Mermaid Alley in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Spur of the minute as we walked by - the menu looked lovely, plenty of veggie options and they had room. We weren’t disappointed- the food was delicious, really interesting dishes, well cooked and so tasty. Service was quick and friendly. Definitely recommended and we will be back. Thank you!

Omg amazing, lovely place, the food and hospitality was great, but we already knew as it’s our second visit and it didn’t disappoint. We will make it a regular feature when we visit Cornwall again. Best place in Penzance by far, Mauritian cuisines were delicious

What a find! We’re regular visitors to PZ for work and leisure but never made it here before now. This is straightforward home cooked soul food, served with passion and a great vibe in a family business- we loved it! Nice wines and cocktails , great food and plenty of chat if you want it. We probably outstayed our welcome but ended up talking about music and travels etc and the time ran away but we felt as if if we’d made new friends……great value and firmly on our list when we’re next in PZ.

Wow! This little gem of a restaurant is a favourite of my sister and her husband. My first visit did not disappoint. The staff were so welcoming and friendly giving the restaurant a real homely feel. Indulged in a cocktail - oh my goodness - I guarantee you won’t find a better cocktail anywhere else - it was amazing!!!! The food was just superb and plenty of it! This is truly one of the best dining experiences I have been fortunate enough to partake in. This beautiful little restaurant has quickly become a firm favourite! Can’t wait to visit again!

Wonderful food, great atmosphere and really helpful staff. We hadn’t booked, and knowing it’s quite small we weren’t hopeful, but found us a table and had a really great meal.

Amazing Mauritian food, service was excellent and is the best place we have visited in Cornwall, will be coming again

Brilliant food, full of flavour and portion sizes very hearty. Staff are great and friendly. Restaurant is quite small with a very nice atmosphere.

My wife is very choosy and had spent ages on Trip Advisor doing due diligence to find a really great family run, family friendly restaurant and she came up with this place, Mermaid Alley. And oh my goodness we really hit the jackpot. It's a great little independent restaurant with a terrific, wide ranging menu to suit everyone, including fussy kids!! We highly recommend the Mauritian fish and chips. A great ambience, timely service and super friendly staff (especially Lennox) at a reasonable price. Genuinely don't go anywhere else. The next time we're in Penzance, we cannot wait to return.

Five stars all round, nice staff, great original cocktails, delicious food at reasonable prices. Family run with relaxed atmosphere, it's a real treat.

Absolutely wonderful! The food is incredible, and the cocktails were nice and strong! Great value for money and such happy friendly service. Can’t wait to visit again!

Best food in penzance. 10/10 cuisine. Incredibly welcoming atmosphere. What more could you want?? Shout outs to my man Lenny P. Keep mixing them wicked drinks boi.

Always on the look out for local or regional restaurants, so we booked a Mauritian restaurant in Penzance. As you do. It was an inspired choice. Greeted like family, tthe food was both excellent but also had the feel of 'home cooking' - which, in this context, is no bad thing. Delightful meal, served with a smile. Loved the dhal, and the chicken cari. What a way to end the holiday - worth walking from St Ives for!

We had a friendly welcome from the staff and the decor and atmosphere was nice. Best pf all was the delicious food, really different to the usual and excellent quality, freshly cooked. The mocktails were delicious too. Definitely would come again. Very reasonable prices as well

Delicious asian fusion meal, served by friendly helpful you staff. The meal was fresh and very tasty, and atmosphere cosy but comfortable. All at a reasonable price too.

The food was just lovely. Different flavours. Some slightly spicy but huge variety. Plenty for vegan and gluten free folk but everyone seemed happy. Friendly staff who were running hard but found time to chat. And a nice age range among the customers. Be sure to book - they seemed to try hard to fit people in but were full. Thank you!!

We visited the Mermaid Alley cafe at lunchtime on a blustery June day. We have been before, in fact we make a point of visiting whenever we are in Cornwall. It is worth it! Today we both had the Mauritian fish and chips. Wow, just...

Staff were knowledgeable about the menu. Menu was different from the norm. Food was exciting and delicious. Very good value for money. Great atmosphere

What a beautiful experience- amazing Mauritian food cooked and served by a family with authentic Mauritian heritage. Flavour explosions in every dish and attentive enthusiastic service.

Really fresh tasty food, great flavour combinations, and three meals for £40 with drinks. The new chef that has taken over the kitchen can certainly cook! Fabulous!

I hosted my friends baby shower at Mermaid Alley and it was amazing! The food and drinks are so good I’d definitely like to go there again. Everyone was really happy with the food. It was a great space and just what I needed. The...

Well I have just had the best birthday lunch ever, was due to go to St Ives but the bus didn’t turn up, so decided to stay in my home town for my bday celebration. Everyone has raved about Mermaid Alley and now I know...

