My Cornwall Food & Drink Diary

I’m finally getting round to posting about my Cornwall Roadtrip. I thought I’d talk about my favourite thing about any trip, what food we ate! I’d done a little bit of research on Instagram before going and we only had one place booked prior to the visit. I would highly recommend if you are wanting to visit those more popular restaurants that you book in advance. Even back in June, many places were fully booked for September but thankfully, we still came across some incredible eateries.

I’ll be doing lot’s more blog posts about our trip as a whole but I love talking about food so I thought I would publish this one first. We were based in Newquay for the 4 days we were in Cornwall. It was super easy to get around the area from there and Newquay was a pretty decent base. I did have quite a long list of places to eat so the ones I didn’t manage to visit. I’ll also link them at the end in case you are also looking for some inspiration for your next South West trip.

On our first day in Cornwall, our first stop was Padstow which is famously the home of several restaurants and bars owned by Rick Stein. Padstow was a lovely little harbour town with plenty of eateries. There were pasty shops on every corner. We actually didn’t really have a plan of where to eat but as it was around 11.30 am when we arrived, lunch certainly was on the cards. After a wander around the harbour, we did the typical British thing of joining a queue for a restaurant opening at 12pm. Our thought was if there was a pretty long queue, it must have a certain reputation and be decent. The queue was for Green’s of Padstow.

Overlooking Padstow Harbour, Green’s certainly has some smashing views. We were quickly seated outside with a lovely view when it opened at 12pm on the dot and our orders taken. Obviously, when in Rome as they say, we ended up both getting Fish and Chips. The service was really quick, especially as everyone had piled into the restaurant at the same time but when asking for condiments we were forgotten about. However, the food was pretty incredible. The fish was served in a cornish cider batter and the chunky chips were to die for. You can see from the photos that it was a pretty smashing Fish and Chips.

There was also a mini-golf course at Green’s which also proved popular with visitors. I’d highly recommend for great views of the harbour and decent food. Lunch is quite a casual affair but I can imagine Dinner would be pretty amazing here. Booking would be essential though!

That evening, we had a wander around Newquay and headed towards the harbour to find a place I’d hear all about on Instagram: The Boathouse. This place is a street food type of establishment right on the beach by Newquay harbour. It was very much our type of place. We had to wait in a short queue, but once seated, you order everything on your mobile. I believe the vendors change all the time but there was quite a big selection of items from seafood to Mexican dishes. We both opted to order from the Harbour Street Kitchen, with Stefan getting a Burger & Chips and I went for a Philly Cheese Steak Sourdough Pizza.

I didn’t actually take any photos of Stefan’s burger but oh my, the pizza was incredible. I can tell Stefan was low-key jealous of my choice. The pizza base itself was on point but with the steak and onion topping. It’s up there with one of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time. The Boathouse in general, was such a great place to have a few drinks, watch the sunset, and it’s in a prime beachside location.

The next morning we visited another lovely little harbourside village called Mevagissey. It was one of the most adorable places and just a joy to wander around. For brunch, we came across a coffee shop called She Sells. They had the most delicious-looking bakes and treats in the window and I decided to get a chocolate and strawberry crepe and a smoothie whilst Stefan went for a bagel. It was a really cute little place! Their menu was pretty decent if you are looking for a nice brunch or just some delicious treats.

After Mevagissey, we headed to the Eden Project, and although we didn’t eat here, I wanted to share the Mediterranean Bar, which they have in one of the domes. With the heat and just the general vibe of it all, it really did feel like we were in the Med. The Bar sold all sorts of drinks but there was a wide selection of Tarquins Gin, which is a local distillery and widely available in the area. I tried the gin which was actually a limited edition made specifically for The Eden Project. It really did feel like we were abroad sippin’ on our G&T’s.

The final stop for the day was a place called Charlestown. I’d been recommended this place by a few people, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s actually an 18th-century Georgian Harbour, and we loved our visit here. It’s quite the foodie’s hub here, we could’ve easily eaten at a few places. We visited the HarbourQ, which was a street food place with harbourside seats. To be honest, we intended just to have a drink whilst we waited for our reservation elsewhere but we ended up getting some topped chips to nibble on. All the food looked pretty good here.

As I said, we did have a reservation for that evening. This place came HIGHLY recommended on social media and it’s called The Longstore. It’s right by the harbour in Charlestown and I could quickly see why it was so highly recommended. The restaurant itself was stunning with views over the harbour from the roof terrace. We did deliberate over the menu for quite a long time on whether we should get seafood or steak. Everyone around us seemed to have steak, and it looked incredible, so we went for the Big Cut of Sirloin to share which came with two sides and two sauces. Honestly, you could really see why this place came so highly recommended. The food was cooked to perfection and it was certainly our favourite place we visited to eat in Cornwall. It was one of the best steaks we have had, and everything that it came with it was just mouth-wateringly delicious.

The final foodie place that I wanted to mention was the Fore Street Cafe Bar in Newquay. We had tried to get into The Stable at Fistral Beach, but had quite a rude encounter, which I’m glad we didn’t end up dining there in the end. As we walked back into the main town centre of Newquay, we came across Fore Street Cafe Bar, which was serving pizzas. I know, MORE PIZZA?! However, the staff here went above and beyond for us which really made the experience so lovely. Their pizzas were delicious but as I said their warm hospitality made our visit one to remember. Looking at their social media, they seem to mainly be a brunch place but their pizzas were pretty damn good.

So that’s the rundown of where we ate around Cornwall. I will list a few other places below which I looked to visit but didn’t get the chance. I’m going to be doing a few other posts about our road trip. Do let me know if there is anything specific you’d like to see from me.