The Mackerel Sky Seafood Shack in Newlyn, is a fabulous spot for lunch where you can to try out the local seafood and produce.

We popped in for lunch after a trip to nearby Mousehole and it was so good that we returned a couple of days later to eat again.

We just had to as the menu was full of things I felt we had missed out on and I wasn’t prepared to wait until out holidays next year to come back

TASTING PLATES MENU

The menu is small but perfectly formed with many interesting sounding small plates on offer at fairly reasonable prices.

The dishes are certainly focussed on seafood with a wide selection of fishes on offer just to feature a few that we were to sample including Lemon Sole, Mackerel, and Monkfish

As I noted up top we had two trips and somewhat conversely I will describe the visits in reverse order purely as I felt we chose a better more rounded selection of dishes on the second visit

LUNCH TWO AT MACKEREL SKY IN NEWLYN

We picked three dishes to share, the Mackerel grilled with beetroot and horseradish (which we ate at both lunches), the Scallops served with hazelnut Dukkah and Hog’s pudding, and the Crispy Lemon Sole served with a Katsu Curry Sauce

All three went together perfectly and all we needed to make it perfect was a side of their new potatoes that came dripping in Cornish butter, and of course a cold glass of local Cornish Beer

MACKEREL, BEETROOT AND HORSERADISH

OK so I admit the Mackerel grilled with beetroot and horseradish was not going to be my first choice but my dining companion, the mother, was all over this dish on our first visit and there was absolutely no way on earth that we were not ordering it again

The fish was perfectly cooked with a nice crisp skin, light white flesh which was very clean tasting with that rich slightly funky taste.

Well at least that is how I taste it, a man keener on Cod than all else and a definite heathen was about to be cured and have his eyes opened up.

What I like most about this dish is the gentle interplay between the sweet beetroot and the slight heat from the horseradish.

It was deployed with restraint so that it doesn’t overpower the dish yet still enough to elevate the fresh simple mackerel and make it more interesting.

The mother loved it and happily told everyone it was the best and freshest mackerel that she had eaten for years, so It must have been really good!

SCALLOPS WITH HAZELNUT DUKKAH AND HOGS PUDDING

Our second choice were the Scallops served with hazelnut Dukkah and Hog’s pudding. I confess that it was a quest to taste this single dish that had provided the impetus to return for a second visit.

On our first visit we had seen a couple on the next table eating this and I had been taken with serious envy and wished that we had ordered it.

This dish was everything that I had hoped for, the juxtaposition of the sweet scallop with the earthy hogs pudding was an excellent idea.

I do love a well cooked juicy seared scallop but rarely order inland as I want to imagine it was plucked fresh from the sea that day.

I had only tasted Hogs Pudding before with a Cornish breakfast where this porky white pudding had replaced my favoured black blood pudding

Somewhat similar in essence to having scallops with bacon but this is a far more refined imagination of a pairing and it worked especially well due to the addition of that nutty mix of Hazelnut Dukka served alongside it

I loved this dish and it is firmly implanted into my memory so much so that it is on my list of “If I ever got onto Masterchef I would like to do something similar” dishes 🤣😎🧐

CRISPY LEMON SOLE WITH KATSU CURRY SAUCE

The Crispy Lemon Sole with Katsu Curry Sauce seemed like the safest of our choices and perhaps it was.

I do like a Katsu sauce and I like crispy coatings on things so in theory this was a perfect match.

The Lemon Sole was excellent, coated in what felt like a mix between a batter and a crumb, it was perfectly crisp and very light

I had feared that the delicate flavours of the sole would be overpowered by a curry sauce but there was no need to be concerned it was a perfect marriage

I could have eaten several plates of this dish and if I lived nearby I would probably gain a reputation for doing so.

PANKO MONKFISH BURGER

On the first visit I chose less adventurously when I ordered the Panko Monkfish Burger served with a seaweed aioli and baby gem lettuce.

Now don’t get me wrong this was a very good Fish sandwich and a mile away from the classic ‘Fillet o Fish’ that I loved as a kid

The monkfish does make for a good option in between the two slices of a burger bun. It is a good solid meaty fish, perhaps wasted in a sandwich, but who am I to decide.

I enjoyed this but would not order again just because there are more interesting and exciting options to be found on the menu

POPCORN SEAWEED

We tried a few of the side dishes, and while the fries and the boiled spuds were the most sensible ones that went best with what we had chosen to eat, I found it hard to resist trying the Popcorn seaweed.

OK so this might not be to everyones tastes, you can certainly taste the sea and get the aroma of the seaweed in amongst the popped kernels.

It was fun to try but personally I found it to be a lot more popcorn than I cared to eat so I tried to share them with the table next to us (there was still a lot left!🤣 )

I don’t know what else to say apart from that we were absolutely in love with this place and will be visiting again next time we are in Newlyn. It could well be the main reason for coming back to the area next year!

Situated near to their other location the Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar they are close to the harbour and right next to Newlyn Bridge.

It is a fairly flat easy walk here along the seafront from Penzance but handily there is a bus stop right outside if you want a less strenuous route here

📍Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar & Shack are Located in Newlyn Rd, Newlyn, Penzance, TR18 5PZ

Check them out on their website and social media platforms including their Instagram profile, and their Facebook page