Review: Fitzroy, Fowey

Let me tell you about Fowey. It’s a town in Cornwall set on an estuary of inky-blue waters, with the picturesque little village of Polruan on the other side and a breezy scattering of little boats anchored in the channel. Nestled in amongst green and wooded hills, its streets are narrow and winding, and its buildings are a muddled mix of ancient fishing village and Victorian seaside town. There’s a small beach a short walk seawards from the harbour. The Cornish pronounce it “Foy”. Fowey is basically heavenly, more deserving of the phrase “picture perfect” than anywhere I know. I could retire here. It helps that there are a handful of decent places to eat.

And perhaps it explains why Fowey was chosen by the folks behind Primeur and Jolene for their first outing outside the capital. They’ve said they want to get closer to the produce, although I have a suspicion that the plate of delicious fennel salami we start with isn’t from Cornish piggies.

Fitzroy is properly London-ish, at least by Cornish standards, and we sit at the bar and watch the small team busy at work in front of us. It’s a small plate menu, and some of the plates are definitely small. This is a minor peeve, but it’s vexing when the size of small plates varies so much that you can’t tell whether you’ve ordered a full meal until it has all arrived. One dish from the first section (which I guess we could call “starters”?) was five tiny slivers of cured sea bass with a drizzle of oil and citrus, while another was five big chunks of breaded monkfish on a thick bed of homemade tartare sauce. Both delicious but one three times the size of the other. And then one of our dishes from the second section (which we might call “mains”?) was a big, friendly slab of pollack with potatoes and aioli while the other was a veg accompaniment-size dish of beans.

Which was bloody delicious, by the way. Stewed borlotti beans, basil and chard with a heavy drift of parmesan on top. Deeply flavoured and satisfying, this was really the dish that gave me a clue to why Primeur etc are so popular (we’ve not tried any of their London joints yet). The pollack was nicely cooked but it’s a piece of fish, some new potatoes, and a dollop of aioli. I can’t rave about it.

It was a nice supper before a long drive home. You might spend close to £40 each on something the size of a 3 course meal though, which to me is rather closer to London value than Cornish value. I can’t sniff much, though. I rather liked the place, liked the obvious enthusiasm of kitchen and front-of-house, and like having a bit of London pizazz in heavenly Fowey.