Lunch at Fifteen's

Well, I wasn't planning on starting like this, I always thought that I would have posted about self-cooked bites...
Anyway, we are in Cornwall, at Watergate Bay to be precise. And just 100mt from our apartment we have Fifteen, the restaurant launched last year by Jamie Oliver.

So, we booked a table for lunch on Mon 2nd April 2007 at 2.30pm - dinner is out of question with our daughter - the only slot available for the whole week.

Let's start with the atmosphere: it is definitely a nice and friendly restaurant, with stunning views of the bay (the restaurant is right on the edge of the bay) and with a smooth style that immediately puts you at ease. The average age of the waiters and chefs is definitely under 30's. Basic furniture and almost minimalist tableware complete the picture.

First things first: drinks and (good) complimentary bread. Still water definitely good, tasty but not too heavy. I had a glass of house wine - a british chardonnay! - and guess what: it was pretty good! The bread came with a light and tasty extra virgin olive oil, very fruity and perfectly balanced.

We decided to go for a starter and a main course, although the menu was very Italian style, with first and second course.

Eileen had local crab soup with a crostone (big crouton, to make it simple). The crostone had some olive bits in it and came with a kind-of ajoli sauce and some crumbs of parmesan. Unfortunately, Eileen did not like the sauce but ate pretty much of the rest. I tried the soup and I have to say it was very good. Laura had smoked mackerel salad, which I did not try.

I had risotto with pear, Colston Basset blue and walnut. The mix was simply superb. Well, a cheese and pear mix is pretty well known in Italy, but I have to say the chef here did his best and created a wonderful combination of tastes.

As a main course, Laura and I had pollock with mashed cauliflower and spinach leaves (and some light-taste herbs on top). That was simply fabulous! The taste of the mashed cauliflower was perfectly coupled with the tender meat of the pollock. A minor critic goes to the sautéed spinach, which were a bit too oily, so the leaves were crunchy and tasty, but the oil covered their flavour. Nevertheless, it was one of the best dishes I've ever tried.

We've got another couple of restaurants to try - St. Petroc Bistro Padstow and Sticky Prawn in Falmouth - let's see.