A rare find these days and a far cry from the mass produced 'theme pubs'. This quintessential British pub is located on Porth beach overlooking a photogenic Newquay paradise. In the summer, the beach is littered with families building sandcastles and surfers alike.
Perhaps not so pleasant to look at from the outside, with an unappealing stone frontage and a no nonsense, no frills, non exotic approach inside. The Mermaid is split into a bar facing the busy road and a larger lounge area backing onto the sandy beach, together with an outside seating area for when the sun decides to shine through. The bar has all the charms of a true 'locals' pub, with a convivial atmosphere, an open wood fire for those cold winter nights and customers enjoying a game of darts or pool. All in all this place has a relaxed, welcoming vibe with charming staff and canine friends enjoying crunchy treats, mainly of the Walkers crisp variety.
The selection of lagers and beers are pretty standard fare. For those partial to a 'tap' San Miguel or two, this Spanish delight is a rather sturdy, robust pint, guaranteed to make you rather tipsy after a tipple or two! It is quite a potent, pokey little number, so take care.
In terms of food, there is rather a large foldable menu of traditional dishes with additional, slightly more adventurous, specialities on the black board. Keen as I was to try all of the old favorites from years gone by, the extensive menu made it quite difficult to make a choice. A whole array of childhood tastes including chilli con carne or curry half and half (a real 'South Waleon' concept), scampi or fish and chips, ham, egg and chips, gammon with egg and/or pineapple, an assortment of burger choices, steak and ale pie and much more.
After much reminiscing and ruminating, my Grandpa decided on the crispy cod and chips, whilst the remainder of us settled on the steak and ale pie. The plate arrived with a large bowl containing succulent chunks of beef steak, laced in a lucious Doom beer gravy, topped with a puff pastry crust. The chips, clearly freshly cooked, rather than the flimsy finely cut frozen variety, lined the plate, acting as a perfect platform to soak up the juices.
Memories fully accommodated, bellies full, all plates cleared and hardly a trace of the contents left behind, we were all satisfied with our choices.
I'm afraid Newquay is rather lacking on the culinary front, but this place is definitely worth a visit if you are in the vicinity and fancy a trip down memory lane.
We may live without friends; we may live without books
But civilized men cannot live without cooks.
- - Owen Meredith
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