A must visit for Sunday lunch

I always struggle when trying to think of places to go for Sunday lunch, I see delicious looking images on Instagram and think ‘oh that’s a good place to go for a Sunday lunch, I’d never thought of there’ but by the time it comes to Sunday and I try and remember where those places were, what times they serve, if they have any availability etc … it’s always too late! So, to have a table booked and a lovely location to take a day trip to was really exciting and a great thing to do on a winter’s Sunday.

We arrived a bit early and had Albert with us so we took the nearby footpath down to the beach with St Michael’s Mount opposite us. It was a bit of a drizzly day but the views were no less spectacular. We then headed to the Mount Haven’s cosy Terrace Bar for a drink before lunch. The hotel is dog friendly so Albert was allowed to join us for a drink but dogs aren’t allowed in the restaurant so he went for a brief nap in the car whilst we had lunch.

The staff were really friendly and attentive, we didn’t want for anything during our visit. We began with the rosemary focaccia which was delicious (it topped off a week filled with focaccia as I’ve become a bit obsessed with baking my own recently) and then ordered our starters; we opted for the ‘goats curd, fermented vegetables, nasturtium & apple jelly’ and the ‘mackerel, avocado, apple, seaweed’ and for our main course we chose the nut roast wellington and the roast topside of beef. The food was honestly amazing, and what I really liked about the menu is that all of the produce is locally sourced, with suppliers listed on the menu. The presentation was really impressive and the food was so flavorful and creative; this wasn’t your average roast dinner. Even though our bellies were definitely feeling full we’d already spotted the desserts before ordering our mains so had to try them. Although we considered sharing two different desserts we both absolutely love a good chocolate fondant and knew after our main course that one from this restaurant would not disappoint so we opted for the same. Wow, just wow! You have never seen such a beautiful looking dessert, and this is not an exaggeration I assure you, the presentation was so striking it looked too good to eat! But I gave in of course. Often chocolate fondants aren’t done well which is such a disappointment each time I really look forward to one; a bit overcooked or just a microwave one that goes a bit hard when it cools but, just as we expected, this was a pretty amazing chocolate fondant. It oozed with so much chocolate goo and it was just the right amount of warm with raspberries, malted milk ice cream and a chocolate crumb. You just have to look at the picture of this dessert below.

To finish, we contemplated a coffee (it was a big decision about whether we could even fit a coffee in our very full tummies!) so decided to migrate back to the Terrace Bar so that we could sit and relax for a while with Albert joining us and have a coffee a bit later. We ended up spending so much time just sat in this lovely space with comfy sofas overlooking St Michael’s Mount, watching the rain outside whilst the daylight crept away.

A bit of History:

Mount Haven is owned and managed by St Aubyn Estates, the family business belonging to the 5^th Lord St Levan and his wife, Mary, who live on St Michael’s Mount and which they run in partnership with the National Trust. The 5000 acre estate includes farms, residential properties, holiday cottages and the Godolphin Arms. This 19 bedroom boutique hotel was bought as a going concern in Summer 2016. It has since seen an extensive refurbishment over the last two winters, with plans for an extensive refurb of the restaurant space in winter 2019. Head chef Ross Sloan has been at Mount Haven since April 2016, and was previously Head Chef at Kota in Porthleven.

And, I’ve saved the best til last, Mount Haven is offering locals 15% off their lunch bill until 21 December (7 days a week) with proof of a TR postcode. I can definitely recommend a visit and don’t forget to mention Cornwall Creatives when you do.