Mawgan Porth Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This “modern spa hotel with views out to sea” from its clifftop vantage point is fully geared-up for the eco tourist, with a solidly rated kitchen serving up sustainable meals from breakfast via lunch and afternoon tea to dinner, when there is a choice of tasting menus including vegetarian and vegan. Non-residents are now welcome to book, but it remains child-free.

One of a handful of restaurants in this famous hotel, this ultra-romantic outpost was born as a beachside pop-up, and is ably overseen by Scott, a fast-rising Cornish chef and cookbook author; whether opting for the lobster lunches or six-course seafood menus, you’re in for some “fantastic food” (although one or two regulars feel it comes at a cost).

2021 Review: “Windows overlooking the vineyard” afford views onto this peacefully located spot – run by Andy Appleton (a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall) although the “huge barn” it occupies can feel a tad “quiet” at less busy times. Numerous “excellent” meals are reported last year from its Med-slanted modern British menu.

2023 Review: “Never fails to bring joy to my heart” – Paul Harwood’s “lovely, intimate, high-quality seafood restaurant” right “by the sea” on Fistral Beach again wins a big thumbs-up in reports: “super fresh fish” is the big deal you’d hope, for somewhere with top views of the surf and sands.

Rick Stein’s large, much extended village pub has had its ups and downs in the past, but continues its recent upward curve; the worst that anyone had to say about the British pub grub on offer is that it was “OK” (and one fan praised the vegetable tart as a “little pie of dreams”). If the “barn-like dining area” doesn’t appeal, opt for the garden in summer – or make a night of it in one of the six new ‘shepherds’ huts’ on the property (far less rustic than they sound).

Costing £3 million and aiming to provide a ‘world class experience’, the new flagship destination at this landmark five-star hotel – a gigantic Victorian pile overlooking Fistral beach – opened in May 2023, too late for any feedback in our annual diners’ poll. The Headland offers tremendous sea views, and the new menu aims to showcase the best of Cornish fish and farm produce (RenMor means ’restaurant by the sea’ in Cornish). Maybe scope it out with a visit to one of the adjoining lounges for sarnies and cakes first – “afternoon tea looking out to sea couldn’t be more perfect”.