Porth, British, Modern 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.

“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”.

“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…)”

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.