The Longstore is the latest addition to Truro’s restaurant scene. It’s the sister restaurant to The Longstore in Charlestown, St Austell, which has consistently received rave reviews since opening in 2016. When my school friend, Laura, suggested meeting up for our first night out in about 20 years (I know!!), The Longstore was at the top of our list.
Situation in a gorgeous georgian house on Lemon Street, The Longstore covers 3 floors and offers outside dining space in its garden lounge. Even though I’ve yet to visit the Charlestown restaurant, it has an excellent reputation and I was excited to finally experience it for myself.
Walking into The Longstore, I instantly loved the decor. Gentle golds and greens, with hints of contemporary art deco. Light and relaxed, yet classy.
We ordered our drinks soon after sitting down, and we were taken through the specials board. Me and Laura were both driving, so kept it simple by ordering a small glass of wine. Red for me, and white for her. The Longstore boast a good cocktail menu with so many tempting options. I don’t know about you, but I love cocktails and will definitely come back to enjoy one or two another time.
The Longstore Menu
The Longstore menu’s impressive, with a decent selection of grills, meat and seafood. As a non-meat eater, Laura was happy with the vegetarian options available. As someone who tends to eat a low carb diet, I was in seventh heaven too. Lots of meat and seafood choices. I particularly liked the choice of sides available for the grill, steak and seafood dishes. Here there’s chips, fries, sweet potatoes, new potatoes, as well as salad, seasonal vegetables or mac and cheese fritters to choose from (how good do they sound?).
Torn between the pork belly ribs and the sticky beef salad with chilli, lime and coriander, I eventually ordered the pork belly. I gave in to temptation and had some hand cut chips to go with. Not so low carb after all then! Laura was eyeing up the Jack Stack burger from the minute we looked at the menu, so I wasn’t surprised when she ordered it. For her side, she chose the seasonal veg.
Our food really didn’t take long to arrive. The pork belly rib was a generous portion: 2 thick slices of boneless meat. I only wish I could cook pork belly like they do at The Longstore. It was so smooth and easy to cut, my knife literally melted through it. It was absolutely delicious as well. I was enjoying it so much, I had to slow down to make it last as long as possible.
Laura’s burger was definitely a stack. Tempura battered jackfruit, accompanied with asian slaw, sweet soy and kimchi aioli. It tasted good too!
The side dishes proved to be a decent size. I rarely have chips at home so having some proper fat ones with my pork was just right.
After we finished our food, me and Laura talked some more and then made our way home. I was tempted to have a glass of wine at home, but you know what? I was quite full and totally satisfied. In the end, I had an early night with my food baby, feeling most content.
The Longstore, in Truro, also boasts a delicious brunch menu and serves Sunday lunch, so you don’t have to wait for the evening to enjoy their offerings.
Did I mention the impressive cocktail menu too?