The Halzephron Inn, Gunwalloe nr Helston, Cornwall
Having researched the 2010 Good Pub Guide before our week in Cornwall on the Lizard, we were very eager to visit the Hazlephron Inn, Gunwalloe, about three miles south of Helston, especially given that it had recently featured in a Times weekend feature of the best fifty pubs to eat in the countryside in Britain. It is generally advisable to book at the pub first if you intend to eat, but it was only just after twelve on a Sunday lunchtime out of season, so we thought we would just take a punt.
On arrival the small car park was already full and the field at the back of the pub was pressed into service as an overflow. It is always encouraging to arrive at a pub with a full car park and this perception was further enhanced by the number of awards adorning the door to the pub (see photo below).
The Hazlephron Inn started to fill up very quickly after our arrival, so we thought it best to get a food order in as quickly as possible. This was made difficult by the enormous choice on the Sunday menu, something that is not always available at other pubs where they tend to encourage everyone to have a Sunday Roast. As well as offering roast sirloin of beef and loin of pork, the Hazlephron Inn also had fish pie, braised lamb, scampi, pan-fried pollock and crab salad (something of a pub speciality) to name but a few. In addition, there was also an intriguing cheese board offering Cornish Brie, and local speciality cheeses such as a smoked one, Yarg and Abervale. These cheeses swayed me towards the Ploughman’s which at £8.50 was good value for money and it was very enjoyable to have a Ploughman’s without having to endure the predictability of a wedge of Cheddar which nearly always appears on 99% of the Ploughman’s I have ordered before in the past. My partner chose the Roast Pork and the meals arrived extremely quickly especially considering how full the pub was now.
The food and service at the Hazlephron Inn was first rate and by the time we had finished our main courses, several people wanting to order Sunday Roasts were given the bad news that it had all gone so we were very lucky to get some. Having also seen some of the desserts leaving the kitchen at the Hazlephron Inn, it was almost impossible not to be tempted and sure enough treacle tart and hot chocolate fudge cake were ordered each complete with a scoop of Roskilly’s delicious and award winning Cornish Ice-Cream.
To sum up, the pub was charming, as was the sea view, but the food and service was excellent and I would recommend it to anyone though would advise booking ahead. We would most definitely visit The Hazlephron Inn again, but the next time I would have to try the crab salad, to see if it lives up to the reputation it has.
This entry was posted on Sunday July 4th, 2010 at 12:00 PM and is filed under Places to Stay, Places to Eat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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