Philleigh Way: Woodfired Feast Nights in Cornwall

Philleigh Way isn’t just your average cooking school in Cornwall! As well as being the king of cookery classes, Philleigh Way also offers outstanding evening woodfired feast nights on the Roseland Peninsula just outside of Truro. Choose between shellfish, meat or seafood evenings and relax under the veranda accompanied with other foodie enthusiasts.

At the beginning of summer, my sister Niki and I were invited along to Philleigh Way to try out one of their Italian cooking classes. We both had such a fantastic time and we left the full-day class feeling like absolute top-notch Italian master chefs (read about how we got on here). Considering our incredible experience, Niki and I were extremely excited to be invited back to Philleigh Way for one of their popular woodfired feast nights.

Throughout the Summer the feast nights take place in the spectacular woodfired kitchen and dining courtyard. A truly beautiful setting. The sessions are loved by locals and visitors from afar. Each evening has its own theme - choose from shellfish, meat or seafood.

I mention all the time that my favourite food is shellfish - put a plate of mussels or crab in front of me and I am one happy girl. I bet you can guess the theme we went for?

We sat down at one of the long tables and instantly jumped into conversation with a lovely couple from London. We spent the evening drinking, laughing and chatting. The woodfired sessions are perfect for a group of friends/family but we loved being able to share a meal and get to know two complete strangers. The four of us got on so well and we even exchanged Instagram accounts before we left!

I could sit here and go on about the food for hours but I'm going to let the pictures do the talking. For starters, we had thai prawn patties served with thai salad and sweet chilli dressing followed by creamy cornish cider mussels with crusty bread. Mussels are one of my favorite foods so I was ridiculously happy to see them on the menu - the cornish cider sauce was incredible and after some convincing Rupert even gave us the recipe!

For the main course, we were completely spoilt by basque squid, woodfired lobster cooked in garlic butter and served with pea, broad bean, feta, roasted broccoli, and cornish mids. I haven't had lobster that many times so the real challenge was breaking it apart to find the meat. We had a real giggle with the couple that we made friends with and with the chef's help, we finally managed to figure out some lobster eating tactics. It was truly delicious.

For dessert, we tucked into burnt stone fruits, marmalade gin syrup, polenta sponge and creme fraiche ice cream. At this point, I was completely full but I still managed to eat the lot.

Rupert, who runs Philleigh Way is extremely knowledgeable and such a fantastic host. On the night he also welcomed Rob Wing of Wings Fish who is a Cornish fishmonger. Rob wing spoke to the guests about the treatment of lobsters in our waters. It was extremely insightful to learn a little more about where our shellfish comes from.

Niki and I had an incredible time at the Philleigh Way's Shellfish Woodfire Session. The food was exceptional, the setting was beautiful and the company was wonderful - a truly unique dining experience!

The Woodfire Sessions continue throughout the rest of the summer and September. We were kindly gifted the dining experience however all opinions are my own - we had a fantastic evening and would recommend to anyone looking for a good feed and an evening full of fun and laughter.