Porthminster Beach Café

We went here in July for dinner as it had been recommended. It turned out to be our favourite meal in Cornwall throughout our week holiday, a wonderful place! We struggled at first for parking, however the most convenient place to park is the St Ives Station Car Park nearby. The restaurant itself is very relaxed, with beautiful views of the beach at dusk through the large windows throughout. We ordered the starters of trout pastrami, fish pate, and steak, and mains of lobster tagliatelle and the fish and chips. It was all so delicious, accompanied by fantastic service from our very attentive waitress. You also get a postcard to post to a friend during the meal which was a lovely touch! All in - an amazing experience at a reasonable price. Definitely somewhere we will be recommending to all our friends who visit St Ives.

+2

Birthday meal here for 8+, staff were friendly, their customer service was excellent really made us feel special... Food was also excellent as was the atmosphere.... Glad we booked to eat here.... One of the highlights of our trip... Big Thank you to the staff who looked after us.... Brilliant.

+1

We have been a few times to this brilliant restaurant and it never lets us down. Incredible food, lovely staff and one of the best views in the world over the beach to beautiful St Ives. And welcomes dogs too - if you can, it’s always worth a visit

+1

Excellent food, we all enjoyed every dish. Definitely recommend the Burrata and the Squid for starters, then we enjoyed the pan-fried Skate and Duck for main. Very friendly staff, but hasn’t quite fine-tuned the service - we ordered Champagne and was left to top-up our own glasses, which isn’t typical etiquette (but this is a picky minor detail).

+1

Fab dinner, great service, modern setting. We really enjoyed our dinner, with very fresh fish. Would definitely go back!

The food was scrumptious. The place was very posh and 5star like. not to mention beachfront. The view was amazing. I got to add this to my review ---> Imagine travelling 6 hours to get to Cornwall, and we were so excited to dine here. Sad to say we were not allowed in a few minutes early :( We understand that the restaurant opens at 530pm. However, it was freezing outside, and there were also old people waiting. The staff had a meeting, but they could have at least let us in and sit while waiting for someone who can take our order at 530. The lady who took our order was so nice and friendly, (that's why I still gave 5 for the service). Thank you. Forgot your name.

+6

Absolutely can’t fault anything, staff, service and food were outstanding. Dog friendly which is what we also needed …. In summer this place will be packed and for a quiet Autumn lunch this was perfect, staff were so friendly and with a view to die for, what more could you want? P.S the Cornish white wine was amazing 😍

+5

Porthminster Beach Café in St Ives delivers a superb dining experience in a stunning beachfront setting. A 10/10 experience, without hesitation. We visited for my wife’s birthday and were impressed by the warm, attentive service, complete with a birthday card on the table and a candle in her dessert. The highlight was the catch of the day. Red Gurnard, cooked to perfection and beautifully presented. It was, without question, the best piece of fish I’ve ever had so far. While prices are premium, the quality of the food, thoughtful service, and breathtaking views make it well worth it.

So happy to have found this place on short notice on a UK bank holiday. Very friendly service, fantastic food. Location directly by the beach with a view on the sea cannot be beaten. Next time we are in Cornwall we’ll be back. Top recommendation is the Trout Pastrami with Horseradish.

+1

Superb food, nice food, a relaxing atmosphere with a great view onto the sea and Porthminster beach. All the dishes we (a party of three) ordered were fantastic including the desert to particularly note the lobster, asparagus, and the Pavlova

+4

A fantastic meal all round. Great atmosphere, service and in a Beautiful setting. We had a meal two days after the relaunch of the restaurant. Our starters of squid and sea bass were wonderful. Mains of linguini and the famous fish curry were fantastic but it was the mango pudding with Thai curry sorbet that stole the show. It sounds a crazy combination but was fantastic.

My partner Hannah and I, had two amazing meals the weekend 16aug24 - 18aug24. The food, the service and the price are all great and reasonable. We were fortunate enough that a fresh local tuna was landed, it was unreal. We would like to give an extra special shout out to Guy, who was front of house at lunch time today (18th aug 24) .. we enjoyed our lunch and needed to make our way back to our Airbnb, the walk back is 40 minutes all up hill.. my partner is heavily pregnant and we had no phone signal, so he happily called a taxi for us. After making numerous calls to many taxis, understanding it's not possible for hannah to walk back, and having the fastest taxi state 45mins, guy took it upon himself to offer a lift, in his own car. A testiment to this restaurant, the food, and service. We look forward to returning with our bigger family! The numerous staff were all amazing, friendly, and couldnt do enough. This is a top restaurant! If you visit St Ives, for sure, this is your number one place. Thank you for everything. Dan & Han

+2

Go there every year when we are here and always the food is amazing.

