Christmas at The Rising Sun: Party Nights, Roasts and Rooms on the Beach
Christmas at The Rising Sun, the free house on the beach at Portmellon a mile from Mevagissey, means three Xmas Party Nights with live bands, Sunday roasts every week through December, work parties where you pay for what you eat rather than a set price per head, and rooms upstairs with the sea outside the window from £110 a night. This post is the whole of December in one place. The menu itself is on our Christmas menu post.
When are the Xmas Party Nights?
Three Saturdays, three bands, the bar open late:
Saturday 28 November, live music from 7.30pm
Saturday 12 December, live music from 7.30pm
Saturday 19 December, live music from 7.30pm, the last Saturday before Christmas
The Christmas small plates run all evening, so you can eat properly or just pick at things between songs. These are the nights to bring a work team, a group of friends, or a family that wants someone else to do the washing up. Book a table for any of them; the 19th goes first.
Is there a set price for Christmas parties?
No, and that's on purpose. The Christmas menu is sharing plates, so your table orders what it wants and pays for what it has. It suits groups where one person eats like a horse and another just wants chips and a glass of wine, and it means nobody is paying £40 a head for a turkey dinner they didn't fancy.
Parties of more than ten pay a £100 deposit to hold the table, which comes off the bill on the night. Tell us the date and the numbers and we'll come back with options the same day: hello@therisingsuninn.com. If you'd like the restaurant to yourselves, ask about private hire.
What about Sunday roasts in December?
Every Sunday from 12 to 3pm: topside of beef, free-range chicken, slow-cooked pork belly or a cauliflower cheese steak, each plated with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, charred hispi cabbage, cauliflower cheese, roasted roots and gravy. Roasts from 19, children's roast 14, and extra bowls of anything for the table at 5. Live music most Sunday afternoons from 3pm, so lunch tends to turn into the afternoon.
December Sundays fill up, particularly the two before Christmas. Book rather than hope.
Can we stay over?
Yes. Our rooms are upstairs, with the sea in front of you when you open the curtains, and in winter they start at £110 a night, room only. No breakfast, so you can have a lie-in and wander into Mevagissey for one, a mile along the coast road. Dogs are welcome in the pub but not in the rooms.
A room means the party doesn't end with someone watching the clock for a taxi back to St Austell. Rooms are on the rooms page.
Is Portmellon worth it in December?
The beach is fifty yards from the bar, the sea is loud, and on a clear night you can see the lights of Mevagissey from the car park. Dog walkers come down from the coast path, the fire's on, and the Christmas lights are up. If you're weighing up a winter trip, we've written about whether Cornwall is worth visiting off-season (short answer: yes, and it's cheaper).
We're a free house, so the beer is ours to choose: Cornish ales and lagers on the bar, with something new on when we find it.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day
We are open Christmas Day 11am to 2ish, come down and have a few pre dinner drinks we Kelly, Scott and the Team. Boxing Day this year is a family day for us, so we are shutting the pub for the family to enjoy a day of celebrations.
How to book
Tables and Party Nights: book online or call 01726 473214
Work parties, groups of ten or more, private hire: hello@therisingsuninn.com
Rooms: rooms page
The Rising Sun Inn, 2 Portmellon Park, Portmellon, Mevagissey, Saint Austell PL26 6PL. Dogs welcome in the pub, as always.