Wined, dined and rested.

Picture the scene: a sunny autumn day by the sea in Cornwall, and specifically Newlyn, which is Penzance’s huge fishing port. So no guesses as to the kind of food we had come here to find….

And right by the harbour, literally RIGHT by the harbour, is Argoe in a tiny restaurant not much bigger than a couple of shipping containers. It’s tiny but has gained an impressive reputation for its fishy sharing plates; clearly we needed to check it out.

To say it’s the other side of Newlyn harbour car park may not sound promising, and tripping over a rat box on our way from the car park to the restaurant even less so, but it has a terrace overlooking the fishing harbour which means you are constantly reminded of how very local the seafood is that you are enjoying. All the tables have a view of the harbour and it must be delightful in summer to sit on their terrace.

And oh yes, that word “enjoying” was the theme of our experience at Argoe; spoiler alert, everything was good and most of it was superb. Wine is served by the glass and the carafe as well as some by the bottle – we went for a carafe of Grüner Veltliner, quite an unusual find even in a bottle and cheeringly French in a carafe brought at the same time as the delicious warm bread with whipped butter.

After that we plunged in to a series of sharing plates, guided by our knowledgeable and friendly waitress. Even the fish soup can be shared and oh my goodness the only thing you would regret about ordering it would be the sharing side of things. I love fish soup, it’s one of my favourite things in southern French bistros, but here at Argoe I have now discovered the fish soup to end all fish soups. Wow.

You can see it is not the orangey colour of most French fish soup, but a picture cannot convey the velvety richness, the depth of the flavours, the sublime complexity of what a mouthful of this soup offers. We concluded that near the Mediterranean the fish stock used probably contains a lot of prawn, hence the colour, whereas here the local fish – and everything here is local, did I mention? – is less about the colour and more about how it’s been cooked. So yes, I had to share it because it was a sharing platter. Damn.  Next time no more Mr Nice Guy, it’ll all be for me.

Next to arrive were deep fried ray wing, with cabbage and aioli, and a plate of hand-dived scallops.

The ray was good, although I’m still not convinced by breadcrumbing it and frying it, but the scallops were fantastic. I had doubts about how tender they could be if grilled, but all doubts disappeared with the first mouthful. Zing Wow Ooo Delicious.

Our other two dishes were mixed kales with chilli and garlic, and flatbread with roast tomatoes,salt  lemon and labneh. They sound so simple, but the Argoe kitchen hits exactly the right balance between texture and flavour and it all floods your taste buds with layers of interest.  It is a testament to the staff’s skill that they can produce so many interesting dishes from what is not a large kitchen.

We finished our meal by sharing a baked cheesecake with brandy-soaked raisins, which was delicious and well worth saving some space for.

So I think we’ve found a new favourite restaurant in Cornwall, in a county where there is already quite a glut of good places to eat. We will definitely be back next time to enjoy whatever is on their menu then.