His recent philandering aside, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Rick Stein. He seems to be much more of a cook than a chef and doesn’t seem determined to take over the world through the medium of advertising and being irritating (Jamie Oliver) or aggression and having a big scone for a chin (Gordon effing Ramsay). No, Mr Stein seems to like to produce yummy food with local ingredients, whilst aided by a small dog. So do I, although my small dog is very much in the land of the living; I suspect Chalky has long since passed over to doggie heaven.
So, when we went on holiday to north Cornwall, I knew I wanted to visit at least one of his Padstow eateries. The natural choice would have been The Seafood Restaurant, but that wasn’t an option because my boyfriend isn’t a fan of anything that swims (in the gastronomic sense, that is. I’m not saying that he maintains a state of barely concealed animosity towards goldfish, or anything). There are some fish-free options on their menu, but I didn’t want to pay a substantial amount for dinner only to have the chap left with one dish to choose from per course. As a bistro, St Petroc has a wider selection, so, after having a look at the online menu, I booked for a midweek evening at the end of July. The online booking process was straightforward and just asked that if you haven’t heard from them a few days beforehand to give them a ring to confirm the reservation.
Getting There
We were staying about 20 miles from Padstow, a distance which I would normally allocate about half an hour to drive. However, Cornwall is full of twisting lanes and places where only one car can safely pass. When you couple this with the fact that you may have to wait a while to get parked, then it’s wise to err on the side of caution, time-wise. The best place to park is in the harbour car park (you can’t miss it, as you have to drive past it) for which you will have to pay, even after 6pm. If memory serves I think it’s around £2-£3 for 4 hours. It’s rare to immediately find a space in this one but turnover is high so if you wait patiently you’ll get one eventually. From there, walk towards the harbour and then take the narrow street uphill beside the blue house. Turn left at the first street and St Petroc is on the right hand side of the road. There is no parking at the restaurant but it takes less than 5 minutes to walk there, even at dawdling speed.
Accessibility
There are lots of ramps in place for wheelchairs and buggies and the tables have a decent amount of room between them, so I imagine most people would be fine. I didn’t visit the lavatories so can’t comment on them.
Our table…
…Wasn’t quite ready when we got there, but we were guided to a lounge with menus and drinks. We waited no more than ten minutes before we were shown to a lovely table for two beside the window.
We ate…
…the sharing platter for a starter, which came in at a little over £12. On it was a small dish of marinated olives which were yummy. Still with stones in, which makes them tastier but may be off-putting for anyone with dodgy dentures or decorum about spitting stones out.
I ate them all as fussy chops doesn’t like them, either. There were also a couple of small slices of homemade, focaccia style bread, some charcuterie (looked like Parma ham and salami) and some salt cod fritters with aioli. The latter were by far the highlight – savoury, crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside – so good, in fact that even the fish-fearing bloke managed to wolf down half of them and pronounce them delicious.
For mains, we both went for steak; a sirloin for him and a ribeye for me. Both came with thin chips and salad but mine had béarnaise sauce whereas his had a flavoured butter. I think mine was around £24 with his being slightly dearer at £26. I am very particular about steak and am constantly exasperated by restaurants that promise a medium rare steak and actually deliver a lump of meat that has had all the blood and flavour cooked out of it with only the vaguest hint of pink remaining. I always give pretty precise instructions – medium rare, but erring on the side of rare – and yet I seldom get what I want. Not so at Mr Stein’s where my steak had been cooked exactly as I asked and was tender and full of flavour. It’s nice to know that the staff actually listen to what you say as my boyfriend had just asked for medium rare and mine was quite a bit bloodier than his. That the meat had come from a good butcher and been properly hung was immediately obvious; it was by far the best steak I’ve had in a restaurant and the slightly piquant sauce was the perfect accompaniment. The chips were fluffy and crunchy and the salad was a nicely dressed mix of watercress and spinach rather than plain old iceberg and lollo rosso. Mind you, even that didn’t stop pernickety Pete from staring at it in baleful condemnation for taking up room on the plate that could have been given to a) more steak or b) more chips. We took our time over our mains as they were very yummy, but weren’t rushed at all by the waiting staff, other than the standard enquiry as to how our meals were. I asked for another couple of drinks which did take a wee while getting to us, but nothing I’d complain over.
For desert, I had sticky toffee sundae and he had the summer berries cheesecake. The latter was pronounced delicious although he felt the berries and sauce were a wee bit sour (they weren’t; his palate is set to Willy Wonka levels of sweetness and any fruit that comes without the addition of a pound of sugar produces a grimace). My sundae was a spectacularly gooey confection comprising scoops of homemade toffee ice-cream, clotted cream, chunks of sticky toffee pudding and caramel sauce. It was the kind of thing where you can feel your arteries battening down the hatches as the dish is set in front of you. It was so good that the bloke troughed his extra quickly so that he could ‘help’ with mine.
We rounded off the meal with coffees which were very good indeed. Sometimes restaurant coffee can be lacklustre but this was rich and strong and accompanied by those rock hard little Italian biscuits which are inedible until you’ve given them a dunk.
Overall
The food we ate was absolutely delicious, with the only slight disappointment being the starter. I didn’t feel it was anything I couldn’t have knocked up myself and not quite worth the price tag. Were I to go back, I’d rather have the salt cod fritters on their own as a starter. Apart from that, it’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the place to go for an intimate, quiet dinner. The fact that it’s a bistro is reflected in the ambience and, whilst it’s never raucous, there is quite a hubbub and a distinct lack of soft furnishings to muffle the noise. Special commendation must go to the staff, who were easily the most enthusiastic, smiley and helpful souls I’ve ever encountered in a restaurant.
The Damage
For three courses, coffee and two large soft drinks each, the bill came to £96. That seems like a lot considering neither of us drink alcohol, but I don’t begrudge paying a lot of money for really good food and an enjoyable night out. St Petroc provided both in spades.
A Food Hero 