Woooow!!! Absolutely, genuinely fantastic!!! I've had the opportunity and fortune of eating at some amazing eateries around the world and this place was up there, right near the top!! It was our anniversary and the staff treated us like royalty! Seriously, wonderful people! Scarlet and Charlie (staff who served us) were brilliant! A credit to the restaurant!! Pictures to follow of our food. Food quality was outstanding and the location and atmosphere was spot on. Thank you to all at the Porthminster Beach Café! They even gave us a copy of their cookbook as a complimentary gift for our anniversary. Seriously, if you're ever in St Ives, book a meal at this place!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!

+6

We visited this restaurant for the third time (every time that we have come to St Ives) and the food was amazing - as it has been every time we have been. Service was polite and correct, our table was in the extension part of the building with excellent views of the beach and the atmosphere was just right for a lunchtime. Good quality food, superbly cooked and well presented in a beautiful restaurant is never going to be inexpensive. We thoroughly enjoyed everything and I felt that it was good value for a top quality meal.

What a place to have our first meal in St Ives. The service is amazing and the view is incredible. We ordered lobster bisque and crab linguine for starters. Then I had fish and seafood curry for my mains. This is the best seafood curry I had in my life. You must try it if you have the chance. I will come back to this place if we come back to St Ives. Thank you Portminster Beach Cafe for the experience.

Wow what an absolutely gorgeous and delicious restaurant. The front of house/host Peter was delightful. He was welcoming, happy and polite to every person he talked to. The food was fresh and to a very high quality. Make sure you book a table well in advance however, the terrace tables are available to book very early morning the same day.

+1

All three courses were amazing. The butterfly sardine special for my starter was beautiful - simple looking but with the olive and fennel underneath it was so tasty. Hake was the fish of the day and a very generous portion with sumptuous olive mash. Desert was gorgeous - pavlova. I wish we'd been before. We'll definitely book again.

Fabulous staff and stunning views. I didn’t know what to expect, but the food was refined and of a high standard - it was amazing. This was a perfect start to our weekend away. We will definitely be back!

Amazing service, food and ambience. Can easily rival some of the finest London restaurants. Truly one of the best of the many restaurants I’ve dined at around the world. A laid back beachside vibe but with superb front of house staff, chef and kitchen staff. Seafood is excellent as are the cocktails abd wine list. Truly amazing value for the quality.

Wow! What an amazing restaurant overlooking the harbour. We were lucky enough to have our dinner watching a beautiful sunset whilst eating delicious food. - attentive staff - excellent presentation - delicious food - great flavours - quite pricey however worth the money 5/5 would recommend to anyone.

Excellent place for delicious food and fantastic views of the ocean. We came here for a birthday and the staff were lovely and made sure our birthday celebrations were extra special! Highly recommend this place if you are in St Ives!

A must visit if you're in St Ives and looking for good food. Thoroughly deserve the 2 rosettes, the food was sublime and paired with some great wine. All the servers were friendly, and there was a really nice ambience in the restaurant. Not the cheapest if you're on a budget but thoroughly worth the extra few quid.

Delicious gourmet food and outstanding service with an amazing location literally on Portminster Beach in St Ives. The catch if the day, goats cheese salad, and everything else we tried were all excellent. Impressive gluten free rolls as well, served warm! Must get reservations in advance to eat in, but serving the same food at the takeaway window in these social distancing days as well.

Really lovely food. Amazing view and very attentive service. If it's in your budget I would definitely recommend a visit

Today's 3 o clock lunch was AMAZING 👏 Pork belly was divine, lobster was fresh and well prepared, the monkfish curry was delicious. The chocolate bomb was beautiful and the margaritas top notch. Our waiter was a young male we didn't get his name but the service was 10/10 would definitely recommend.

You almost have to search for it; but it is worth to 😊 Our colleagues have already been here for several times. If you like seafood, you are at the right place; and it was delicious! Whether you like a good classic Fish and Chips or you like special starters or main dishes.

