We stopped in Polperro on our way back to Looe mid-afternoon after spending time in Fowey and Polruan. In retrospect, we would have spent more time in Polperro than Polruan. Although the latter looks quite picturesque when seen from Fowey, there is much more to do and see in Polperro. We parked in the large parking lot by the A387 and walked into town. The road seemed to go on forever and my aunt and I kept looking for one of the eateries we had read about the previous night, and the harbour, where was the harbour? The walk into town reminded us of the Lake District with stone walls and a bubbling brook by the side of the road. My uncle and other aunt wondered what we were up to as we kept going by all these other eateries, but they hadn’t read what we had! It was day two in Cornwall and they were looking for a Cornish pasty, anywhere, but we had other ideas. Finally we found the harbour and the “Three Pilchards”:http://www.threepilchardspolperro.co.uk/home, one of the pubs we’d read about. We checked out the menu, which is quite extensive, and went back to find the rest of our party – we had found our place for a late lunch.
Three of us opted for the famous Three Pilchards fish pie (£13.95): locally sourced cod, smoked haddock, crayfish tails, peeled prawns and garden peas in a garlic and cream chive sauce, topped with fluffy mashed potato and cheese. I love fish pie but never make it. This was full of fish and very tasty. My uncle had the home-made chili con carne (£11.45): slowly braised steak chunks served with rice and sour cream and it could have had more heat with it for his taste. We were too full for dessert which was a good thing because they don’t serve it. Their focus is on appetizers and mains and their portions are such that people rarely want dessert. They feel that other places in the village do dessert so well; they don’t want to take business away from them.
We sat at a table at the back and there was a door behind us that went up to the roof terrace. The only niggling thing during our stay was we had to close the door behind people who went upstairs and didn’t close it behind themselves. The pub has the old wooden beams in the ceiling and they have Cornish sayings written on them and the English translations – quite amusing.
Note: the menu has an extensive list, using a numbering system, of possible allergens in the food so you can make an educated choice when you make your selection. Also, the parking lot up by the A387 has no facilities so be sure to avail yourself of facilities while still in the village.
