As St Ives was our longest time in one place it gave us the time to explore places to eat in more depth than elsewhere. Even though it was October, and not school holidays, we though it might be busy so we did pre-book some places before we got there, and we’re so glad we did as most places weren’t taking any walk-ins.
Our first night we ate at The Rum and Crab Shack. We had found it online before we went and so had pre-booked, which was just as well as they were turning people away all night. This suited Richie down to a tea as he loves both seafood and rum. The shack looks over the harbour, located on first floor around half way along the wharf road. It is a bar which does food more than a restaurant, but it is a cosy place with timber beams and low ceilings, and at the time we visited well kitted out for covid-19 precautions. We were starving as it had been a long (and stressful!) day driving down from Bath and so ordered quite a lot of food – crab tacos, crab roll, mac & cheese and fries. The tacos were excellent – I’m a huge fan anyway. The cocktails were also very good, we sampled both mojito, pina colada and dark & stormy. St Ives is a bit of a captured audience so it wasn’t cheap at £13 for tacos and £7.50 per cocktail, but we did expect that in advance. It was a great place to try first though, relaxed and a good atmosphere.
The next night we had also booked and so ate at The Mermaid. The is one of the oldest restaurants in St Ives and is also described as romantic – I wouldn’t go that far as it is more fun than romantic but still we had a great time. It was just round the corner from where we were staying so very handy, and again fully booked so beware. The restaurant is again cosy with timber beams and columns, and wine bottles and other sea paraphernalia hanging from the ceiling. The seats are packed in but it didn’t take long to fill up. The staff were absolutely great too, so welcoming and friendly with fast service always with a smile. We started with white bait and then had the mussels for a main which were huge and meaty. We weren’t going to have dessert as we were pretty full but it was biscof cheesecake so how could we refuse! We left feeling very full but happy, and they kindly saved the screw top from our bottle of wine so we could take what we didn’t finish home. Definitely a top place to visit.
The last place we ate dinner while in St Ives was One Fish Street. Again this was just round the corner from where we were staying so very easy to roll home from when we were full! One Fish Street is small seafood restaurant and is a tasting menu restaurant, meaning they serve one set menu (with vegetarian options) so there is no other options. We knew this before going, and was partly why we chose it. The set menu is seven courses for £45 each, and we also had the pairing wines for £35 each which were very good. The food was delicious and also very varied, pushing us both out of our comfort zones of what we would normally order. The highlight for me was the seafood curry, simply divine. And as it is a tasting menu it is actually quite a quick service, all very efficiently run by helpful staff.
We ate breakfast out a couple of days which was something we didn’t plan. One spot we went to was Yallah cafe which is just next door to the Rum & Crab shack. Yallah has a take away hatch downstairs, and then a decent sized cafe upstairs. It is known for it’s coffee (they roast their own coffee) so is probably a bit hipster, but we like that so didn’t put us off. I am more of a cup of tea person but Richie enjoys the coffee and so was right at home. The breakfast was a bit slow as a they put a lot of effort in, so beware if you are in a rush, but seeing as it was a bit of a miserable day we were quite happy sitting relaxing in comfortable corner. I had the granola with peaches but I think that description undersells it as it was the best granola I’ve ever had. And although we didn’t get a chance to try them the cakes looked great too.
The other stop we had for breakfast was Porthmeor Beach Cafe, which as it’s name suggests is located on Porthmeor Beach (just above the changing rooms). They have a large covered outdoor eating area as well as the indoor cafe. Although we hadn’t booked they managed to squeeze us in to sit inside, we were offered outside but it was a bit chilly that morning. The view was perfect, you can’t sit closer to the beach and so it is a great spot to sit and watch the surfers and body boarders. I had a stack of pancakes, my kind of heaven, and Richie had a full breakfast – with apparently the best sausages he’s had for years!
There is also another beach cafe which I would recommend which is at Porthgwidden Beach. There is a kiosk downstairs on the beach, and upstairs is quite a large cafe with a conservatory extension too. We had lunch and breakfast here and it is probably my favourite spot in St Ives – a bold statement I know, but sitting there looking out to sea over a small but beautiful beach was just heaven. The food here was also very good, and great service too.
Planes, Trains... and Cake 