Mermaid Inn in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Great place to sit and watch the world go by after a long walk along the coast

Genuinely the worst food I’ve ever been served. For some context me and my friend ordered the Nachos with sour cream and salsa, we thought it looked bland when it came out but we were horrified when we tried the sour cream… it was lumpy and watery and the smell was vile!! We soon came to realise that it had gone off! The whole time no one came over to ask how our food was. Finally when the waitress came to take away our plates we told her about it in which we were offered a refund. She went out to the kitchen then 5 minutes later she changed her mind and told us that there was nothing wrong with it and it was apparently in date…. Just because it’s in date does not mean it’s not gone off!! Awful service, rude staff - avoid at all costs

beautiful venue, lovely food, helpful staff.

Lovely friendly staff. Service with a smile and are polite Great place to have a drink on a summer's day as it's situated on the beach, and has a beautiful view We had steak and chips, also fish and chips with onion rings. The steak was very tasty. The batter on the fish wasn't as crispy as would have liked, but the fish was lovely The onion rings, though a side dish was lovely and a large portion. The meals are large portions and delicious Definitely worth visiting and definitely will be returning

Lovely place with very welcoming staff

Absolutely disgusting that’s the food The pub is a total dump a place you go to get ripped off absolutely disgusting such a good location The manager just don’t care

Very generous portions, at very reasonable prices. Really tasty food. I had seafood pasta. Friendly staff, and great location.

Wow this location is amazing. Out of all the dog friendly beaching, this has to be our favorite. Free parking right next to a very flat sandy wide spread beach, ideal for my elderly dog. A spit and sawdust pub, which was packed with ramblers and dog lovers, a very friendly atmosphere and staff were great. We had drinks outside, listened to good vibe music whist watching the sun set and then had the their famous fish and fish by the sea, delicious. The end to a perfect day x

My step sister joined us for a meal and drinks to celebrate her birthday. The food was delightful. Sarah made it super special by bringing us a slice of delicious cake singing happy birthday. Sarah did her absolute best to ensure we had a great night and we truly did... We've had some great times recently at the mermaid, with their live music outside and much improved menu and food.. Thank you for making my step sisters birthday special and fun, we truly appreciated it❤

Delicious fries and fish. I will definitely come back

Authentic pub with delicious food at a good price and the location on the bay is nice. The service was also great.

Friendly staff, variety of beers and at walking distance of the beach and a campground

Headed down to this pub by chance one afternoon. I can imagine in the middle of summer this is one of the most beautifully pubs to just sit down and have a beer. The food we had was so amazing. I had the pulled pork nachos, and honestly the best nachos I have ever had! We went back another night just for these nachos! Also highly rate the cheesy chips!!

It's such a shame that such a stunning setting on the beach falls so short from getting a 5 star review by poor customer service from members of staff who don't listen to the order, and when it's wrong, eye rolling and huffing isn't in my humble opinion the way to deal with the paying customer. I've never in my life ordered 2 starters, and 2 main meals which were not only stated as such on the menu that I pointed to when ordering, but also said "we'll have these as starters, and for mains, we'll have..." .... All 4 dishes bought out at the same time, and a huffy attitude when we refused to accept the main meals, and requested they'd be cooked fresh when we were ready. What a pity as this place had come highly recommended by a local.

Not eaten here yet but go for drinks occasionally and the beer is always good quality and the place is clean. The staff are lovely too. Great pub.

Great location, nice clean bar , decent prices . Beautiful view .

Great bar in a superb location great beer and fantastic food

A nice walk on the beach followed by a meal at the Mermaid, perfect. We had a bacon cheese burger and chips, chips were excellent, crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Burger was really tasty😋. We've been before and we will go again.

As a local, I had been wanting to try for a while but they always had events on where there was not food served so I managed to get a table and went with family. The food was abysmal, especially at the price they were charging. For example, one of us ordered the Kahuna Burger (beef burger, brioche bun, dressed with salad, pineapple, bacon and cheese). My experience was a very stale bun, one wilted baby lettuce leaf, some cheese, one piece of cardboard bacon and an overcooked dry patty and a ring of pineapple from a tin, not even grilled. The starters arrived AFTER our mains and were inedible. I would have been less upset if I had just gotten this in spoons but they charge a pretty penny for honestly vile food. There are so many lovely pubs and restaurants in and around Newquay, would recommend anywhere else. Only positive is the location is stunning and dog friendly. Otherwise, if you are looking for a genuinely delicious meal, look elsewhere!

