The best pubs and places to eat in Cornwall
Cornwall does food better than almost anywhere in Britain, and you do not need a booking or a big budget to eat well. A proper pasty from a village bakery, a cream tea done the Cornish way, and a plate of fish fresh off the boat are the heart of it, with a run of harbourside pubs and a couple of genuinely world-class restaurants sitting on top. This is where to eat and drink, sorted by the kind of trip you are on.
It pairs with our wider guide to things to do in Cornwall, and it slots neatly into a weekend in Cornwall itinerary if you are planning where to stop between beaches. Base yourself near the coast and most of these are a short drive apart. You can find and compare campsites for the whole county through Camping Sites in Britain, with the full list of Cornwall campsites in one place.
The Cornish essentials: pasty, cream tea and seafood
Three things define eating in Cornwall, and getting them right matters to locals more than you might expect. Learn the difference between a proper one and a tourist-trap version and you will eat well anywhere in the county.
The Cornish pasty
A real Cornish pasty has beef, potato, swede and onion in seasoned chunks, wrapped in shortcrust and sealed with a thick rope of pastry crimped along one side, never across the top. That side crimp was the miner's handle: he held the pasty by the crust, ate the rest, and threw the dirty end away underground. Cornish pasties carry Protected Geographical Indication status, so a genuine one has to be made in Cornwall to the traditional recipe. Buy from a village bakery rather than a chain and expect to pay around 5 GBP for a large one.
The cream tea, the Cornish way
A Cornish cream tea is a warm scone, Cornish clotted cream and jam, with a pot of tea. The order is the argument: in Cornwall you spread the jam first and spoon the clotted cream on top, whilst over the border in Devon they load the cream on first and top it with jam. Do it the Cornish way here and nobody will bat an eyelid. Farm cafes and National Trust tea rooms serve some of the best, and a cream tea for two runs to about 12 to 16 GBP.
Seafood off the boat
Cornwall lands more fish than anywhere else in England, and the seafood is the reason many people plan the trip. Newlyn, Padstow, Looe and St Ives all have day boats, so crab, lobster, mackerel, monkfish and hand-dived scallops turn up on menus hours out of the water. If you eat one thing, make it a dressed Cornish crab or a bowl of mussels somewhere you can see the harbour.
Fine dining and foodie trips: Padstow and beyond
Padstow is the county's food capital, and it earned the nickname "Padstein" for a reason. Two names anchor a serious foodie weekend, and both take booking well ahead in summer.
Rick Stein's The Seafood Restaurant on the harbour is the restaurant that put Padstow on the map, open since 1975 and still the classic Cornish seafood blowout. Expect turbot, lobster and the famous fruits de mer, and book weeks ahead for a summer table. Paul Ainsworth at No6, a few streets back in a Georgian townhouse, holds a Michelin star and runs a tasting-menu experience that is one of the best meals in the South West. Both are special-occasion spots; budget generously.
Beyond Padstow, the foodie map keeps going. Watergate Bay near Newquay has a cluster of good beachfront kitchens, Porthleven on the south coast has grown into a proper food town, and farm shops across the county sell Cornish Yarg (a mild cheese wrapped in nettle leaves), local charcuterie and Cornish gin from a growing crop of distilleries. If rain sets in on a foodie trip, our guide to things to do in Cornwall when it is raining lists indoor tastings and long lazy lunches worth building a day around.
Harbourside pubs worth the drive
Cornwall's pubs are half the pleasure of the trip, and the best sit right on the water. These three are institutions, each with its own character.
- The Ship Inn, Mousehole. A low-beamed St Austell Brewery pub on one of the prettiest harbours in Cornwall, and the heart of the village when the Mousehole Christmas lights go up. Cornish ales, good crab sandwiches, and a harbour wall to sit on in summer.
- The Pandora Inn, near Falmouth. A thatched 13th-century pub at Restronguet Creek with a long floating pontoon you can moor a boat to or just sit on with a pint. Seafood-strong menu and one of the most photographed spots in the county.
- The Tinners Arms, Zennor. A remote, atmospheric granite pub near the wild north coast between St Ives and St Just, with no fruit machines and a fire in the grate. D. H. Lawrence drank here. Good walking country and a proper end-of-the-day pint.
Beach bars for a laid-back day
For a barefoot lunch or a sundowner with sand between your toes, Cornwall's beach bars are hard to beat. Three stand out for families and beach days.