Very tasty food. Plentiful, colourful and lots of hints of spice, chilli and herbs. Lovely staff and a relaxing, friendly atmosphere.

Great food we had a love meal here and will definitely be coming back it was delicious, I highly recommend it

We were do delighted by the wonderful food and people. We had lovely seafood, Mauritian style. So fresh and delicious. This is a quickly, little gem of a restaurant. The staff and owners are so proud of their cooking. Very friendly place. The team anaged...

OMG....the menu looked great but actually the food was awesome....amazing flavours, fantastic combinations, ample portions....just great meals all round....one of those occasions when everyone wanted to share every dish with everyone else. Perfect service....Good prices....all in all a restaurant worthy of putting PZ on the...

Wow wow wow, we have always loved this place and always gave it 5 stars..... So with a change of chef it surpassed our expectations food was out of this world. Beyond expectations truely the best food EVER. taste were out of this world, service...

Went with my son and was blown away with the food and service. Well recommended with some tasty dishes . Beautiful

My wife and I were blown away by the quality of the food and the really friendly service. The food was based on a Mauritius theme. We chose off the "specials board", and they were. And to add to that they do the most amazing...

Great customer service. Thats it. Food was bland, boring and dryyyy. Menu made everything sound wonderful yet when it came out it was immediately disappointing. Bland boiled rice. Chips clearly bought from the shop around the corner. Spicy ball things anything but. Needed sauce to...

We had a fabulous evening, amazing food with an excellent selection of vegan options and my partner described the upside down pineapple cake as quite possibly the nicest dessert she’d ever had. We’ll be back, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for hosting our staff Christmas party. The food was fabulous. The cocktails were amazing. The service overall was brillant. We really appreciate all the effort you went to. We will be back !

Had a great meal. Fish perfectly cooked. Not too expensive. Staff were lovely and explained all parts of the menu. Will definitely book again and would recommend.

Incredibly good service- the young man was charismatic and helpful when asking for dish recommendations. The menu had quite a lot of choice considering each dish had been very well thought out- plus there was another full list of specials which all sounded amazing. The...

The best food! Something for everyone! All foodies catered for! What a talented kitchen and chefs. And the front of house are so delightful..... such a lucky find! Why didn't I know about it sooner! Thank you for such lovely food and service!

Love eating at this place. Lovly food. Great for a daytime catch-up with a cocktail. Friendly staff and a generally lovely little joint.

Just had one of the best and most flavoursome meals at this little restaurant. We absolutely loved the kung po / bang bang broccoli (they had run out of cauliflower) and the hake and chicken dishes were amazing too. Staff were lovely. So glad we...

Really quirky options here to delight the tastebuds. Super friendly staff and nice, relaxed atmosphere. Portions quite big.

A very relaxed atmosphere. Friendly staff . Delightful food reasonably priced considering the quality. Just had to go there at the start and end of our holiday.

This is rated the number one restaurant in Penzance. Quite simply it isn't. It's in a good position, the staff are lovely, the interior is nice. But...The service is dreadfully slow, and the food was distinctly average. We mildly complained, but it was noticed that...

Been to penzance many times,tried booking mermaid alley before ,fully booked!! Now I know why!!,fabulous food,and service,cannot fault this restaurant!! a must when in penzance

Ordered pretty much the whole menu for us all to share - faultless. Highly recommend - the deserts were a particular treat. Ask to see the drinks menu. Lovely.

Worked around our ferry times and found us a table. Excellent food and delicious margaritas. Friendly staff, good atmosphere. A perfect way to end my birthday!

Friendly warm welcome. Lovely service. Excellent tasty food and great cocktails. The Mac cheese with pork cheeks was gorgeous. Smoked mackerel pate with fresh salmon was delicious. Husband really enjoyed his falafels followed by brisket burger.

Wow! We find it really hard to find a restaurant where the menu really does offer some unique creations and tastes at a really reasonable price. Mermaid Alley achieves this and some. Genuinely lovely people looking after you. The chef is a gem with some...

I prebooked Mermaid Alley for two of us for a Friday evening from the consistently good Tripadvisor reviews, and we were not disappointed. We loved the Mermaid themed novel cocktails we had to start. The tomato and basil soup starter had a lovely flavour with...

Small restaurant in Penzance with a menu that is just a bit different from most others. Then executed very well to make a series of dishes packed full of taste Good example - offered an affagatto for desert but this was not just a coffee...

The staff was very friendly and welcoming here and the food was fantastic! The cocktails were also excellent, would recommend and definitely come back!

What a fabulous restaurant! We found Mermaid Alley purely by chance, and expected an ok cafe experience, but were blown away straight off by the exciting menu, friendly staff and super-cute Mermaid-theme atmosphere. The fish chowder is the best we’ve ever had, and both our...

