La Bouche Creole

Dockacre Rd, Launceston, Cornwell, UK
Visited 21st July 2009
Sometimes you've just got to write a place up because of its postcard. Being a Yuen Long restaurant certainly helps your chances of getting a mention here but there's a couple of other places that are just as likely to get you the gig. The suburban paradise of North Balwyn's of course one of them, but there's also places like Launceston in England where my grandmother and cousin live. I was in Cornwall for a week and with my mother and brother about we gathered family and friends for dinner at La Bouche Creole an interesting sounding place in a town that normally 'specialises' in kebabs, burgers and chips.
Cajun styled dishes using local Cornish produce is the flavour of the day at La Bouche Creole. The menu only has a choice of six starters, mains and dessert that give the impression of fresh and local ingredients. To start there were Creole favourites like gumbo and crab cakes, but I went with roasted pork belly, followed by seafood thermidor and pecan pie. The tender pork was outstanding; the richness of the Cajun spice seasoning and a sticky chilli dressing was balanced by fresh, chunky pineapple salsa. The thermidor was, too be honest, a bit disappointing; it was thin and over cooked, though the quality of the local prawns, mussels, scallops, crab and fish was obvious. Despite not loving the thermidor the steaks, chicken, salmon and pork being eaten around me all looked great. I'm not a big one for dessert but I couldn't resist a slice of pecan pie; packed with chunky nuts and dressed with a rich caramel sauce it was a sweet finish to a sweet meal. As you'd expect we drunk wine, lots of wine; our hoard slurped a Bergerac Rose, Argentine Malbec and Rioja which all went down well and offered decent value at between £11.50 and £16 a bottle.
Four generations of family and old friends always make for a special evening, yet there was more to our visit than the company. The atmosphere was welcoming and homely, while the tasty food was reasonable priced at £20 for two courses and £23 for three; perfect for a party like ours. La Bouche Creole is more than just a venue with a Launceston postcode, it's a great little restaurant that offers something rather different and just luckily happens to be in Launceston.

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