Polperro - Couch's Restaurant and last Polperro post!!!

Phew! I didn't realise I'd taken so many shots in Polperro and I didn't realise how much I wanted to talk about them!

This final post about Polperro (for this year anyway!) is dedicated to our favourite restaurant in the village, Couch's Great House Restaurant.


We always eat here at least twice during our Easter break and this year was no exception. Executive Chef and owner, Richard McGeown (who trained with Gordan Ramsey, Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc) has done an amazing job with this place.

He personally welcomes us, presents the food to us himself and explains exactly what produce he has used and the techniques he has employed to cook the dishes he serves. And when we see him around in the village is always eager for a chat about what we've been up to in the day.

My two favourite anecdotes that relate to Couch's and Richard himself are ones that I regualarly tell when people are talking about exceptional service. A couple of years ago, on one of the nights that we were eating in, I'd decided that I would cook duck risotto - could I get duck breasts from anywhere? No way! So I cheekily knocked on the kitchen door at Couch's in the morning and asked Richard if he could order some for me on his daily fresh produce order. He was more than happy to and of course was in no way obliged to - he did it because he's a lovely bloke who wanted to help us out.

My absolute favourite story about Couch's is actually from last year and the fishing trip we went on then. We caught a monster haul (honestly!) of nearly 50 mackerel which we had no idea what to do with! So we knocked on Richard's door (recurring theme?!?!) as we were booked in for his 'taster menu' that evening and asked if he would prepare some of the fish as part of one of the courses. He was only too happy to take all the lovely fresh fish from us and cooked us an AMAZING course of mackerel with spiced apple and balsamic reduction. Awesome stuff!




But back to this years visits to Couch's. We often have the taster menu one night and then go from the al a carte menu another, but this year we did the taster menu on our first night and it was so good that we asked to have it again! Richard of course didn't do the same courses, he came up with 7 different courses on both nights and every single one of them was superb!




As a family, we couldn't recommend Couch's and Richard's hospitality enough, it's one of the highlights of our week away when we go there for dinner and we can't wait for more of the same next year!



Thanks for reading this series of holiday posts - hopefully they gave you a sense of what I like to do when I'm not shooting weddings, the kind of places we like to go and what a beautiful part of the world Polperro is!

Next year is our 10th Anniversary of visiting Polperro at Easter, so expect some SERIOUS blogging after that landmark holiday! This has been nothing compared to what will be coming next year!!!

Polperro Part 8 - The Red Herring in Fowey

What a find this was! I say 'find' - it's actually not hidden away, we just simply hadn't walked much further past Pinky Murphy's in the past!

We'd set out on a walk that started and finished in Fowey and we got as far as the Red Herring and couldn't resist stopping for sustenance (10 minutes into the walk!) when we saw it!


Although completely different to Pinky Murphy's, there is something about it that is similar (which is why we loved it so much)

A mish mash of furniture, cutlery, crockery, drinking vessels - really cool art and photos on the wall and such a laid back relaxed atmosphere to the place that you could sit there all day and not feel like you were hogging a table.






Alyson who runs The Red Herring was really friendly and nothing was too much trouble.


We can't wait to do a bit of sitting around outside the Red Herring again next year!

Polperro Part 7

There were a couple of nights that we stayed in and ate, drank and made merry under our own steam at the gorgeous Quarry Cottage, our lodgings for the week.

Emma and I cooked one night, Kate and Ant cooked one night and my Dad cooked on the last night (he got the honour of cooking our catch from earlier that day!)

Fine food was served, wine flowed and music boomed (there's no worry with disturbing the neighbours when you stay in a cottage like that - the walls are 6 feet thick!)



Carefully stirring the risotto...do you think I'd caught the sun that day???

Emma made gorgeous tiramasu - yummy!!!


Goats cheese and cherry tomato risotto - nice!


The magnificent haul from our very own ocean! I cleaned the fish, dressed them with olive oil, seasoned, lime and fresh basil and Dad cooked them!

Mackerel bruschetta!



Lot's of red faces!

The classic 'glasses case for a microphone' that always seems like a good idea at the time, hey Kate?!?!



On our way out for dinner - this is the magnificent view from the door of Quarry Cottage.


More of the absolutely beautiful Polperro:













Emma on the beach in front of our cottage:

5 bounces!

Polperro Part 5 - The Smugglers Rest

So back to walking! This is one of our favourite walking stops, The Smugglers Rest at Talland Bay.

Days that we decide not to bring a picnic on our walks, we stop for lunch here. It doesn't matter what the weather is like, it's great sat outside, either wrapped up warm with a hot chocolate watching the waves crash onto the beach or basking in the sun with a jug of Pimms! It doesn't get much better!








And the not so sunny day!