Tonight we were dining at the Dolphin Tavern in Penzance down near the seafront and harbour.

It is a pub with some history, according to their website;

“The awe-inspiring sense of history greets you as you enter The Dolphin Tavern, with the past echoing in the aged granite walls, the intriguing shipping artifacts and a warm atmosphere that makes you feel immediately at home.

In 1585, the tavern served as John Hawkin’s headquarters, recruiting Cornishmen to fight the Spanish Armada. Sir Walter Raleigh is thought to have smoked the first pipe of tobacco in Britain at The Dolphin and the tavern was used as a courtroom for centuries following. So legend says, it is also home to three ghostly spirits.”

It does feel full of history inside and the layout is like a proper old pub with nooks and crannies you can hide away in, nothing too open plan and all quite cosy

We did come here last year as well when I had a tasty plate of Lasagne sitting outside on the front as it was full up inside and we could not get a table.

This time I remembered to book so we got a table inside in the warm! and it was much more enjoyable as we perused the menu

I was trying to keep a promise to myself to eat more seafood while we were down here by the coast, and when I say that I don’t just mean Fish and Chips (although I have scoffed a lot of those)

The most grown up Fish meals on the menu were the ‘Grilled Local Fish of the Day‘ which came with ‘Mash Potato, mixed green vegetables, greens, lemon & dill butter‘

or the ‘Local Duo of Fish‘ which came with ‘Crushed new potatoes, Tenderstem broccoli, Sundried tomato and Basil butter’

I chose the Local Duo of Fish purely on the basis that I liked the sound of the sides more

LOCAL DUO OF FISH

The LOCAL DUO OF FISH was £19 and the two types of fish were a fillet of Monkfish and of Plaice which came served on a bed of crushed new potatoes with a side of Tenderstem broccoli, and sun dried tomato and basil butter

I loved the fresh white fish alongside the buttery smashed up spuds. The actual ‘bits’ of fish were not the largest, I am a bit too common to have wasted the Monkfish on, I would have been just as happy with more Plaice

The crushed potatoes could have been my favourite bit of the dish but perhaps it was the pool of butter that it sat in that I was really enjoying as I spooned it all over every forkful.

Tenderstem broccoli is one of my more favoured greens, I even grow it down the plot so it isn’t just for eating out, here at the Dolphin Tavern it added much needed crunch to the dish and the simple plain nature of the veg helped counter the richness from the butter

The Sundried tomato, which seems to have adhered itself to the fish having abandoned the butter pool, gave some lovely little pops of flavour and I did my best to eke it out as much as I could trying to get a bit in as many mouthfuls as I could.

This was a good solid pub dish, fill up on the potato and enjoy the bits of fish and sauce as much as you can

WARM PORK BELLY PORCHETTA sandwich

The Partner in Dine went for a ‘smaller’ meal, or rather that was the plan selecting a WARM PORK BELLY PORCHETTA sandwich for £9

This was HUGE! Doorstop slices of bread packed out with generous portion of unctuous sliced Porchetta. Pork Belly joy to the max. Onion marmalade added some sweetness and the accompanying side salad (which was unnecessary) added the healthy bit, freshness and crunch.

Did this need a side of chips for £4 as well? Clearly not but I was glad they were on the table as I ‘helped’ by eating most of them

I like the Dolphin Tavern, we ate a lovely bit of pub grub and I had a nice pint too. The place is friendly, warm and welcoming and it is much better sitting inside than outside, especially in September when the air was starting to cool as the sun went down!

You can check them out on their website, on their Facebook page and on their Instagram Feed