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Detail Pages
Turks Head, Penzance
Penzance
TR18 4AF
Pub Type
Punch TavernsReviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
paulof horsham left this review about Turks Head
This one's very much focused on the middle class dining experience with Bill Withers and similar Bland FM fare blaring out of the speakers. The bar offered Doom Bar and TT Landlord with Atlantic Pale on it's way. Neck Oil is the craftiest the taps get. It's doing a roaring trade, though, so what do I know? I got fed and watered, the latter admittedly not as excitingly as I might have liked, so maybe I'm not the target demographic.
On 20th September 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Turks Head
This small pub has been more than well described below. I visited it on an early Wednesday afternoon to find it food orientated but not gastro. It didn't have the rubber necks that the Admiral Benbow seems to attract. I noticed an old pub sign in a corner with the same alarming looking character but the brewery name Devenish on it.
The bar has five hand pumps which had Old Rosie cider, Skinners GTA & Betty Stogs, Doom Bore and St Austell Liquid Sunshine. I went for the GTA (£3.80) which was in good nick but expensive for a beer with an abv under 4.0%.
On 25th June 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malcolm Nicholls left this review about The Turks Head
Probably the best pub food in the town, including (unsurprisingly) fresh fish. It's not very big, as described in the previous post, particularly when weather does not permit use of the outside area. Good If unadventurous beer choice. Very close to the Admiral Benbow, an unmissable experience for visitors to the town.
On 23rd March 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 16 recommendations about 16 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about The Turks Head
A lovely little terraced cottage pub, in white render, with a beer garden area. It extends somewhat at the back and there is a long passageway that takes you down to the bogs and garden from the main pub - you need a drink to make it down there! Another pub that claims to be the the oldest here or there and has smugglers tunnels etc. I would take a guess that the name derives from local raids by Barbary Corsairs and the tunnels had a far more practical value to former uses of the property - anyway, we move on. The interior has an L-shaped room, with dining to one side and the bar area at the front. The decor is red and beam on the walls and ceiling and there is a little fireplace with an old pub sign over it. There are copious amounts of brasses, hanging jugs, bank notes, general prints and photos on the walls and dotted about. There was no TV and the music was supplied via the radio. The service was fine and the clientele more leaning towards the mature. Beer; usual tap stuff with Doombar, Betty Stoggs, Rebel's Black Rock Bitter (very good) and Sharpe's Turks Head (also fine) on handpull. This is a great little place; a nice fun interior and good beer - definitely one to visit.
On 28th April 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Turks Head
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.
On 2nd June 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Turks Head Inn
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.
On 14th April 2009
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Turks Head Inn
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.
On 6th April 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Peter Bailey left this review about Turks Head Inn
Could not agree more, excellent pub.
On 21st July 2007
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3 recommendations about 3 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tony Butler left this review about Turks Head Inn
Probably the best pub in Cornwall. Good selection of real ales, including guest beer. A very wide selection of good food at reasonable prices. The ideal combination of food and drinks.
For the benefit of us smokers, there is a spacious beer garden with canopy, umberellas and heaters.
On 6th July 2007
- rating: 10
[User has posted 27 recommendations about 26 pubs]