The Hidden Hut at Porthcurnick beach near Portscatho, on the Roseland Peninsula, is a tiny cafe serving simple, brilliant food from a hatch: paella, curries, big bowls to eat on the sand. Its ticketed evening Feast Nights sell out fast and are worth planning a trip around. The Blue Bar above Porthtowan beach on the north coast is a relaxed surf-side bar for burgers, beers and a sunset, and The Watering Hole at Perranporth sits directly on the beach itself, one of the few bars in Britain actually on the sand, with live music through the summer. All three are family-friendly by day. For more like this, our guide to dog-friendly things to do in Cornwall flags which beaches and bars welcome dogs year round.
Cornish ales, gin and local drinks
Cornwall brews some of the best-known beer in Britain, so drink local. St Austell Brewery, founded in 1851, makes Tribute, the amber ale you will see on almost every bar in the county, along with the stronger Proper Job. Sharp's Brewery at Rock brews Doom Bar, named after the sandbank at the mouth of the Camel estuary and now sold nationwide. Smaller breweries like Verdant, Firebrand and Padstow Brewing add more choice, and a wave of Cornish gin distilleries, Tarquin's among the best known, round out the local drinks list. Ask for a Cornish ale and you will rarely go wrong.
Where to eat, at a glance
| Place | Where | Best for | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Seafood Restaurant | Padstow | Classic seafood, special occasion | Fine dining |
| Paul Ainsworth at No6 | Padstow | Michelin tasting menu | Fine dining |
| The Hidden Hut | Porthcurnick, Roseland | Beach lunch, Feast Nights | Budget to mid |
| The Ship Inn | Mousehole | Harbourside pub, Cornish ale | Mid |
| The Pandora Inn | Restronguet, near Falmouth | Creekside pub, seafood | Mid |
| The Tinners Arms | Zennor | Remote proper pub, walkers | Mid |
| The Watering Hole | Perranporth | Beach bar on the sand | Budget to mid |
| The Blue Bar | Porthtowan | Surf bar, sunsets | Budget to mid |
| Village bakeries | Countywide | Pasties, saffron buns | Budget |
Family-friendly and budget eats
You can eat brilliantly in Cornwall for very little, which suits camping families down to the ground. Fish and chips eaten on a harbour wall is the classic cheap dinner, and towns like St Ives, Padstow, Falmouth and Fowey all have good chippies using fresh local fish. A pasty and a saffron bun from a bakery makes a walking lunch for a couple of pounds each.
Saffron buns are the local sweet treat, a golden, lightly spiced fruit bun coloured with real saffron, strongest in the old mining towns of Camborne and Redruth where you will find them in every bakery. Between pasties, saffron buns, cream teas and fish and chips, a family can eat well all week without ever needing a booking. Keep an eye out for honesty-box farm stalls selling clotted cream, eggs and vegetables near campsites too.
Frequently asked questions
What food is Cornwall famous for?
The Cornish pasty, the cream tea and seafood above all. Cornwall lands more fish than anywhere else in England, so crab, lobster and mackerel are everywhere, alongside Cornish clotted cream, Yarg cheese, saffron buns and local ales like Tribute and Doom Bar.
Is it jam or cream first on a Cornish cream tea?
Jam first, cream on top, is the Cornish way. Spread the jam onto the scone, then spoon the clotted cream over it. Devon does the opposite, cream first then jam. It is a genuine friendly rivalry, so do it the Cornish way while you are here.
Where is the best seafood in Cornwall?
Padstow is the county's seafood capital, home to Rick Stein's The Seafood Restaurant and Michelin-starred Paul Ainsworth at No6. Newlyn, St Ives, Looe and Falmouth also serve fish landed hours earlier. For a cheaper hit, order a dressed crab or fish and chips on any harbour.
What makes a Cornish pasty a real one?
Beef, potato, swede and onion in a shortcrust case, crimped along the side rather than the top, and made in Cornwall. Genuine Cornish pasties hold Protected Geographical Indication status. The side crimp was the tin miner's handle, held so he could eat the pasty with dirty hands underground.
Do you need to book restaurants in Cornwall?
For fine dining, yes. Book Rick Stein and Paul Ainsworth weeks ahead in summer, and reserve Hidden Hut Feast Night tickets as soon as they release. Pubs, beach bars, bakeries and chippies are walk-in, though popular harbourside pubs get busy at peak times.
The short version
Eat a proper pasty, take your cream tea jam-first, and get seafood on a harbour at least once. Mix the cheap and cheerful (bakeries, chippies, beach bars) with one big meal in Padstow and you will have covered the best of Cornish food. Sort your base first with the full list of Cornwall campsites, then let your appetite plan the days.
