THE KITCHEN, FALMOUTH

Tucked away in Falmouth’s Old Brewery Yard, The Kitchen is a laidback Cornish restaurant focussing on freshly grown, shot or foraged British produce. Chef Ben Coxhead runs the tiny open kitchen with fellow owner and artist Rory Blair running front of house.

With only a handful of tables and an eclectic interior of mismatched chairs, wine bottles for water, recycled tins to hold the cutlery, fag packets and well-weathered books, The Kitchen is more like a hippie living room than a restaurant (in the best possible way). The soundtrack, too, is unconventional (and all the better for it). Competing with the clatter and splatter of the kitchen, dubstep through to drum and bass and hip hop plays unapologetically. It’s as chilled out and casual as it gets – except when it comes to the food. That they take very seriously indeed.

There’s not a menu as such – it’s either scrawled on a large mirror for lunch or an antique tile for dinner. We stop by for the former, where there’s a simple choice of pigeon or mackerel with bubble and squeak, flatbreads or “chef’s plate”. We’re pointed in the direction of the fish and squeak. We’re expecting humble but we’re met with smart flavours and textures. There’s crisp skin and tender flakes from the mackerel, proper roast dinner flavour, home-style bubble and squeak, seasonal greens, charred cauliflower, sweet roasted carrots, a rubble of colourful pickles, and soft, oozing poached eggs.

At dinner, expect the unexpected. The weekly changing menu of small plates is kept vague – think partridge and cockles, rabbit and scurvy, or simply “summer stuff”. Order everything, tasting-menu style. Oh, and say hi to the resident poodle.