Porthgwidden Beach Café

Popped in for hot chocolate and a tea cake to escape the wind! Stunning location and actually a very nice restaurant. I think they were very accommodating for our pit stop but next time I would love to have lunch, it looked fantastic and what a spot!

One of the best places we have been, the food was excellent, the service by the staff was incredible, we went on Valentine’s Day and the service of the food was quick, everyone was very friendly and chatty which was lovely! Will be back!

Well .. it was our 1st wedding anniversary & needless to say we had to go back to where we had our wedding breakfast mealy , only the two of us instead of the 3o one year ago this time round .. & what a joy ( cheaper too , lol ) , great views just as before & made relaxed .. quick catch up with 'Will' (plus others) & food ordered , service although a different waitress was second to none .. amazing food & 1st steak since being in town for the week , excellent perfectly cook & the lemon sole too . Wined Dined & Reminisced , fab evening & we'll be going back for sure ... why shouldn't we the food alone is enough.

+2

Sat in the window inside, so perfect view east to Godfrey. Mackerel pate starter and fish and chips main very well done. Service was attentive for our friends who have allergies, all well catered foe. Atlantic pale ale perfect with the F&Chips. Al round a perfect beach cafe.

Great little cafe we had the bacon baps a nice refilling drink and managed to get a seat right out side with a great view of the beach, we also had some friendly birds join us as well

+6

Lovely little restaurant set overlooking porthgwidden beach. We have visited a few times and the food and service has been consistently excellent, as well as the relaxed atmosphere. I had a beautiful blue cheese and Parma ham salad to start, followed by lemon sole in a creamy pea and samphire sauce - both delicious! They have a good children's menu too, and when my son decided that he no longer liked mussels, they were able to whip up an alternative in super quick time which was hugely appreciated. It's not the cheapest place, but lovely for a treat or special occasion.

Friendly helpful staff. Delish half lobster, they had purchased that afternoon from St Austell, fresh, tasty, garlicky, perfectly cooked, served with lots of lots of crispy chips and small salad. View of Portgwidden beach, glass of cold white wine. Just right! Would defo return.

A member of staff took time out to corden off an area of beach when a young seal took refuge there. Great example of good people. Lovely beach setting away from the busy part of town

Far away from home we wanted to celebrate an 18 birthday with friends and our choice fell on the Porthgwidden Beach Cafe. We knew it was good there, but we had no idea that it was so good at this big dinner. I tentatively mentioned the event on the phone, especially since we made the reservation at very short notice in the middle of the season and the restaurant is quite small. All the more surprising was the nicely prepared table right in front of the window with an awesome view over the beach out to the sea. And there was wonderful food for all ages, gourmet burgers for the youngsters, my beloved seafood chowder as a starter, and mussels or fish as the mains for the older ones. I can assure you that it was a great evening, the food met all expectations, all the service people were extremely nice, the wines offered were great and the price thanks to the low pound course a bargain at the time. Thanks to the whole team for a great evening. Oh yes: After Cornwall our trip went via Plymouth for a few days to Brittany before we went home to Germany. My wife and I like to eat mussels on both sides of the Channel! The ones at Porthgwidden Beach Cafe were definitely the best! In this strange Corona days I hope the best for the team in the Porthgwidden Beach Café and we hope to come back in 2021!

+2

The food was great, the view is fantastic but the staff were even better. As soo. As we arrived they were friendly and welcoming. We had two children and acessability needs and they couldn't have done more for us. The squid was the best we'd ever had. The atmosphere was warm and cosy. Located by an idilic beach where the boys went and played on the rocks and the sand for the rest of the afternoon. Great place can't recommend it highly enough.

+1

Consistently excellent, unpretentious food and friendly staff, all in a superb, cosy setting. Have been coming pretty much every summer for a good twenty years, and have never been disappointed - either upstairs in the restaurant bit or downstairs with snacks from the counter.

Perfect location, nothing better than sitting outside here with a coffee, or beer, just watching the sea. Beautiful family beach and the cafe provides food and drink to cater for everyone. Lovely venue for an evening meal too, never disappointed by the menu the food or the service.