Rough looking and unclean but been on the ⛱️ beach I guess can't be helped

It’s a little run down, but the people were lovely and the food absolutely great! I wasnt expecting to be able to eat here but when I asked what i could have the did have a gluten free menu! Albeit scribbled in pencil on a scrap of paper! I queried and they have a separate gluten free fryer! There are not many places to eat in Porth so we were forced there really but I’d go again!

Great place by the beach, for a nice cold cornish ale 🍺

This is a very sad pub. Clearly the owners have no pride in neither the decor, cleanliness, or quality of the food. If you want to sit at a dirty table, on a broken chair, eating a plate full of overpriced burnt, tasteless and greasy food, then this is the place to go. Very unfortunate because given the location it could be wonderful.

Used to like Mermaid and been there plenty of times, but this time i ordered a hunters chicken, and it was done with a cheesy slice!! Not an actual cheese, which is usually cheddar. It ruined the whole meal. Even more dissapointing, that i was there a month ago and got hunters chicken with a normal cheese. Not gonna visit anymore.

I came here a few months ago and had a amazing ng meal, it was very busy and had a lady doing face painting my grandchild loved it. So we came back on our own my partner and I had the same meals again. This time we were very dissapointed tables were dirty, and the floor needed a clean. When our food came there were even more dissapointed chips and peas cold on both plates The fish was brown and tasted horrible batter was full of grease. We ended up walking out. We won't be coming back. It doesn't live up to what it says on board. Even have dirty cloths on chairs at front of pub lovely.

With the most amazing views this was one of our favourite spots to stop for coffee Recommended!

Nice location directly at the beach. Very dated inside, rain dripping through from the ceiling while we were there. Service personnel handed out the Evening Menu at 2pm, after we made our choice and went to order, we were handed the shorter lunch menu. Food was okay-ish, but nothing special. Fries were served in a cardboard tray. Why? Dirty and mouldy bathrooms. Cannot recommend.

Location and portion sizes are what gives this place the 3 stars. It's quite pricey for the quality of the food. Food is below average, although generous with portion sizes, the food was quite greasy. However, there is free parking and it is right on the beach, so when the weather is good, you've got a lovely spot on the beach. Wouldn't return there for food, but would definitely enjoy a pint here on a sunny day.

Food was aight man said hour and 15 minute wait for some mid munch would not recommend

Excellent food. Quick friendly service too.

Being here for work, and traveling to get to know this amazing town, I decided to stop in this restaurant that, from the outside is a bit neglected, in fact it seems to be a slightly larger kiosk, but inside I found the very kind and smiling staff, and also good food; having been a chef for 30 years, it is logical that every dish could be improved however, I must say I really appreciated the final result. First of all the seafood linguine, even if it deserved two and a half minutes less in the water and 40 seconds more in the pan, they had a very tasty ingredients, the fish inside was really very tasty and well prepared, the sauce, deserved to be consumed to the end. The Fish and chips unfortunately was a bit oily, so it deserved to stay four minutes under a lamp to dry it a bit however, I must admit that the fish was surprisingly fresh, tasty, and well prepared; at the end I had a really good time, in a very nice and friendly place, looking at the people enjoying the weather on the beach, where in the next few days I will bring other friends and, in the future I will definitely return!! ! Finding myself here for work, and traveling around to get to know this amazing town, I decided to stop in this restaurant which, on the outside is a bit neglected, in fact it seems to be a slightly larger kiosk, but inside I found in addition to very friendly and smiling staff, also really good food; having been a chef for thirty years it is logical that every dish could be improved, however, I must say I really appreciated the final result. First of all, the seafood linguine, even though it deserved two and a half minutes less in water and 30 seconds more in the pan, had a very tasty sauce, the fish inside was really very tasty and well prepared, the sauce deserved to be consumed to the fullest. The fish and chips were unfortunately a little oily, so it deserved to stay four minutes under a lamp to let it dry a little. However, I must admit that the fish was surprisingly fresh, tasty, well prepared; in the end I really had a great time, in a very nice and friendly environment, where in the next few days I will bring other friends and, in the future, I will definitely return!!!

