Cornish Arms Inn

Being one of the larger pubs near Trevone we came here our first night of vacation with 24 people and were SO impressed at not only how well they handled our large party, but how good the food was. Not surprisingly drinks took a little while to come out, but our starters and mains were all served promptly and everyone had their food together which is normally quite hard with a group that size.
Quite a few people in the group had the steak pie and said it was the best they had ever had. Personally I had the ploughmans platter, some chips and the sticky toffee pudding and they were DELIGHTFUL!
We ended up coming back here 2 more times during our week vacation and everything tried was a success.
HIGHLY recommend and stay for a game of billards and a pint to talk to some of the locals.

It was turning out just one of those days. We were in Costa in Newquay discussing lunch options over coffee. Although the sun was shining the wind made sure it wasn’t overly pleasant. We decided to try Rafferty’s in St Merryn, the same village where Rick Stein has his Cornish pub. We set off oblivious to time. We meandered around the stunning coast line, mostly empty beaches and relying on Garmin. We eventually got to Rafferty’s about two thirty in the afternoon. It was closed. There was a nearby pub restaurant and it stopped serving food at two thirty. It was two thirty. We’d noticed similar in food places in Padstow and other villages. What is it about this part of the world, there’s lots of people holidaying who want to eat casually, breakfast late and have a late lunch when they are hungry again. I’ve an idea, why not open from noon to three — thirty in the afternoon? Just for us tourists? Yes? Rant over. With Rafferty’s closed next choice was Stein’s pub place: the Garmin was useless as all we had was the postcode and it showed us that we were there already. So we spun about the village just before quarter to three and as its a small village we reckoned it would be very easily found. Oh no. So frustrated after driving in every direction aimlessly I went into a surfing shop for directions and the friendly local pointed the direction outside of the village. So we got there just about ten minutes off three o clock. Guess who stops serving food at three pm. Yip the Cornish Arms. I thought this is becoming tedious. Anyway a waitress pointed us to a table. Then a waiter arrives and as he tentatively hands us two menus it’s about five to three he says ‘we stop taking orders at 3pm but if you are quick.’ I could feel a Monty Python sketch coming on. So he got two very rushed orders. Then he was relaxed and as the precious seconds passed he said ‘would you like a drink?’ I told him to put the food order to the kitchen and come back for the darn drinks order. So off he went. We had a salt cod fish appetiser ¹⁰⁄₁₀ really delicious served with a good portion of freshly made great bread ¹⁰⁄₁₀ and aioli ¹⁰⁄₁₀ at £3. A burger meal 8/​10, portion of onion rings sprinkled with sea salt 7/​10, a fab crab salad ¹⁰⁄₁₀ again with the freshly made bread and all white crab meat. Trelawny beer ¹⁰⁄₁₀ and diet coke for drinks. The waiting staff were mega friendly and efficient — we spoke a while to one waitress, a welsh lady who was really helpful and gave us a few tips to see locally. We asked her how long the part we sat in had been open as it smelled new. She confirmed it was a month old. Really bright and roomy it is too. We were looking out over beautiful farming country. Oh bring me I upturned the plates and bowls to find that they were made in the United Arab Emirates– well blow me down so much for buy local. Would we go back, In a heartbeat.

People were queuing out the door and waiting for tables inside, so we hoped for more. We were relegated to an outdoor table, which quickly became too cold to sit at. Went for a family dinner and drove from Port Isaac, not sure it was worth it.
Prices were average and so was the food. My sausage and mash was nothing special, although hot and filling. However, there is a good range of local beers as well as more widely available brands.
Service from bar staff was good, but the back up from the waiting staff was poor. We also had to wait 40 mins after main course and chase up twice before our desert arrived (which we ordered at the same time as the main). At one point I was told by one waitress that the kitchen «we’re quite grumpy tonight» and did I want to cancel and get a refund!
Must do better!