Lovely fresh food, seafood delicious and good kids menu. Dog friendly. Lovely attentive staff. Highly recommended

If you want a fantastic venue in an up beat, trendy bistro/restaurant/cafe with the most astonishing views, this is the place. The supervisor was genuinely polite, happy to engage in a chat, and cheerful with a great attitude to service. Easy access from the car park and located on the beach at 1st floor level ensuring even in a mizzly day, the view of the beach and the sea was tremendous. We ordered a couple of bacon and egg baps. Carefully prepared in brioche buns, the bacon and egg was cooked superbly well and the buns appeared to have been griddled in the bacon fat which was a tasty and welcomed change from a simple toasting. Coffee was hot and smooth. The venue is so iconic don't expect a cheap bite but when considering the location, and the quality of the food and service, the value was excellent.

Had my first brunch with my partner here 3 years ago . Food is still good , just had a cream tea , while watching the surfers and seals as storm Denis comes in . It a lovely spot for a coffee while watching the sea . The staff are friendly and polite . The cream tea was nice , the scones were light and soft , really nice .

Good food and reasonably priced. Great fish and chips with pickled garlic which I hadn't had before but went really well. Very child friendly but not to the detriment of the overall rustic charm. Would defo go back.

Great little shop selling all the essentials. Best cheesy chips I've ever had. And a beach to die for. Beautiful sand and blue sea. One of the best beaches in Southern Cornwall

Super beef burger the best on my live 👌👌👌

Very welcoming & accommodating staff, given we arrived with no prior booking. They fitted us in on the indoor terrace, #whataview. Wonderfull meal & overall service. Will definitely visit again!

From the outside, you might not be enticed but make the effort and you will be rewarded by great food and drink with an amazing view. Fabulous!

Been coming to Cornwall for years and always love it here at st Ives we always come too however we've never dined at this cafe before always overlooked it if I'm honest, 5/5 to this stunning café!!!!!! Amazing food at great prices with the most spectacular view. HIGHLY recommend anyone visiting #stives #cornwall

Great beach cafe with views of a secluded cove, bookings can be made and recommended during busy season. Nearly all tables in the terrace will give you a sea view and there are outside heaters if it starts getting cold. Concise menu with very good options, very friendly and helpful staff.

One of my family's go to restaurants in St Ives. They've recently expanded but the place still feel intimate and just the right blend of formal/casual. Breakfast is great value, with everything under £8 or so. The veggie breakfast is huge and I like that it has lots of veg, rather than fake meat products. Staff all wearing masks and hand sanitizer on entrance.

Lovely setting , food was served but only had coffee and cake and enjoyed the amazing view , friendly staff and quick service.

Favourite meal we’ve had in Cornwall to date. The most gorgeous lobster we’ve ever eaten. Gorgeous seafood and view to match. Lovely kids’ food too. Can’t wait to come back!

Nice place on Porthgwidden Beach, had a lovely table with a beautiful view of the beach and beyond. Apart from the burger which looked dry and overcooked the food was pretty good and served generous portions. The service was OK, nothing special and felt a bit rushed to get us to leave after we just finished our meal. A bit of improvement around service and teach the kitchen how to make a decent burger then they’ll be on to a winner!

Great views food OK reasonably priced you can get a drink here beach is fab and a safe swim area

Really really good food and very friendly service. The whole.place was very calm and relaxed. We were told as we arrived to follow Covid protocols in a very informative and friendly manner. The service was delightful even though the waitresses had to do it from behind masks. Food was excellent and very very good value. Can not recommend this place highly enough if you're visiting St. Ives.

+4

Great cafe for all types of food. Food very good quality in the restaurant section and staff nice snd friendly. Looks over the beach for fantastic sea views.

We ordered Fish Taco starter - 5 out of 5, it was really good but small, wished it was bigger. For mains, Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto - the squash was nice, risotto was creamy and explosion of flavours. Ended our meal with Apple Crumble with Clotted Cream, this one was just okay for us, average crumble experience. Downside was the waiting time, as we waited close to 20 minutes for our dessert to arrive. Cafe located close to the beach, it was a special location!

Great food and service, and some fantastic views. Little pricey, but you’re paying for the privilege of the location and views. If you’re here on a sunny day make sure you grab a table out on the terrace and try to spot some seals!

