Argoe

There's no more appetising way to eat fresh seafood than overlooking a harbour, with a busy fish market close by. Such is the scene at Argoe, which is perched above Mount's Bay at Newlyn. Classic European ways inform the menus, which might kick off with an appetiser of marinated octopus or deeply flavoured home-smoked cod's roe offset by sharp gherkins.

Summer visitors were mightily pleased with their crab, green beans and tomatoes, as well as 'meaty’ balls of minced and braised ray with saffron onions. A whole megrim sole straight from the grill provides a world of ozone-scented satisfaction, dressed in nothing more than browned butter and lemon (‘a faultless piece of fish cookery’), while grilled lobsters (‘deliciously fresh and rich’) are reckoned to be particularly good value, simply doused in herb butter.

A winter menu might feature smoked hake with white beans and leeks, with hand-dived scallops, sardines and black bream being given the grill treatment. There are also a few creative veggie alternatives too – perhaps  roast carrots with pickled walnut and a soft boiled egg. Desserts are simple but far from a mere afterthought, taking in the likes of rhubarb pavlova or clementine sorbet blasted with vodka. A short list of constantly changing but quite pricey low-intervention wines has included a pét-nat version of Beaujolais rosé and a skin-contact German Riesling.