The Idle Rocks in St. Mawes, Cornwall, has been announced as the winner of the United Kingdom’s 2018 Seafood Restaurant of the Year by the United Kingdom's Seafish authority.
The competition, now in its fourth year, was launched to highlight great use of seafood and knowledge of often under-used seafood products, in all types of restaurants.
The Idle Rocks was awarded the title for its exemplary customer service, backed up by a mystery audit by Seafish, and its offerings of a diversity of locally-sourced fish cooked in a variety of methods. The restaurant, led by head chef Guy Owen, was also praised by the judges for its sourcing and sustainability practices and for its dedication to training and developing its teams about provenance.
“We are absolutely over the moon to be awarded the Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2018. This is, without a doubt, all thanks to the fantastic team here – who work so hard to understand our food and ensure that we are responsible and sustainable in order to protect the biodiversity of our oceans,” Owen said
The Idle Rocks is a privately-owned, 19-bedroom waterfront Relais & Chateaux hotel with a 65-seat restaurant. Its chef team works very closely with local seafood suppliers, including Fish for Thought and The Wild Oyster Company.
Most of the fish on the menus is specimen rod- or line-caught, mainly by day-boat fishermen.
The restaurant introduces new and alternative species of fish and shellfish to the menu as and when they are in season or available from local suppliers and aims to utilize under-used species as often as possible including gurnard, whiting and silver mullet – but only ever fish from Cornish waters.
