The Shore in Penzance is totally out of this world. Bruce Rennie is producing absolutely incredible food and I swear he’s well on his way to a Michelin Star.

He mans his kitchen every night alone, yes, you heard right he makes dishes for an entire restaurant of people alone! And, those dishes change depending on the local ingredients available locally every day.

He creates culinary masterpieces from the local catches and produce he sources from earlier in the day and has just a few hours to put a new menu together.

It’s unique, creative and some of the best food I’ve ever eaten – there’s a handful of meals that I will never forget and this is on it.

If you’re headed to Cornwall book a table at The Shore for an epic food experience…

Henry, my partner discovered this restaurant weirdly through Instagram, chef Nathan Outlaw posted about Bruce’s cook book. He saw this, went on Bruce’s account and booked us in!

Before I start to show you the dishes we had on our visit, here’s a little bit about where it is and the chef and owner.

Location

The Shore is in the heart of Penzance, the most westerly major town in Cornwall, and it’s a very short walk just the high street.

Bruce Rennie

Bruce has a love for the shore and an affinity for where the land meets the sea, he channels his creativity into his food and it’s packed full of love, care and attention. You can see that from the dishes that come out of his kitchen.

Not only is he the chef but he’s also fixed up the restaurant, is the receptionist and sometimes the waiter! Unsurprisingly he makes absolutely everything, even the bread.

All he wants is for you to have a good time in a relaxed environment eating the freshest of his creations. We got to meet him after our meal and he was so lovely and down to earth, you can see how his restaurant really does reflect his philosophy.

His credentials are impressive, learning from industry greats he then went on to head up the kitchens for some of the top chefs in the country. Some of his most notable were Michelin starred Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh, Michelin starred Shanks in Northern Ireland, Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein.

All of this before making his own mark on the food industry with The Shore.

If you like good food then you need to put this restaurant on your bucket list to experience!

The Shore’s Menu

Here’s the seven course menu, on the day I went, in all its glory! If you decide to book and go remember it will be an entirely different menu based on the sea food and produce sourced that day.

This menu was the complete package and had the wow factor, we booked this meal to celebrate our anniversary and it was a truly special dinner.

The food was out of this world, the service was impeccable and well, I honestly don’t think I have enough words to describe how awesome this meal and evening was. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I could shout it from the roof tops. Get that man a Michelin goddam star.

I can’t wait to show you the courses, take a look…

Bread

Seaweed and sesame roll, dipping sauce

Soda bread, Cornish sea salted butter

The seaweed was like rolled into the buns and they were delicious, it’s a combination you wouldn’t think works but totally get once you have tried it.

Cornish Mushrooms

Mushroom and seaweed tea

Beautiful pieces of mushroom were on a puree that mixed into the tea when you poured it over the top to make a type of broth.

Crispy Porthilly Oster

Beetroot

I’ve never, ever, had a deep fried, seaweed wrapped beetroot topped oyster. I’m not overly keen on oysters and I hate beetroot and I thought this would be the one thing on the menu that would let it down. Oh how wrong was I? Turns out that you just need to deep fry an oyster for me to like it!

This was one of my favourite things on the menu, and the flavour was sensational but is unbelievably difficult to describe. The beetroot’s earthiness balances out the strong seaweed and oyster flavours tying it together as a dish.

Cured Monkfish

Cucumber, fennel

The cured monkfish honestly looked like a piece of art. the vivid colours, delicate placement and overall style was superb, fresh and it was a delight to eat.

Gurnard

Aubergine, bone sauce

This course was a lot meatier with a much bigger piece of Gurnard which had a lovely crispy top and a bone sauce that was fantastic.

Hake

Runner beans, seaweed broth

The hake had a little pour over magic like the earlier mushroom dish.

It meant the fish and the runner beans sat in clear thing broth which doesn’t look like anything at all but was packed full of flavour.

Raspberry

Semifreddo, basil sorbet

Zingy raspberry paired with basil sorbet. Can I get a hell yeah?! That basil sorbet – oh holy smokes, it’s one of the reasons we bought the recipe book, I’m going to try and make it – wish me luck I’m no Bruce Rennie!

Refreshingly light and sweet but without being horribly sugary, it was the perfect end to the meal.

Did it taste as good as it looks? IT SURE DID. I know I honestly could rave about this place until my voice got hoarse.

There’s also an optional drinks flight that complemented each course but both Henry and I don’t drink much so we decided just to enjoy the food.

We also had coffees afterwards as we had a long drive back to North Cornwall and it came out with these stunning petit fours on a bed of coco nib ‘gravel’.

Like I said earlier, we met Bruce afterwards in his natural habitat – his kitchen! He was winding down service and we got to ask him a few questions about what it was like to do a service by himself with a couple of waiters to run food to tables.

If you like the look of the kind of food he makes and you’re headed to Cornwall this year, you need to get The Shore booked in!

Watch the video to find out more…