Ross Tucknott: Cornwall, Sport & All Sorts

It’s that time of year again, when couples across Cornwall prepare for the intimacy and tenderness which accompanies a romantic meal out on Valentines Day.

However, the Valentines dilemma as always is this: where to eat?

Now, personally I’m not the biggest fan of Valentines Day, largely because its my birthday and I’ve spent years of putting up with not being able to enjoy going out and celebrating because my friends are all cosied up to their other halves enjoy a romantic meal. As a result I’ll quite often go out in advance instead, celebrating the anniversary of Katie and I getting together too (that’s a story for another time!)

So how does this benefit you in your quest for a great Valentines Day out with your loved one? Well, this year my wife and I started our weekend with a meal out, and the food was so good I just had to tell you all about it!

Anyone looking for top quality Cornish cuisine on Valentines Day should look no further than the Golden Lion by Stithians Reservoir. The food is always great, with a wide selection of dishes to suit any taste, featuring locally sourced ingredients. Consistently high standards won the pub 1st place in the Cornish Tourism Awards Pub of the Year in 2007, as well as coming second in 2006 and third in 2009, and this year the pub was also awarded Wine House of the Year Award by St Austell Brewery at their Tribute Estate Awards.

Sounds great, right? But why should you go to the Golden Lion specifically on Valentines Day, when it’s great all year round?

Well, sitting on top of my menu last night was the Valentines Day specials list, and being an adventurous soul I decided to order both a starter and a main from the weekend’s specials. What a decision that turned out to be!

The starter I chose was a glorious twist on the traditional Chinese favourite starter of crispy duck rolls. A generous amount of duck sitting on a bed of salad was dressed with a delicious hoi sin sauce and adorned with – well, at this point my culinary expertise deserts me so I’ll refer to them as yummy crispy strips. The dish was thoroughly delicious and whilst a seasoned critic might complain that there was too much food there for a starter, my hunger levels certainly appreciated the sizeable portion size.

So onwards in to the Valentines Day menu main event, to a dish which just screamed from the menu to be eaten: pan-fried venison on a bed of ginger mash with roasted pear in a red wine sauce.

Hungry yet? Still don’t know where to eat?!

The dish was nothing short of brilliant. The flavours were delicate and melded seemlessly into a wonderful taste sensation, with the sauce, ginger and pear complementing a delicious piece of venison perfectly. That’s coming from someone who doesn’t usually like either mash potato or pears!

The dish in itself would have been perfectly adequate to fill a sizeable appetite, but once again the Golden Lion ensured that nothing was left to chance, adding a side order of extra vegetables and some boiled potatoes to guarantee that even the most voracious of Valentines Day diners would have their (culinary) appetites sated!

So there you have it: exceptional food, excellent drink and a cosy ambience with which to treat your loved one on Valentines Day, or indeed any other day of the year too! If you don’t know where to eat, then try the Golden Lion – leave a comment below if you enjoyed it too!

(BTW: I don’t know the owners of the pub and I haven’t been paid anything to write this either – I just enjoyed my meal their so much last night that I just had to write this and tell you all! Having said that, if you’re convinced that the Golden Lion needs trying for Valentines Day or indeed any other day please tell them what made your mind up – I might at least get a free pint of Tribute the next time that I eat there!)