Cornwall Restaurant Guide

Following Emily Scott’s departure and well after the conclusion of our annual diners’ poll, Chris Eden (the first Cornishman to win a Michelin star in Cornwall, apparently) has – since October 2024 – taken over the stoves at this famous hotel, which enjoys fine coastal views from the dining room.

Adam Handling scores more bouquets than brickbats for this luxurious venue overlooking Carbis Bay: part of a new luxury resort which hit the papers in 2021 when it hosted the G7 summit a few months before his dining room opened here. Fans say the ambitious cuisine is “innovative, if expensive” and “excellently sourced, fresh local and seasonal”. Not everyone is wild about the interior however (“while it has an excellent view, it can seem rather echoey due to the large expanse of glass and hard surfaces”) and one or two reporters also query value here (“a very large bill for an underwhelming meal and strange decor”). Still, no-one rates the cooking as less than good, and many say it’s exceptional.

“Good burgers” – “as good as they get in Cornwall” – from high-welfare grass-fed West Country beef are key to the success of Richard Boon’s small chain, which has grown over 22 years from its original venue in St Ives to 10 branches, as far north as Cardiff and as far east as Portsmouth. There’s “plenty of choice” on the menus, including chicken options and local craft beers.

“Another Rick Stein group outpost near to its base in Padstow” – this time a rangy boozer whose “good pub food” continues to tick the boxes (even if “the number of dogs can be an issue”) and which is most profitably enjoyed in the garden come summer. They now have fancified shepherds’ huts for overnighting, and the first meal of the day is “a real highlight” if you do (“never have I enjoyed a hotel breakfast like it”).

“Reliably good food with some interesting touches” is on the menu at this hotel bistro in an old stone building in the heart of the town from the Rick Stein group, with what is perhaps a surprisingly large proportion of non-fish dishes. It’s also generally “good value”.

It’s impossible to assess “Rick Stein’s original restaurant in the seaside town of Padstow” without viewing it through the lens of his TV fame and its place in UK food history, having opened in 1975 and having helped put ‘Padstein’ on the map as a major foodie destination. Nowadays run primarily by Rick’s ex-wife Jill and her sons, this sizable, relatively straightforward dining room near the water remains one of the top-40 most commented-on places outside London in our annual diners’ poll. Numerous diners who comment are long-term visitors, and though the verdict still tends to the positive their collective opinion waned a little this year. To its most ardent supporters it remains “as good as ever”: a “stunning restaurant in a beautiful harbour setting with an incredibly large menu mixing inventive dishes alongside all the classic fish and seafood dishes”: “the food he does best, fish in attractive ways, served without fuss and delicious”; and it “couldn’t be fresher”. Fairly, even some fans acknowledge that “these days, there are many more quality options in the town and surrounds”, but they feel “it still represents excellent value for the standard of a meal”. Inevitably, as is the case every year, there are some detractors who feel that “standards have declined since Rick handed over the reins but the prices have increased”. This year, though, saw a more marked deterioration in the mark for service in particular and more significant disappointments in general (“after 22 years visiting this restaurant, I‘m compelled to express dismay at its descent in my estimation. The mojo of the place has fallen, although we’ve given it several chances in the last year or so. I’m tempted to post a crying face emoji at this point, but maybe that would be just a little too tacky!”). Still, overall the winning view remains that it’s “always a treat coming to Padstow and sampling the freshest of fish at the Seafood Restaurant for that special occasion”.

“Still helping set the standard for fine dining in Cornwall after all these years and still evolving with new dishes, although on the surface nothing ever seems to change” – Paul Ainsworth operates “the best restaurant in the foodie heaven of Padstow” and his only serious rival in this neck of the woods is Nathan Outlaw down the coast. “Mind-blowing food with on-point service and incredible attention to detail” is the tenor of all of the many reports we receive on the “excellent local ingredients cooked to perfection from an impressive open kitchen”, all within a cute Georgian townhouse. (“Have been going here since they first opened: it has been a great pleasure to watch it develop into a quite fabulous restaurant and it rarely, if ever, misses a beat”). “Worth every penny (or pound…)”

One of the TV chef’s four venues in his flagship town, fans say this is a “marvellously run café” and tip it as a top choice for breakfast (“the freshly made kedgeree is outstanding”). On the downside, it has almost as many foes, who find it “so overpriced and disappointing”.

“To be honest it’s hard to find fault” with Rich & Katie Toogood’s “tiny” but “so welcoming” seafood specialist (the Cornish spinoff of their London HQ) – “a template for how to run a restaurant”, with “friendly staff who guide you through the high-quality sharing-plates menu” and “a surprisingly interesting wine list”. They also run a large, semi-permanent pop-up, Barnaby’s at Trevibban Mill Vineyard, just a short drive from Padstow.

Paul Ainsworth’s casual and reliably buzzy venture is still “great” by most accounts, turning out small plates, heftier fare plus popular Neapolitan-style pizzas as part of its homage to the Mediterranean. For the odd sceptic still not convinced by its 2020 bistro reinvention, however, there’s a sense that these days it’s rather “trading on a name”.

About to enter its 15th year of operation, Fred & Donna Beedles’s well-established venue is a favourite for some diners and “always delivers quality and exceptional value”. It’s a low-key place, in a parade of shops off the road down into the harbour.

A “lovely setting” is the obvious draw to this New England-inspired hotel on the Roseland Peninsula, overlooking Gerrans Bay from its clifftop location. Praise came this year for the “well-presented and prepared fine-dining” offered by its restaurant, but change is afoot, hence we’ve left it un-rated for the time being. In July 2024, after our annual diners’ poll concluded, owners for the last 22 years, Paul & Fiona Robinson retired, selling the property to an investor. Plans are afoot for an upgrade with 20 extra bedrooms, improvements to the bar and dining room and the addition of a spa.

“Great food cooked interestingly with great local ingredients” keeps reporters coming back to this “dog-friendly” pub in a stone building dating back to circa 1460 (and whose rangy garden overlooks the local church). Given the “‘back lane’ location” off the usual Cornish tourist trail, it’s a surprisingly “busy place” – its popularity certainly not hurt by the good-value set-lunch deals.

“Eating here on a summer’s evening is a real treat, given the setting” – a Relais & Châteaux hotel with a fantastic position including “fabulous views” over the sea. The menu can seem “a bit eclectic”, and even the odd fan feels the food sometimes “maybe doesn’t quite match the setting”. All of the good number of diners who report recommend it however, rate the cooking as either “very good” or “exceptional”, and say “if you don’t mind the prices, it’s very enjoyable”!.