Having recently visited Cornwall for the first time (in my defence, I’m northern, so the West Country has been uncharted territory for most of my life), I have some thoughts.
Firstly, I’ve never been anywhere quite as dog-friendly. I don’t have a dog, but if you do, chances are it will swan around hotels and cafés feeling like Mr/Mrs Popular. Secondly, why did no-one warn me how good the food is?! I was expecting white sandy beaches and spectacular scenery (and I got them), but I hadn’t appreciated just how many life-enhancing lunches I’d eat over the course of two weeks hiding from the rain.
And that’s the magic of Cornwall. It rained for the entire trip but the quality of the produce is so high and the dining options so plentiful that — like Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral — I hadn’t noticed. I was too busy gorging myself silly on sharing plates. Seriously, the tomatoes I buy in London should be ashamed of themselves. If blustery walks and sea dips get you going, there’s plenty of that, but unlike many seaside hotspots, it’s a year-round foodie destination in its own right. So herre’s a compilation of some of the restaurants we loved in our guide to the best places to eat in Cornwall.
Four Boys
Four Boys café in upscale Rock (a ferry hop from Padstow) opened its doors to a near-immediate rave review from the OG king of swearing: Gordon Ramsay. Other glowing recommendations followed, making this casual café by the sea one of the coolest lunch spots in Cornwall.
It’s full of plummy accents but it’s not fancy and — like most places in these parts — Four Boys is dog-friendly, so accessorise with a couple of salty hounds if you like. We perched on stools by the window-ledge and ate nectarine and feta salad, monkfish crudo with melon, cumin-spiced lamb skewers and ricotta doughnuts with blackcurrant ice-cream. If the latter is on the menu, don’t even contemplate skipping dessert.
For a full, happy snooze after, hole up at The Pig at Harlyn Bay, which itself has culinary snout (sorry, clout) with the hotel group’s famous 25-mile menu, garden-grown produce and fresh grilled fish at the seasonal, alfresco Lobster Shed eatery.
Mine
Mine is squeezed into the corner of a cobbled courtyard in Falmouth. It’s tiny inside, so booking (and stipulation that you want to sit inside) is essential. Our table neighbour apparently forgot to specify this and was barely visible beneath two hot water bottles and three blankets. It wasn’t particularly cold, so the drama was almost distracting from our dinner.
The most memorable restaurants from our trip tended to revolve around seasonal small plates and this is no exception, We dabbled with crab fritters, torched octopus in romesco, hake in dill butter and honey cake with custard. I swear there was a vegetable involved at some point…
Ugly Butterfly
We’d probably follow chef extraordinaire Adam Handling to the ends of the Earth, so Newquay’s headland really isn’t too big an ask. Ugly Butterfly — named for the premise that there’s no such thing as an ugly butterfly and the same with ingredients, which are used with great care — raid’s Cornwall’s larder to craft an 11-course tasting menu with treats such as cheese and chorizo doughnuts, hot-smoked Cornish lobster in mussel butter, and sea bass with kohlrabi.
Handling’s ingenuity isn’t all that wows here — the view of Fistral Beach from the restaurant is enchanting, and this has the distinction of being the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Newquay.
Flora
This is a place to feel smug about when you tell a holidaying friend and they haven’t heard of it yet. Down in Helston, there’s a long and verdant driveway that leads through the Trelowarren Estate — and eventually — to a little stableyard café and bakery called Flora. It’s so tucked away that it feels like a hidden secret, or it would if there weren’t people at every table.
The setup is seriously charming and the staff (it’s family-run) are possibly more so. On our visit they let us hide in a separate room with the door closed, away from the summer wasp invasion. That was two months ago and we’re still talking about the tomato salad and beetroot gazpacho.
After a languid lunch, make your way towards Penzance to spend the night at the quirkily cool Artist Residence hotel (a 40-minute drive), parking up at Marazion for a walk on the beach and stroll to the Disney-esque St Michael’s Mount. Their own Cornish Barn restaurant brings the Med to the piratical town (but using local produce, naturally) by way of lemon orzo, roast chicken with fattoush salad and aubergine fritters with yoghurt and smoked salt.