There is only one place to eat in Penzance.....Mermaid Alley. The food is crazy good .... Soooo good.... I cannot fault anything!!! plus possibly the most impressive kids menu I have ever seen! To add to great food... there is an atmosphere that you can't...

In the catering and hospitality industry it is hard to find a triple threat... 1. consistency in outstanding customer service 2. food seasoned to perfection 3. enticing top drinks selection Well!!... Mermaid Alley has it all. We were very lucky to get a table at...

Had an amazing meal here during a busy service in sunny August 2022. The service was attentive, helpful, friendly and efficient and their creative use of ingredients is a pleasure to read and then eat! I would recommend this restaurant again and again.

Off the hook! Absolutely beautiful food and drinks, great service from Lennox, can’t fault this place it’s top notch. Highly recommend!

The food at Mermaid Alley is simply superb. The chef needs to go on The Great British Menu. Sensational.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here, both the mains and pudding being absolutely delicious. A special shout-out to the churros and the special which was a chowder. The staff were so friendly and helpful and our family agrees this was one of the best meals...

We had food and drinks here on Saturday evening, the food was amazing and the staff are really friendly and welcoming they was so good with the 3 kids that was with us that evening giving them some colouring to do whist waiting on food...

Just had an amazing lunch here. Staff super friendly, the food was so tasty, good portion sizes and perfectly seasoned. Will definitely be returning 😁

My husband and I visited last night and had an amazing meal. The food was delicious, fresh with great veggie options which are limited in this area! The staff were friendly and made you feel really welcome. Definitely recommend a visit!

Visited here for a dinner yesterday, the food was absolutely delicious as were the cocktails- it’s clear they very much deserve their number one spot! We went with my twin toddlers and the staff were so friendly and attentive with them, it made such a...

We went because of the reviews- thoroughly deserved. The restaurant is a lovely place with lots of nice decorative touches. Friendly welcome by the staff. We both had specials from the board - lamb burrito & fishcakes. Both were excellent meals with lots of fresh...

Found this little gem on an internet search for restaurants in the area. Glad I stumbled across this place and booked a table. From outside it doesn't look much (no offence) but inside wow! The decor is stunning. The staff were all super friendly, polite...

Wow, wow,wow what a treat! World food made local. The crab prawn quesadilla was fantastic and the pulled pork scotch egg was next level. Fresh fish perfectly cooked. We enjoyed it so much we booked for lunch next day.

Went for lunch as a group of 6 - and had 6 different meals between us, from salads, to burgers, to burritos and ciabattas. No complaints from anyone - in fact, the opposite! Everyone hugely enjoyed their food and we can't wait to go back...

We had a really top notch meal at Mermaid Alley. It 100% deserves it’s top rating! My husband had the scotch egg and brisket burger and I had the buffalo broccoli followed by the fish of the day (hake). My fish was perfectly cooked and...

Best burger I have ever eaten. The brisket burger is heaven. My wife had the seafood chowder which was delicious. Well worth a visit

A family Christmas get together (possibly our last if covid strikes again) on the last day of opening till the Spring I believe. Not our first time by any means but possibly the best yet. Lovely atmosphere created by a great team who care about...

Great restaurant with fab and cheerful service. The food was absolutely delicious! Loved the scotch eggs - the best ever! Would highly recommend.

What a find . Amazing food , if you visit Penzance this is amazing. Real quality restaurant food . Best we have had in a while ! Great friendly service too . Don’t miss it !!

Came to celebrate a 13th birthday as it looked perfect on the previous reviews. There were 6 of us eating and the food was simply delicious for every course. The menu was extremely imaginative and the taste of each dish lived up to the description...

Well, what can I say. Opens at 12pm and we had our noses up against the window at 11.55! We never even made it to the main menu but had two dishes from the specials board. The slow cooked lamp was lovely and the sloppy...

One of the best meals I have ever had. Wonderful service, great food, fab cocktails. The bill was about £40 less than I was expecting! I can’t praise Mermaid Alley highly enough.

Read the excellent reviews prior to our break near Penzance. Somewhat disappointed with Penzance itself (compared to say Falmouth) however, it's well worth visiting to have a meal at Mermaid Alley ! Called in on spec and had lunch Friday 15/10/21, service friendly & relaxed,...

Lovely welcome, great service, delicious food. We had the special chowder and scallops to start followed by the shoulder of lamb and hake in saffron sauce followed by banana fritters with peanut butter ice cream and affogato. Cocktails were delicious and original. Thank you for...

Honestly the best food and drinks we had in Cornwall - the quality was second to none, and beautifully presented! I could go on and on, but to keep it short - my partner had the scotch egg started and I had the humus and...

We had THE best meal of our honeymoon at this lovely little place. Just tried on the off chance, we had mains and then had to squeeze in desserts! The staff were so nice. Thank you for a great end to our cornish trip! :)

Well I would have taken a photo of the Beautiful food. But it didn't last that long on the plate. AMAZING!!! Definitely worth hunting it out.

