Turks Head, Penzance

Called here yesterday as they were holding a beer festival, and found a friendly pub, clean and tidy with a special ration book menu for the Jubilee weekend. There were 4 beers on stillage, Skinners Royal Wave, Penpont Queens Jubilee, a Hook Norton beer and one not ready. Taylors Landlord and a beer brewed for the pubs name. Skineers Ginger Tosser were on the bar, and when Ginger Tosser finished their Porthleven would follow. Beer was advertised as £3 a pint, so I was suprised to be charged £3.50 for 2 halves. Beers good though.

A cracking little restaurant/pub just off the main strip of town. Three Cornish ales were on offer when I visited in good nick, so first impressions were positive. The menu looked good and Mrs Quinno-friendly so we both ate well - and I can thoroughly recommend this place on our experience. The fish was lovely and cooked quite above the average standard, the service was good too (given the amount we paid for a dire experience in the Seafood Cafe in St Ives a couple of days later, we really did appreciate the quality and value here even more in retrospect). The pub itself is a decent size, though watch the couple of steps you need to descend before you hit main bar. The inside has a few nik-naks lying around (as do most of the pubs in the area it seems) but they are a lot less physically obtrusive than others nearby. The old pub sign above the fireplace is a nice touch. All-in-all, well-worth a stop, especially if you fancy some nice food with a good local beer. Well done staff and management.

This quaint pub is situated down an attractive road running away from the town centre and is the town's oldest pub dating back to 1233. It was also the first pub in the country to carry the name Turks Head. A Spanish invasion in 1595 put paid to much of the original pub (as well as the Union Hotel a few doors up the road) and the current building is more 16th/17th century in appearance. The central doorway leads straight to the main bar, a warm and comfortable carpeted room with plenty of brass and copper nick nacks, trays, bedwarmers and a collection of tankards and water jugs. A brick fireplace in the corner has one of the old pub signs above it as an eyecatching centerpiece. To the right behind the bar is a neat and tidy room that appears to be used more for dining. A corridor to the left of the bar leads to a pleasant beer garden and the wall displays include another of the old pub signs and a collection of old Bank notes and coins. There is also a staircase down to a dungeonlike cellar bar (it was closed on my visit but I sneaked down for a peek) and there are apparently the remains of some old smugglers tunnels that run underneath the building as well as some priest holes. The general atmosphere is quite relaxing and having had only 3 landlords in the past 100 years, you can expect a good level of consistency regarding service and general ambience. 3 decent enough ales on my visit (Doom Bar, Sharps Own and Betty Stoggs + a further pump unused) and we also had a relatively inexpensive but good quality meal following a recommendation. Overall this is certainly one of the best pubs in town and somewhere away from the more unruly pubs that the town centre offers.

Official site of the Turks Head, includes menus and real ale list - www.turksheadpenzance.co.uk