We enjoyed a lobster supper accompanied with a beautiful sunset over the sea last night, when we ate supper at Ben Tunnicliffe’s new restaurant at Sennen Beach
It was a significant birthday for Charles and I was thrilled when he choose Ben’s because we used to enjoy his cooking at the Michelin starred Abby restaurant in Penzance (We had fewer horses then!) many years ago.
A drive to Sennen
We set out with plenty of time to allow our old Land Rover to chug gamely along the winding road beyond Penzance leading to Land’ End. We drove in the last of the day’s sunshine and we watched the farmers at work in the fields, harvesting the second crop of silage along the way.
The road turns steeply down into Sennen and the first car park on the bend at the bottom took a little bit of negotiation, as the Land Rover doesn’t have the best of steering locks but with a short wrestle we slipped in to find a parking spot, probably just vacated by a beach goer. The diehard surfers were still bobbing out sea to even as the little girls carried their buckets and spades back to sandy cars.
Supper at Ben Tunnicliffe beach restaurant
The restaurant has wonderful deck perched just above the beach and it was packed with early diners, sitting in the comfortable sofas. However, we had booked a table inside as we hadn’t realise how lovely the evening would be. As it happened, our table was in a pool of sunshine beside the open French doors, with a view to die for out into the ocean, so we were very nearly outside.
Birthday super watching the sunset
To start with I chose melon and Charles went for his eternal favourite – mussels. The starter was followed at a well paced interval by the main course of lobster (a very reasonable treat at £15.75) with salad and proper chips. And OMG because it was a birthday we finished with a knickerbocker-glory!
As our coffee arrived the sun was starting to set over the sea and I slipped out on to the deck to take a quick snap as the smartly uniformed waiters set about sweeping the days collection of sand up from the still warm boards.
I was the driver for the evening – well it was Charles’s birthday and after a brief panic looking for the car key it was discovered still in the ignition …Ah hum …..and we chugged home at a stately thirty miles an hour which was my maximum for the hairpin bends along the way. I must say though I did have a bit of an entourage of potential rally drivers by the time I reached Penzance!
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