Went here with friends whilst on holiday, and was probably the best meal we had during our stay. Lots of choices for vegans, I had a side and starter, which was served together with a lovely salad, and my wife had the lentil dhall, which...

We had heard good things. We were not disappointed- the food was creative but not fancy, and was absolutely delicious. Cocktails were tasty. Service was efficient but not rushed. We really enjoyed our evening there.

Visited Mermaid Alley on a Saturday night. A real gem of a place, small informal restaurant. I had the falafel to start and the brisket burger and both were absolutely gorgeous. If i lived nearer i would be a regular!

This restaurant is a must visit if you’re a real foodie lover. Amazing little establishment run by the loveliest people with great staff, a real pleasure to chat and try the great cuisine. Lisa’s homemade chowder , if on the menu, is a game changer...

This is the best restaurant we have been to in a while. A nice but unassuming place, where the food and drink are the stars! The seafood chowder is just divine, served with delicious garlic toasted bread and chunky fries. The brisket burger just doesn't...

Amazing amazing - I could have eaten everything on the menu. I had the fresh fish 10 out of 10. Lovely helpful staff. Made a table available just for us. We eat out a lot and this is the best meal I have had in...

Alternative menu, with deliciously flavoursome food. Staff were friendly and attentive and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Would definitely return when visiting the area again.

On holiday in Cornwall checked out restaurants on TA and this one deserves it's high rating. After a bit of misunderstanding with booking they ensured we got a table for my daughters birthday. Food was amazing and we had a fussy eater with us. Cocktails...

Quirky, family run restaurant with imaginative menu of food and cocktails. Really is in an alley (sorry, New Street). The atmosphere is just lovely and the food well cooked. We loved it. We had a vegetarian dish (aubergine) having gorged on sea food in the...

Me and my friends enjoy eating here for our annual meet ups and every time it never disappoints! The food is literally so amazing and you always feel like it's extra special when you order something from here. The waiting staff are so passionate about...

Beautiful food. Lovely staff and excellent customer service. A real little gem of a restaurant and went because of Trip Advisor reviews. So glad we did.

We love this place. It’s the highlight of our holiday. The food is always novel and delicious. I have had food here that I haven’t seen on a menu anywhere else. Some combinations sound funky but always work. Every mouthful is a delight and I...

Booked this place purely from the trip adviser reviews and it did not disappoint! lovely atmosphere so friendly and the most yummy different food!

We loved this place. The food was interesting and so tasty, the drinks were fabulous and the service was great. I was worried our kids (11 and 8) might struggle with the menu but they were fine. My husband and I felt like it was...

Set down a side alley it would be easy to miss but if visiting Penzance I would definitely make it on your things to do list . Staff were so friendly and knew just how to talk to children . Children also get a “...

A totally fantastic meal with excellent service. Great freshly made food. I had the scallop and prawn starter and it was divine, so many delicious flavours and my husband had the famous scotch egg. Yummy! Our mains were perfect and they even sorted our fussy...

We booked Mermaid Alley based on reviews, a few weeks before our holiday and I'm so glad we did as it gets fully booked very quickly. Having now visited, I'm not in the least bit surprised. Despite it being busy, we were warmly welcomed and...

I love this place, it’s probably the only place in Penzance that properly caters for vegetarians and vegans as opposed to the half hearted efforts most other places offer. Their menu is interesting, varied and definitely different. Fantastic cocktails too, I have to admit I...

We love this place, they do an excellent choice of vegetarian and vegan dishes which made my wife very happy. Their vegan spicy mac and cheese is wonderful, we will definitely be back.

We booked based on the reviews and we were not disappointed. The summer menu along with the specials meant we had no issue finding something for us and the kids. The service was friendly and efficient and in no time we were tucking in. The...

We visited here a couple of days ago with our children. The food was delicious and it was great to try something differvt. Separate kids menu and my two cleared their plates. The staff were really friendly and helpful. Woukd definitely visit again.

Amazing food…. Will be back again!! Food was so tasty, drinks were unusual yet divine. Service was wonderful. This is a must visit.

WOW just WOW from start to finish !!!!!! Warm welcome on arrival super attentive staff and the food was just amazing ! We are very fussy and have high expectations and The Mermaid was fantastic. Beautiful fresh and aromatic flavours cooked to perfection . The...

My wife booked this weeks in advance as good job she did as it was full. Service was great, friendly staff who knew the menu inside and out and could describe the specials in detail. Cocktails were great and refreshing, starters of meatballs and scotch...

My partner and I visited here on the off chance and it turned out to be one of the nicest places I’ve eaten in. The food was amazing and the staff were superb and very helpful in going through the vegan-vegetarian options . We cannot...