I want to make this review short and punchy, but Emily Scott, of Cornwall in England, has such a great story.

Let’s start with ‘where’ – Emily’s restaurant is in the cool, beautiful and surfing haven of Watergate Bay, Cornwall. It started as a pop-up in 2020 in the failed Jamie Oliver Fifteen Cornwall restaurant – before they were turned into luxury sea view rooms for the Watergate Bay Hotel. In 2020 the Watergate Bay Hotel launched The Watchful Mary, a bar overlooking one of the finest beaches in Cornwall if not Britain – that bar, in 2021, has now been taken over with a permanent residency by Emily Scott – who started life, as a caterer.

So – caterer, pop-up restaurant, permanent restaurant and then, Emily Scott was asked to cook for the 2021 G7 summit leaders at the Eden Project in Cornwall followed by TV appearances. So is Emily now at the top of her game…I don’t think so, there even more to come.

 

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This restaurant certainly has the views, the chef has the reputation but does the food, experience and value match up?

You have to know before you continue, that this location, these views and the accolades come with a hefty price tag – this is an exclusive experience. It’s like surfing at Watergate Bay, if you’re not careful you’ll get into a spot of bother, same here with your bill and the RNLI won’t be able to save you.

The Restaurant only opens Wednesday to Saturday which is smart thinking bearing in mind Jamie Oliver’s’ Fifteen Cornwall bombed (and I actually liked it there).

There were 6 of us for Dinner – 3 adults, two teens and one 10 yr old – families are welcome, but I would advise against going too young.

The bar and staff are excellent, very well made cocktails, I ordered off menu – no problem. Grab a cocktail whilst you take a look at the intentionally small food menu. Some people like a big menu, and with that comes risk of poor food quality. Emily is clearly an astute business person, limited menu, carefully selected ingredients and focus on the final dish – a good combo.

You can grab some nibbles whilst you wait such as Nocellara Olives (Jamie Oliver’s favourite ironically) or whipped cod’s roe or lump in at £40 for some Exmoor caviar.

Starter wise we went for Sashimi of Scallops with Yuzu Ponzu (a citrus soy sauce) and Tempura Turbot in masala sauce. I’ll focus on the Scallops, which are are great fun. Yeah, it’s sliced raw Scallop, but the Yuzu and sesame really lift it, served in the shell and it looks great too. A good start.

Now, I did slag off the bill a bit, but our drinks bill wasn’t cheap, and that’s on us. After our £10+ cocktails we ordered some Billecart-Salmon which you don’t see often on menu and it is premium, but it’s a cracking champagne and in a seafood restaurant, that looks this good, in Cornwall, you just gotta.

Moving on to the main – no meat, just two fish options or a single vegetarian. Both fish dishes were selected and the price is going to come up again I am afraid. Either a small Lobster at £48 plus sides or Butterfly Mackerel roasted over coals with salami and green olives.

Let’s be honest, the Lobster is just Lobster, it does come with Seaweed Butter which I am fairly sure I saw a junior chef collect from the beach that day (that’s cool), burnt lime and some salad. We spent £4 on New Potatoes in Pesto.

The mackerel, one of the cheapest and most abundant fish in the sea took more cooking and flair at £25. Just because it’s cheap and easy to catch, doesn’t mean it’s a poor ingredient. Smoked Mackerel, in a packet found in your supermarket is poles apart from fresh Mackerel – when fresh the meat is white and fluffy, almost Bass like – wouldn’t think it from such an oily fish, but take my word for it, when fresh, it’s insane.

Carrying on with the bar tab, a bottle of Chablis (two actually) at £42 went with these guys nicely – fresh fish, sunset and Chablis.

The kids food by the way made them happy, normal stuff you’d expect for fussy little palates. They did try one of the desserts, and Lemon Almond Cake with Limoncello Cream for £8.50.

We visit Watergate Bay every year, cause I’m such a shit hot surfer (when I manage to stay on the board that is) and we will go back. Emily is an exceptional chef and the kitchen benefits from that. The front of house weren’t always 100% sure on the dishes when I asked probing questions, but they were so lovely, it didn’t matter.

But if I am honest, it would have taken a lot to ruin this experience and that’s with the pricing – the views soften everything, you sit and just let it take you. The worst thing about the bill…just means that it’s over!

Emily Scott’s Restaurant in Watergate Bay is the real deal and getting a reservation will be a big deal, huge.

PRICE: £££

WEBSITE AND RESERVATIONS: emilyscottfood.com

TELEPHONE: +44 (0) 1637 818184

EMAIL: reservations@emilyscottfood.com

LOCATION: On the sea wall, Watergate Bay, Cornwall, TR8 4AA

The post Fresh Fish, Sunset and Chablis | Emily Scott Watergate Bay Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.