Frist day Delicious food Amazing service Beautiful and stunning view for the beach Lovely place

I love everything in this place! The ambience, tasty food and the view from the glass window. Dining here is worth it. I find all the food there is delicious.

Went fully intending to enjoy a celebratory blow out but the set meal options were just too good to miss & excellent value. Staff were great, very friendly & very professional.

Third meal in StIves and definitely the best. Great food, so well presented and cooked, my skate wings were amazing! Service immaculate. Wine list compact but complete. 100% going back!

Had an amazing meal for two here whilst on holiday. Had looked at lots of restaurants online beforehand and very glad we decided on this place. All the dishes we had looked and tasted fantastic. Service was perfect. Highly recommend

Great restaurant this, fantastic food/drinks at good value and exceptional customer service looking after me, my wife and dog. Big shout out to Molly who went above and beyond with her professionalism, she deserves some form of reward if possible. See you next year !

A lovely place to eat with very friendly staff and superb food, though the prices are astronomical! We paid £40 for a seafood curry and £21 for one glass of wine. We really did enjoy it though...

Flavoursome tapas style food, fresh ingredients and perfect seasoning. Although it was very hot outside, it was uncomfortably cold inside. We had blankets and a heater on, slightly odd. The views were breathtaking.

Dinner for 2 on Saturday night. Food was nice, but nothing special given the menu prices. By-the-glass wine prices were too high. And the atmosphere was flat, half the staff had left before we'd finished our meal (perhaps lunchtime is a better option). I've been here many times over the years, I love the location & I've had many great meals here. But I do feel that the Cafe needs to up its game.

We booked a table for dinner at Porthminster Beach Café and were seated by the wall. I asked if we could move to an empty window table, but was told it had been booked and the guests would be arriving shortly. However, by the time we left, the table was still empty. It felt like they could have let us sit there with the understanding that we’d need to vacate by a certain time. The food was fine, but nothing particularly special. Overall, a bit disappointing given the reputation, price and location.

Service was friendly and good, atmosphere is beautiful and good BUT the food is terribly overpriced for what you get. The fish-curry was utterly disappointing (wet & mushy rice, tasteless sea-food). At the end the waiter offered to take the curry from the bill, but I refused, as I ate it. In hindsight I should have not paid and not be bothered by it. Anyway, go there for a cocktail and snacks, skip the expensive dinner!

We are giving it a 2-star because our servers were very nice, the food was very decent for a beach cafe and they've got a beautiful view of the beach from the restaurant. However, the attitude and service from the host was beyond undesirable. If i wasn't starving, I would've left without having to meet the lovely wait staff who were polar opposite of the host. Here's what's gone wrong with the host: 1. Upon entrance, he was no where to be found. Ourselves along with 3 other tables waited outside by the door for at least 10 minutes before he leisurely strolled up from the slope, and instead of apologizing for the waiting time, he ordered us to stand behind the ropes so he could sort out the mess of a line the he singlehandedly created. (that was in no way a one-time incident. during the time of our supper, there was constantly a line at the door just because the host was no where to be found) 2. The host never gave us an option to be seated inside or out. He pointed us directly to an inside table. I checked my reservation and went back to reception to ask if it's possible to have a different table. he said outside table were first-come-first serve. (outside tables were mostly empty during the time). instead of assigning us a new table. he made us wait for another 5 min so he could cater to other customers. again, no apologies was made. 3. The host was frequently sweeping sand off the pavement right outside of the entrance of the restaurant. It's a bit off putting for visiting patrons and unwelcoming. I wasn't expecting four season quality service at a beach cafe and it's quite rare to encounter such inefficiency and inhospitality from a host of restaurant.

Visited for our first wedding anniversary. My husband and I are huge foodies but I was 12 weeks pregnant at the time and suffering with severe morning sickness. When I phoned ahead to the restaurant prior to our arrival I had been assured that I could have pasta with a really bland cheese sauce (which was available from the children’s menu). On arrival though , the waitress vehemently refused and said they “wouldn’t make enough money from our table” if I wasn’t drinking alcohol and ordered from the kids’ menu — even though my husband was ordering enough food for two people and I’d offered to pay the same price as an adults main. After a prolonged, frankly humiliating exchange with the waitress I was left in tears and we left. We spent our anniversary at a Wetherspoons instead, where no one questioned what I ate. Disappointing and unnecessary.