A gastronomic tour of the UK’s west country by motor boat

The promise of a gastronomic tour of the South West coast persuades Gilbert Park’s reluctant sailor wife to join him on a summer cruise with a difference

Summer was here at last, the sun was forecast to shine for weeks and the boat was ready. My wife, Maire, is not too keen on boating but she is keen on good food. So how about combining my love of boating with her love of good food? The bribery worked, she agreed to several weeks of motor boating so long as every so often we tried a really good restaurant.

The deal was done and in early June we slipped from our home at the top of Chichester Harbour on a late afternoon tide and sped off to Lymington. We don’t usually go to fancy restaurants on the night we arrive somewhere, so we settled on a great little Indian place called Rivaaz near the town hall.

The next day we agreed a long trip to Dartmouth. It all started well, with calm seas, until we were approaching Portland Bill, then it all changed! We all make mistakes and mine was not passage planning properly for this part of the trip. I should have taken the offshore route and stayed well clear of the tidal race but I gambled on the inshore route and lost!

It got rough, so rough we abandoned going around the Bill at all and made for Portland Harbour instead, with the promise of finding a nice restaurant to make amends. Wrong again! Portland proved to be a gastronomic desert. After a long walk we eventually found a pub and opted for a decidedly average gammon and chips. It’s fair to say that at this point in the gourmet cruise my side of the deal was looking decidedly shaky.

Thankfully, the next day we had a mercifully uneventful cruise to Dartmouth but I still made sure that the first thing I did on arrival was to book a table for two at the Angel restaurant for the following night, a mere 50 metres from our boat’s berth at Town Quay.

Darbar in Emsworth is the Parks’ favourite. Photo: Gilbert Park

One word sums up that meal – fantastic. I had scallops served with apple, horseradish and shellfish bisque, followed by Devonshire lamb with apricot, spring hips, smoked almond and lamb jus. Maire ordered beetroot tart with poppyseed curd, relish and celery; poached halibut with confit tomato, lemongrass, smoked butter and tomato fondue. For pudding I had a chocolate ganache with creme fraiche, coffee curd and hazelnut, and Maire opted for a plate of South West cheeses with thyme crackers and seasonal chutney.

It had all the qualities needed for a great meal: superb food, wine that slipped down a treat and great service. It came at a cost but at least I was starting to deliver on my promise.

Plymouth Gin

After Dartmouth, we spent a night in Brixham before heading to Salcombe. Fog around Start Point, with a visibility of 100m, made the trip interesting. We picked up a buoy and the wind piped up making it a little wavy. Then we headed off to Newton Ferrers for a peaceful afternoon, before the big city of Plymouth.

Mooring up in Sutton Harbour Marina we were right next to the Barbican, so we took advantage of the location for a lunchtime trip to Cap’n Jaspers for one of its legendary burgers. That may not sound terribly special but Cap’n Jaspers is a bit of an institution. I have been eating there for almost 50 years, since I started sailing on the Tamar. Little has changed, they still serve huge freshly cooked portions with unlimited relish.

Brixham’s colourful harbour is the landing point for some of the South West’s best seafood. Photo: Gilbert Park

Originally, we planned to stay for a night or two but we ended up staying for five nights. This gave us time to visit the Plymouth Gin distillery on the Barbican. After all, you have to drink something with a meal. I hadn’t realised all the different tastes that gins can have – it may not have been food but it was a real gourmet experience.

Keen to try some more exotic cuisines, we booked into Supha’s. This popular restaurant, within sight of the quay, serves street food from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia. There are no white tablecloths and no matching cutlery or plates but the food is all freshly cooked with local ingredients and the ambience is wonderfully informal.

I had coconut prawns, Malay curry and rice washed down with a beer, while Maire had spicy minced pork patties, steamed whole fish stuffed with lemongrass, lime leaf and garlic in a spicy seafood sauce and a glass (or two) of white wine. It was so good that when Maire went home as planned and my friend James arrived for the next part of the trip to the Isles of Scilly, I booked us into Supha’s again, taking care not to indulge too heavily from the drinks menu due to an early start the next day.

At 0400h sharp we passed through the lock and a few hours later we were picking up a vacant buoy in St Mary’s harbour, just in time for a light lunch and a nap.

A visit to Plymouth Gin’s distillery tickled their taste buds. Photo: Gilbert Park

Scilly season

The next day it was off in the dinghy and a walk around the bay to Juliet’s Garden restaurant for lunch. This charming bistro enjoys wonderful views of the bay and lovely fresh food. On our return we found a wall mooring was available so we nipped over and secured the boat, connected up the electricity and filled up with water. Jobs done, it was time for dinner.

