Food with a view

We meet Rachel and Jane, owners of The Old Lifeboat House Bistro in Penzance.

Having forged a friendship over several years, when the opportunity came up for Rachel and Jane to take over The Old Lifeboat House, they snapped it up.

Jane, who had been a London based accountant for more than 20 years, had decided that it was a time for a change of pace and so relished the opportunity to set up a life in Cornwall on the south coast.

“Following the success of offering fresh oysters last summer, we’ll be offering them with a glass of bubbly alongside.”

Rachel, having grown up in Newlyn, felt moving to Cornwall was the natural choice, especially after the tumultuous time her and her son Lake had had during in his early years growing up with a life-threatening condition. As soon as she and Jane saw the bistro, with its uninterrupted views of Penzance harbour, they knew it was the opportunity they’d been looking for.

As the name suggests, the bistro is located in an old lifeboat house, and the building has been beautifully restored. There are plans to work with the RNLI in the coming months, with the aim of focussing both on the history of the building, as well as highlighting the courageous work of the local lifeboat crews over the years.
The bistro is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering daily seafood specials and using predominantly local produce.

And, this coming summer, Rachel and Jane will be introducing a new special to the menu – Bubbles and Pearls. Jane tells us: “Following the success of offering fresh oysters last summer, we’ll be offering them with a glass of bubbly alongside.”

Impressively, throughout the season last year, the bistro remained one of Penzance’s top restaurants, as rated by both Google and TripAdvisor! Jane finishes: “This year will see some slight chances to the menu, but we’ll remain focussed on maintaining our reputation for using locally sourced seafood at reasonable prices.”

It’s even dog friendly, and what could possibly be better than settling down with some ‘Bubbles and Pearls’, a bowl of water for the hound, and taking in the magnificent harbour views?