I will call this review the Hero. Today we come to the restaurant to have some lunch. We come and the bartender give us a table close to the door and with almos zero views of the sea... We then ask other bartender if we can get please other table close the window to admire the amazing views that this restaurant have... That's why I call this review the Hero. The woman blonde with glasses give us the best table of the place us soon the other clients finish eating, this defenetly make a crazy differences I will like to say to her thanks so so much one more time for this small toach. Very disappointed with the youngest bartender but today we had the Hero. Thanks so much one more time for this Blonde Hero

Great staff and service. Quality of fish is excellent all around St. Ives and Cornwall in general. Not particularly special here in that department but splendid location.

We attended a wedding here and it was such a lovely event. It's a great venue for an event with beautiful scenic views and the beach right there. Food was nice, and catered for allergies. The staff ran the event well. They ran out of sambuca and didn't have any jaegar.

Not the best weather for it but perching on the terrace overlooking the ocean can fix any grey sky. As always 4 categories rated out of 5 Atmosphere 3 - With such a superb view one might think I'm nuts for the middle of the road score but hear me out. The terrace is perfectly situated for views, however the surroundings are shabby around the edges feeling more like a courtyard than a restaurant. Drinks 2 - wine was chilly but not cold. Beer was cold but only came in bottles and in a limited variety. Service 3 - Staff were friendly. Service was reasonably fast. Had to chase around the houses to pay the bill. Cost 4 - The experience didn't blow my mind but it didn't blow the budget either. You could certainly afford to drink the experience into a better, less memorable one!

Very busy. Need mire staff so that tables are cleared of previous diners left food and drinks. Very important as tables are outside. There was a smell of drains at some tables. I ordered a portion of chips and drinks. When I was called he had served 2 boxes of chips. I said I didn't order 2 he just looked at me like I spoke another language. There was a queue so I didn't bother to argue. Think.it might be ploy to make more money.

The restaurant is lovely, tucked away down a side street by the beach with sea views, and staff were friendly. But the food was absolutely disappointing. We ordered the chicken burger and the beef burger and both tasted like ultra processed frozen food. The chicken was a flat dry nugget and the beef was disgusting. We thought it was not worth complaining as the place was busy and we were in a hurry. I rarely make reviews but thought this one is worth the warning- definitely would not recommend.

Very disappointing visit to Porthgwidden Beach Cafe Please learn from our experience: We live locally and have taken all our summer visitors to eat at this Cafe. The venue is scenically beautiful and previous visits have been much enjoyed. However, on this occasion we arrived on time for our booking at 2pm, our party of 3 all ordered both starters and mains, two asked for fish and chips and one ordered mussels and frites. One asked for a pint of larger (£5.95) and the other two of us ordered 2 glasses of Rose wine (there were only 2 options on the menu and we asked for the cheapest at £11.95 each). The people who served us were very pleasant. On leaving we paid our bill and added service charge and I sat outside whilst our guest visited the Ladies. It was then that I saw the notice board at road level (picture attached) offering a lunchtime deal. At no time during the ordering process were we made aware of it and it did not appear on the specials menu. We paid full price for our food and included a generous tip. Being surprised I went back into the Cafe to point out that we had missed the offer and was told by a young waitress that it is not promoted inside the cafe and that the wine I had ordered was not the from the bottle offered in the deal - but it doesn’t appear on the menu, so how would I know! Fair to say we had ordered large glasses, but would gratefully have accepted the free glass and ordered and paid for a second. She did not recognise the pint of larger at all. I felt somewhat disappointed by the waitress' manner and hope that staff are briefed to make customers aware of the offer or, if management don’t want to honour the deal, that the board is removed. To all visitors I would say that we will visit the Cafe again, the food and ambiance are very pleasant but PLEASE do make sure you note the outside board and ask the staff if there are any available lunch time offers on the day.

The reason why is just one star for food is because we get squid rings which we paid £8.95…shocking, we got also burgers which was brilliant, perfect . You can see it in the picture. That was from takeaway

The female receptionist in the restaurant could not have been more unwelcoming or frosty in manner. We did however eat in the beach café which was lovely. So five stars for food and staff service at Beach café - none for welcome in restaurant.

Been here a couple of times over the years and it’s steadily got worse. Arrived to an older lady not even acknowledging me for 5mins whilst she did something on the system. Fish and chips was terribly, wafer thin fish which I sent back, the next one came out better but disappointing. Wine list was extortionate, French rose £45?? To sum up really average food and definitely not worth going unless the view makes up for the food…try the Loft instead.