We opted for the Restaurant on the Quay. Being able to watch the boat drop down the harbour wall between courses was a great benefit. The restaurant also had a novel attraction – a robot waiter that brings out the food and clears the dishes.

It needed a little human help to transfer the dishes to and from the table but it certainly provided a talking point if not much in the way of actual conversation. Thankfully, we had a real waitress for that, who suggested a couple of local boat trips we might enjoy.

Picking up a buoy on the River Yealm in Newton Ferrers. Photo: Gilbert Park

My meal consisted of beignets and rump steak, while James had pigeon breast and a hanging octopus skewer, washed down with a couple of pints of Offshore beer. Back on board, I was keen to check out the latest addition to my boat. I’d fitted a set of Humphree Lightning Interceptor stabilisers over winter, which come with built-in underwater lights as standard.

Switching the adjustable colour setting to yellow enabled me to see the seabed through the exceptionally clear water and check for any obstructions before the tide went out and the boat settled on its drying legs.

The following day James had planned a visit to a vineyard a little way off right at the top of a hill, using bikes so we could enjoy the local wine. We struggled up the hill to the vineyard, helped on by the anticipation of our well-earned reward, only to find it was closed!

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To make up for the disappointment, we cycled to the bronze age Bant’s Carn Burial Chamber and Halangy Down Ancient Village, which was well worth the effort if not quite as refreshing. We even met a group of people studying the local bees – apparently, the islands give a unique insight into these special creatures’ habits.

The next day we took a boat trip to Tresco, as suggested by the waitress, to see the famous Abbey gardens.

The gardens weren’t the only thing we went to see, we also walked to New Grimsby (James was born in Grimsby). It turned out to be a lot further than we thought but luckily an electric bus came along and took us back to the boat. Back in St Mary’s, it was time for a second meal at the Restauranton the Quay, with a plan to be up early, refuel and head off to Falmouth.

Locations don’t get any better than Juliet’s Garden restaurant in St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly. Photo: Gilbert Park

Trial by Truro

After an effortless trip on a mirror-smooth sea, we moored up in Falmouth. Then, off to Malpas and a night on the pontoon. We walked into Truro and, as it was low tide, took the opportunity to study the channel into the city. The key learning was to keep in the middle of the marked, winding channel, as some of the markers seemed to be just outside of it, and don’t cut corners.

While we were there, we popped into the Harbour Office to ask if we could book a mooring in the centre of town. We could but it would be rafted up next to a residential boat sitting in the mud. There was electricity, water and showers. The Harbour Staff couldn’t have been more helpful and I arranged to meet my wife here a few days later as James was leaving the next day.

The trip up to Truro, past Malpas, involved keeping a close eye on the chart, the depth finder and the lateral marks. The shallowest it got to on this day (a neap) was 1.8m – enough for my boat, but only just. It’s also the only route I’ve ever followed that used a Tesco store as a Port hand marker!

Cap’n Jaspers burger joint is something of a local legend in Plymouth. Photo: Gilbert Park

I moored up next to the houseboat and just had time to putout the legs before Maire arrived – perfect timing.

After two nights in Truro it was back down river to Falmouth. Here we were spoilt for restaurants. The usual Indian, Chinese, pubs etc but also African and Caribbean, all within 100m of where the boat was moored.

The food in the latter two was exquisite and we’ll be back. We also found a vegetarian Indian serving only thalis. It served excellent food but the downside was it was crowded and got a bit noisy. Then it was time to drop Maire off in Truro and for me to start the long trek back to Emsworth, where we’d booked a final gourmet dinner at our favourite restaurant, Darbar, to celebrate the end of a memorable cruise and a happy outcome to the deal for both of us.

Gilbert Park’s best restaurants in the west country

Best food

The Angel at Dartmouth was the best experience of the whole trip. It offers two or three courses for a fixed price of £70 or £80 respectively (2023 prices). The cost of our meal, with a nice bottle of wine and service, was just over £200. Worth every penny. This was without doubt the gastronomic highlight.

Best value

Supha’s in Plymouth represented the best value of our cruise. It offers freshly prepared street food from Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and other Asian countries. The ambience is just as lively and informal as the food; families eating together, couples chatting and good food that is not too expensive. The total cost for two was about £70.

Best view

Juliet’s Garden restaurant in St Mary’s, Isle of Scilly, has incredible panoramic views across the harbour and Sound. While we ate our quiches and drank a beer in the hot sun, we watched all sorts of small boats coming and going as well as a large liner dropping anchor. Two quiches and two beers came to £30.

Most entertaining

The Restaurant on the Quay, also in St Mary’s, certainly provided us with the best entertainment. This ranged from cooking your own food at the table on a hot stone, to watching the resident robot waiter clear away the empty dishes. The cost of our meal here was about £90.

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