Pizzeria42
All of these luscious small plates restaurants and then a pizza joint in Penryn that’s a nightmare to park outside of? Erm, yes. I can only ask that you trust me when I say the wood-fired pizzas at Pizzeria42 were so good that we went back twice. Toppings are high quality, with San Marzano this and guindilla that, generously sprinkled with Grana Padano. The ‘Some Boy’ is our pick, which comes loaded with Cornish smoked cheddar. pulled pork and a drizzle of spiced rum and pineapple glaze.
If you can’t park, drive round the block a few times until someone moves because you don’t want to miss this. Especially if you’re sick of fish. Even if you’re not sick of fish, go anyway. Not every night of a holiday needs to be dedicated to fine dining, and carb-loading doesn’t get much more delicious.
Coombeshead Farm
Coombeshead Farm really does have everything. It would be annoying if the setting wasn’t so idyllic, the decor so charming and the bread so perfect. Oh lord, the bread. Sticky, chewy, want-it-served-with-everything.
You can explore this 66-acre working farm’s woodland and meadows before and after your meal, or you can just stop for lunch or dinner on your way to/from Cornwall. The dead-central location just off the A30 makes it a far better choice than the service-station Burger King. Book ahead — its superb home-grown produce rightfully draws the crowds, so you can’t just rock up with an appetite and no reservation.
Harbour House Flushing
I have to preface this by saying that the dishes we ate at Harbour House pub in Flushing (a hop across the water from Falmouth) were not our first or even second choices. We arrived at the end of service and so our options were limited, but the food here is clearly excellent if you choose well.
The monkfish skewers we ordered were great but it was the sold-out pasta that we really hankered after. The lamb scotch egg was a revelation. As with most places on this list, Harbour House is pet-friendly, so it’s an upscale option for a pub-food-shouldn’t-be-this-good dinner with the dog (and maybe the family) after a day at the beach.
For seasonal eats in summer
North Street Kitchen
Fowey’s North Street Kitchen isn’t really a restaurant, it’s more of a boat shed by the water with wooden trestle tables and a bar. In fact, it’s exactly that. The decor extends to posters pinned to the wall, a few fishing nets and some festoon lights. It’s rustic and the food is sensational.
This is a daytime-only situation (usually open March to September, 12 noon to 2.30pm, but open from 6pm to 8.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays) and you’ll likely eat with your coat on (bless Cornwall in July) but the fried white fish, Coombeshead Farm bread and chocolate mousse are worth any drizzly jostle for a table.
To spend some time exploring the surrounding coastal town, which is quaint indeed, book a night at Fowey Hall hotel (a 15-minute walk away), where a mix of kids’ club, cinema, spa, and pool make it popular all-round. Its restaurant caters to the fussy of palate, but there’s fresh fish and moules marinière from the estate, and you can go on a fishing trip if you want to really get a taste of local culture.
Narla
Also in Fowey is Narla, run by Masterchef: The Professionals finalist Charlie Walters. It’s menus are as conscientious as they are delicious, with all parts of ingredients used and plants taking precedence to meat in places — take the barbecued maitake mushroom with miso haricot beans, or carrot and beetroot with sherry and cashew cream.
It’s dog-friendly too, and allergies and intolerances are well catered for. Cocktails, too, show Walters’ ingenuity with Yuzu Whisky Sours and Pineapple Margaritas poured alongside the classics. And for dessert, the nursery pudding of ‘strawberries and custard’ gets an elegant, grown-up treatment. It shuts up in January and February for a winter hiatus, but reopens when all the spring ingredients start to reappear.
Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar
If you arrive in the pretty village of Mousehole, take one look at the crowds by the harbour and promptly panic about where to eat, don’t. Hop back in the car and drive five minutes down the road to Mackerel Sky in arty Newlyn.
You won’t be lured in by the Instagrammable interiors, but taking photos would only waste valuable eating time anyway. This is really good, really fresh fish (plus the extended shellfish family) served every which way from crispy sole with katsu sauce to classic mussels with cream, bacon and leek. They’re open 10 months of the year but close for a break from mid-December to mid-February.
Need a lie down after all that? Explore our complete collection of Cornwall hotels
Aside from her work as a freelance design journalist for publications such as House & Garden and British Vogue, Eleanor Cording-Booth is known for her obsessive attention to detail and frequent unfulfilled threats to move out of London’s Barbican Estate in search of verdant hills and no immediate neighbours. Follow Eleanor on Instagram @aconsideredspace and read more of her writing on Substack.