A journey to the South West of England always brings a smile to my face, as I know it’s a time for me to exhale from the frenzy of London. And being close to my birth town, Bristol, always brings out to natural sense of calm in me. This time I was heading further south to Plymouth in Devon for a very exciting boat race – Route des Princes.
The race was created by Prince de Bretagne, who are producers of fresh vegetables, and the event was designed to highlight the relationship between the land and sea that surround the production of local food.
Open exclusively to multi-hulls of 50ft and over, the race is a tour of Europe travelling from Valencia to The Bay of Morlaix, via Lisbon, Dún Laoghaire and Plymouth. The race was going to be docking in Plymouth Harbour for two days and I arrived in the late afternoon of day one, when Plymouth was buzzing, not only from the race, but also from a local food festival that was happening on the waterfront.
Plymouth Lighthouse – Smeaton’s Tower
I mostly cruised around Plymouth Hoe area, which is in the heart of Plymouth with stunning views overlooking the harbour and sea. It’s also where a 72ft lighthouse sits called Smeaton’s Tower – you can take a tour up it for around £2.50. I chose to go and fill my belly instead at the Terrace Café, that’s tucked into Plymouth Hoe’s cliff face – it’s relaxed, modest and very good value at £5.95 for a jacket potato with prawns and also offers a lovely sea view.
Jacket Potato with Prawns
Plymouth
Race Celebrations
Evening was all about celebrations, where prizes were given to the winners of that leg’s race, culminating in a concert on the Hoe. It was here that I got to meet my crew for the next days boat trip on the Prince de Bretagne 80ft Trimaran, as well as meeting press and trade guests.
We were all taken out for dinner to Tanners Restaurant, owned by the Tanner brothers, James and Chris – James being a regular on various cooking programmes. The three-storey high restaurant is mightily impressive. It’s built around a courtyard and set within 15th century Prysten House, which is believed to be the oldest domestic building in Plymouth.
Crew at Tanners Restaurant – Courtyard
Press and Trade guests – Tanners Restaurant (from left to right: Elodie Arjona, Piers Jarvis, Estelle and Ronnie George
After very fine canapés in the courtyard we took to a stone spiral staircase leading to a very grand room where we dined for the evening. I was half expecting King Henry VII to make an appearance at the grand table, but no royalty on this occasion. Well, apart from the crew who are known as the ‘Princes’ of the race, as they are the ones who drive and support the formidable boats.
Dinner was a very modern affair with locally sourced produce. My starter of chicken liver parfait resembled the after effects of a good/bad night out, suffice to say I wasn’t that enamoured with it. Flavour wise the parfait was light, fresh with a delicate sweet note, that turned slickly sweet with the addition of sweet granola and sweet chutney, making it all a bit – you’ve guessed it – sweet.
Better though, was my main of a beautifully cooked lemon sole with tasty little gems of brown shrimps, spinach and nut butter sauce. Followed by a very decent crème brûlée to finish. It was nice, but the meal didn’t really live up to the exuberance of the medieval setting.
Breakfast Parfait
Lemon Sole
Creme Brulee
So, my first day at Plymouth was all about the eating and greeting. The second is going to be about the sailing, with a bit more eating, but mostly sailing. Part 2 to follow…
Day 2 – kitted up and ready for action!
For more information on things to see and do in Plymouth see here.
Many thanks to Prince de Bretagne for hosting me on this trip.
