Redruth Restaurant Guide

“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.

“A new small restaurant serving really good seafood” that opened in late 2023. Feedback is still too limited for a rating but it looks promising – service is “enthusiastic” and the blackboard menu “seems seasonal and changing (had an unusual Hake in Nettle soup which was really very good)”.

“You could look at the view forever” from this brilliantly situated and cosy ancient pub, right by the Helford estuary and its foot ferry across the river. “While the menu doesn’t vary year on year, they seem to have found a format that works for the varied audience that visits. Food is hearty and tasty, good quality and feels like a safe pair of hands”.

Stunningly located on the seafront in St Mawes, this staple of design and travel magazines is the flagship of the Polizzi Collection, run by interiors guru Olga Polizzi and her ‘Hotel Inspector’ daughter Alex (who also oversee Hotel Endsleigh near Tavistock and, most recently, The Star in Alfriston, East Sussex). The food, which again elicited solid marks this year, can be taken in the chic dining room or more casual Dog’s Head bar.

“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”!.

“The ‘one to beat’ in the surrounding area, despite increasing competition” – this harbourside restaurant with rooms is “a place for a quite special dinner, where the imaginative menus and ingredients continue to reflect Jude Kereama‘s heritage” (a mixture of New Zealand and Asian backgrounds). “The tasting menus remain very good value at a time when such menus are becoming all but prohibitively priced elsewhere”.

A “great view of the beach” (particularly from the deck) and across the bay to Godrevy Lighthouse in the distance has long been the major draw to this seaside café; while the food isn’t quite what it once was (breakfast is take-away only these days), it does its job, with dishes like crab linguine and fish ‘n’ chips playing up the local catch. PS – if you’re making a day of it, they also rent out 36 brightly coloured beachside ‘pods’ or shacks, allowing you to store your beach kit and refuel at this restaurant without the hassle of carting your valuables with you.

“Fabulous beach-front location, great fish cookery and good wines” combine to guarantee an “altogether enjoyable lunch or dinner” at this St Ives fixture, led for more than 20 years by Aussie-born chef Mick Smith, who benefits from “not trying too hard to be innovative”.

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.

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.

“A great find while on holiday” – this cool modern bar from Penryn’s Verdant craft brewery serves tapas-style portions of fresh local seafood to accompany its impressive beer selection. There was limited feedback in our survey this year, but all was positive.

“Expert cooking, an interesting menu with a very strong emphasis on provenance and sustainability, all backed by friendly and well-informed service” win a thumbs-up for Hylton & Petronella Espey’s “small and tucked-away” venue on Custom House Quay, which in two short years has become one of the most accoladed venues in Cornwall. The main event in the evening is the ‘Journey’ menu at £80 per person: ‘a story told over seven courses’.

A “bustling” harbourside restaurant with a booth-lined ground-floor dining area and bright upstairs dining room that looks across the bay to the National Trust-run St Anthony Head. The “lovely food” comes at “reasonable prices”, with “good seafood dishes and pizzas as well as brunch”. If you’d rather cart it away to dine al fresco, they also do a swift trade in fish ‘n’ chips.