I made a telephone reservation for one, the online booker didn’t offer me anything, which can happen a lot, a call never hurts. The maître d’ was super chilled our and friendly. I requested a table for one at 9pm, “no problem” – I was offered the bar and if a table became free, she would offer me that. I asked if it would fit my laptop – no worries. I couldn’t say no to such politeness, especially as I actually managed to get in.

It’s small, it’s loud, it’s informal and I didn’t even have to say my name, they’d spotted the lone diner – great service.

My seat at the bar, which surrounds the open kitchen was perfect for my relaxed visit – the entire place in fact is relaxed. The music is loud and funky, like the food and people. The decor was warm and rather minimal, which focused on the kitchen, for all to see.

From my vantage point I could see how they were cooking some of the dishes from their ‘good’ sized menu. By that, I don’t mean big, because big menus usually mean poor food.

The menu clearly defines the types of dish available – meat, fish, cured etc. The vegetarian options are excellent, of which there is an excellent range. The wine list is equally simple and awash with Catalan wines.

They served me water without asking, which was great, but did take a while to come to me to take my order, during which time they served me someone else’s dish. One of the front of house came to me not long after and asked if I was being served. I think there was a small communication error rather then anything more spurious. The waiting staff, in actual fact were very good – polite and attentive. I think I had a few of them round me at one point, clearing, pouring drinks etc – they seem like a tight team.

Tapas, it’s always three dishes. I asked how many would be suitable, it was three – so standard tapas rules apply. My initial order choices missed the mark though. They have a raw cod dish – that had run out, as had my other choice, grilled octopus, which prompted a quick run through of about five dishes not available at that time. Let’s put this down to a Wednesday at 9pm and not getting in as much as the weekend, but, it was rammed and people were still coming in, and being turned away.

My three dishes were:

1. Cold roasted vegetable salad – Escalivada £6.50
2. Mussels and clams steamed in white wine with Serrano ham, spider crab butter and toasted ciabatta £7.00
3. A couple of Butifarra Negre (Catalan pork sausage) sliders, which came with green apple slaw, Nevat cheese on brioche buns £5.00

I had a couple of glasses of white wine which were £5.50 a piece.

I would say that’s nicely priced, especially for the location – was it any good though?

The salad was finely chopped, almost like mush, which was served in four distinct lines, so you could either sample each one individually or go across and try all four, or any combo you liked. The four roasted vegetables were tomatoes, aubergine, red pepper and onion – all seasoned with sea salt flakes and a gentle vinaigrette.

To look at, it didn’t look amazing – definitely different, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was packed, and I mean rammed with flavour. The aubergine nearly made me do a little wee in my pants – I was gutted when I’d finished, I tried to make it last as long as possible, but it’s tapas – it took all my willpower not to lick the plate. If you see this, order it – don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

The shellfish next, I don’t know what they were doing back there, but that was the same as the salad, bursting with flavour. The liquor, in which a pile of perfectly steamed plump mussels and clams rested was the real star of the show. I don’t each much bread, but I ate one of the two pieces and drenched it in the sauce. I used a spoon to baste the bread, which resulted in good dusting of narly Serrano ham resting up on it. Only willpower, mine was hardcore that night, kept me from eating the other slice – I did however, tip the bowl to get as much as possible on the spoon.

Finally the pork sliders, two of em. These didn’t compare to the other two and I would argue not a traditional Tapas option. Switching out beef for pork was a nice touch and the burgers themselves were pretty good actually. I felt that after the previous two, these were slightly blander, drier and just not as much fun. The bar had been set very high though.

All in all, a cracking place and you should book, you will need to. The pricing is excellent, the food quality, forgetting they’d run out of stuff was bonkers good, food porn.

Total bill for three tapas dishes and two glasses of wine £29.50.

We paid the bill to keep it real.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

 

PRICE: £ – based on it also being in London

WEBSITE: ramblalondon.com

TELEPHONE: 0207 734 8428

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Jollof Rice is a dish that features in may West African countries, Ghana being one of the foremost.

The beautiful red colour that this dish carries is all down to the palm oil, the oil of choice for the region.

It is often cooked with various meat, such as chicken and/or beer, this version contains crayfish tails and cauliflower rice. That makes this a side dish version, in this case, served with Nigerian Lamb Suya.

The post Ghanaian Jollof cauliflower rice with crayfish tails | Jollof Shinkafa | What is the national dish of Ghana? appeared first on National Dish.