, treacle tart (£4.20) was faultless - not too sweet and cloying as it often can be, with a crisp, short pastry. It was served with thick, clotted cream - another example of the Rising Sun flying the flag for Cornish produce.
PubChef Rating (out of 10)
Ambience 7, Value for money 8, Flavour factor 8, Overall Impression 8
BEERS: Three St Austell Brewery beers on draught: HSD, IPA and Tribute
MAIN COURSES: From £5.20 to £14 at lunchtime (sandwiches from £4.75 to £8). In the evening, the restaurant menu is £27 for two courses plus coffee, or £30 for three courses.
WINES ON LIST: 19 reds, 19 whites, one rosé, one sparkling wine and one Champagne.
ANOTHER THING: The Rising Sun also serves Cornish cream teas in the afternoon - two scones, strawberry jam, clotted cream, fruitcake and tea or coffee for one (£5).
