Cornwall’s coastal beauty spot Port Isaac has long been a tourist hub for fans of the light-hearted TV drama Doc Martin, set in the hilly streets and around the narrow bay, but Nathan Outlaw is becoming a new centre of attraction. The jovial, bearded, very hands-on chef – who once worked for that other star of the South West restaurant scene, Rick Stein – has created a mini, family-run empire of tasting menus and tasteful places to stay.
The accommodation
The Guesthouse is a beautifully restored Victorian building
Outlaw’s Guest House A 10-minute walk from the harbour, this restored Victorian guest house sits on a hill across the road from the South West Coast Path (which takes you down to the village) with wild sea and coast views. The décor is contemporary coastal, pale with fish and seafood-inspired artwork. There are nine rooms with spectacular views – mine had French windows opening on to a seaview balcony. Downstairs is the lounge with a small bar (at times an honestly bar) where you can sip cocktails such as the Cornish Winter Warmer… local bubbly (Trevibban Mill rose) with a heady home-made mix of cider brandy, amaretto and angostura bitters). The breakfast room (sea view, obviously) is a light, airy spot.
A Guesthouse room with seaview balcony
Outlaw’s Coastal Retreats Tucked away around the corner from the Fish Kitchen, elegantly restored Grade II-listed Kittiwake Cottage sleeps six in three en-suite bedrooms. Coastal vintage chic, all pale colours and exposed beams with a log-burner and fireplace. Separate in a private courtyard, Kittiwake Annexe has a lounge/kitchenette and en-suite double bedroom. For both, the fridge is stocked with essentials and there’s a first morning hamper of home-made bread and pastries.
The restaurants
Michelin-starred New Road with its panoramic outlook
Outlaw’s New Road Across the road from the Guest House, panoramic windows offering even more stunning views. This was two Michelin-star Restaurant Nathan Outlaw until COVID curtailed our eating habits. The new beginning has one Michelin star and a sensational seafood-tasting menu (£175) at both lunch and dinner – it’s recommended that you allow three and a half hours for dinner, maybe wolfing it down it two at lunch. Lunch also features a la carte dishes. Along with increasing lobster stocks, bluefin tuna – the biggest 7ft long – is now caught again locally and the tuna steak with peppercorn hollandaise and magnificently delicate deep-fried crispy cavolo nero is sublime. The tasting menu, nine exquisite mini dishes, also include crab, turbot and lobster, plus several desserts.
Tireless Nathan taking personal charge in the Fish Kitchen
Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen In the heart of Port Isaac, a 15th-century fisherman’s cottage staring across the road at what is sometimes a tiny, beach where shellfish are collected and more often sea from where fishermen still sail from (sea that sometimes slips under the front door). Nathan describes New Road as “the serious one” with this as “like the naughty sister or brother”.
There are 16 seats, low ceilings and rustic decor and dinner is the delicate, delectable Fish Kitchen To Share tasting menu. Less Cornwall-centric than New Road, we had seared tuna with mushroom and lime although raw tuna with tomatoes, mint and coriander also pops up, along with anything else that’s available on the day, from Port Isaac lobster to mackerel to hand-dived scallops. The ever-changing £95 menu is also available at lunch along with a la carte dishes.
Simple yet sensational, local bluefin tuna with peppercorn hollandaise and crispy cavolo nero at New Road
Guest House Breakfast Room Not open to passers-by yet a destination in itself. Nathan’s wife, Rachel, is in charge – and their 19-year-old daughter Jessie excels at baking pastries and muffins (as well as afternoon cakes). But Nathan is here to cook – I had an exquisite kedgeree with local haddock at the expense of the Full Cornish (starring local sausages and hogs pudding), the smoked Bocastle trout with scrambled eggs or the porridge with Cornish clotted cream and prune compote).
The breakfast view from the Guesthouse, with New Road on the left
What is there to do in Port Isaac?
The South West Coast Path runs between beach and Fish Kitchen
Port Isaac’s link with Doc Martin, 10 series from 2004 to 2022, means reality and unreality goes hand in hand. Fans will recognise the vistas and the picturesque cottages hidden down steep lanes. A walking tour that deals in the minutiae of settings and scenes, yet is fun not just for fans, is led by the engagingly chatty, funny John Brown, a sometime fisherman and a member of the Fisherman’s Friends sea shanty singing group (he was part of an October 2024 Royal Albert Hall show). Port Wenn (the village name in the show) Walk & Talk is £12.50 and bookable from the Harbour Treats shop next to the Fish Kitchen.
The Guesthouse view, Tintagel headland in the distance
Explore the South West Coast Path. A couple of hours’ walk south is the stirring National Trust-protected Pentire headland, all rocks and cliffs, with Pentireglaze lead mine. Lundy Bay is on the way. Look the other way and you’ll see Tintagel Castle on its headland, only a 10km stroll, passing wild Tregardock and Trebarwith beaches. You can get buses back but better to work up an appetite for dinner.
Should you need more food, Padstow, home of Rick Stein’s restaurant empire, is only a 25km drive. The bright lights and beaches of Newquay are 15km farther.
How much
One- and two-night gourmet stays with dinner are available year-round. The Winter Foodie Getaway, November to March, is an annual favourite – from £715 for two nights for two people with dinner (once at Fish Kitchen, once at New Road), bed and breakfast. https://outlaws.co.uk/