Fifteen, Cornwall: A Review

From eating at his Jamie’s Italians that are littered across the country to owning nearly all of his amazing recipe books, I’ve always been a Jamie Oliver’s fan. Last weekend it was my mum and dads 29^th Wedding anniversary, and because my dad was out of the country doing an amazing cycling effort for charity, myself and my sister Kate thought we’d treat her to a lovely lunch at Jamie’s Watergate Bay restaurant, Fifteen.

I’d heard a lot about Fifteen and all the amazing work that goes with the two restaurants in London and Cornwall. Set up without the purpose of financial gain, all profits from Fifteen go to the Cornwall Foundation of Promise, which plucks young people from disadvantaged and difficult situations and trains them up to become great chefs. I love both Jamie’s food and the Fifteen story so I knew we’d be in for an amazing afternoon of food.

To start, the location was beautiful. The entire restaurant was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows giving picturesque views of Watergate Bay and the restaurant itself was littered with water balloon like light fixtures, and an ornate wooden tree trunk reception desk welcoming you in its friendly atmosphere. In terms of pricing, yes it is more than Jamie’s Italians, but at £26 for two courses (three for £32) we found it really reasonable, as we knew we’d receive some delectable food. After scoffing down the perfect Mojito (mum was on the Daiquri’s and my sister was on Raspberry Refreshers) at the bar, we sat down with rumbling tummies in front of the sea view ready to tuck in to lunch.

Onto the food, and yep you guessed it- it was delicious. I started off with the ‘Mozzarella di bufala with fennel, zucchini and Amalfi lemon’ followed by delicately stuffed artichoke hearts with rocket and the tastiest tomato sauce I have ever had.  Mum had the ‘Ricotta gnocchi ‘alla Norma’, Vulscombe goats cheese’ for main, and when I say the gnocchi was amazing I mean it was that perfectly light it resembled of what I think clouds would taste like. Kate went for the seafood special pasta of the day- and you can bet that all was all responsibly sourced as Fifteen is supported by the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide and makes careful use of Cornwall’s marine resources. Going in with the intention to have a desert, I hate to say that all three of us were that stuffed we couldn’t eat another mouthful. Finishing lunch with a creamy cappuccino overlooking the sea, it was the perfect ending to an extraordinary dining experience.

We had the most incredible time at Fifteen- it was the perfect place to celebrate (which we were most definitely doing that day) and to spend time with loved ones. Despite Jamie Oliver getting a lot of stick, there is no denying that this initiative of his is outstanding. Us Brits hardly needed another excuse to go down to the South West for a weekend at the beach, but this is definitely another.

Get all the information about Jamie’s Fifteen here.

Have you been to Fifteen in Cornwall or London before? What did you think?

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