Great sound. Very good cider. Take the “Inch’s Cider”, which is the best if you don’t like sweets. If so, go with Thatcher's haze.

Lovely location right on the beach

Me and my wife went to this pub to have some lunch when we pulled up we asked a female member of staff if they are serving food she looked at us like we were stupids and said yeah mate and when I started eating I found the burger raw when I explained to the waiter he said we can cook it more if you would like I said no thanks I didn’t feel comfortable eating there after that and that was that no refund offered just offered me a drink absolutely unprofessional staff and that showed in the food definitely won’t be going again

Guinness was not the best, the whole place needs a bit of TLC but that would not stop me going back great to have a pub that beat to the beach.

Food can be improved, everything else was good

Ordered food. They forgot us. Waited an hour and had to have the food reordered, and then they missed my portion. Very badly run bar. I will avoid this place in future

Great location and good food (mostly) but that's where it ends. Clearly very popular as nothing else to do in Porth. Probably because of their popularity in this sense no money is spent on decor, cleanliness or toilets. All dated, dirty and broken.. website is out of date as steak is now £9 more than on the website. Example on the specials - warm chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. Served cold and with cream. Server says we don't serve ice cream - yet it's on the special board. No attention to detail. Just greed in running this place even from the new ownership

Used to love this place, looking very tired now. Daytime menu not inspiring. Hope it springs back soon.

This pub looks nothing from the outside. It is situated on porth beach with outside sitting space. We ate here several times and food was nice. Lovely fish & chips...😋 watch 👀 out for the seagulls......

Stopped off in Newquay on the way home - had squid rings, seafood linguine, my girls had gammon, cheesy chips and cheesy garlic bread - all delicious - lovely friendly staff too, a great end to our holiday - thank you

We recently stayed in Porth. The staff here were friendly and bent over backwards to accommodate us - even when busy. Thank you

The food is acceptable but not great. we have eaten here three or four times now, so now getting a better picture of the Mermaid

The food was very nice. The staff were friendly. Highly recommended.

Lovely beach views with music playing over the speaker outside

Food very poor I had chicken curry which had no taste at all the naan bread was greasy didn't eat any of it, hubby had the pie, pastry was hard, so disappointed would not recommend, for the price I expected much better quality of food. Got to be the worst meal I've ever had out.

Been coming here for years with kids n dog as ideal beach n pub location while on holiday at Newquay. Consistent every time. Decent food n beer with great location.

Place looks a bit tired both inside and out. Shame really as it is directly on the beach. Haven't eaten here, expensive as are the drinks. No price list however the bar staff said they would be happy to tell me?? As this is the only pub around here they have a captive clientele with a busy caravan/ campsite opposite could do better.

Great friendly little pub 👍 Dog friendly 🐕 Beer great Food lovely, even the light snacks 😋 Views from the terrace onto Porth beach are stunning 😍

Drastically improved since our last visit. Nice food, quick service and ideal location on porth beach

The bar lady called Kim was so lovely and very friendly, she definitely looked like she enjoyed working there and I would definitely go back there as I felt like it had a great atmosphere. And I would definitely recommend Kim gets a promotion.

Really good pub food reasonably priced considering right by the beach with lovely views

Fabulous spot, really friendly staff, had the best mussels and best chips to go with them 😋😋. Just watch out for the pesky seagulls (which they earn you about. Will definitely return 🤩🤩

Staying at Porth Beach Holiday Park the Mermaid is a great meet up or stop off after a busy day or to just sit outside and watch the sun set. Always made to feel welcome and the beer goes down well. Super place whilst on holiday xx thank you

Right on the beach. Couldn't be more perfect 👌

Only came for drinks. Stunning location. Loved sitting outside by the ocean and music playing but it could do with fairy lights for that special touch. Staff were all great esp Tilly

Fab sea view, great beach access, feet in the sand at the outdoor tables. Skin on skinny fries were great value at £4.50. Cheesy chips even moreso at bigger portion and plenty of cheese for £6.50

Right next to the beach it’s the perfect place to eat, with a stunning view of the coast if you choose to eat outside

Really nice place, right on the beach. Friendly staff, and food served up quickily.

Nice and relaxing fill to the place, staff friendly and helpful, we did not eat here but the food looked really good

Very friendly, beer is very good,what a place great view to have a beer and food is good. Staff are very helpful.

Sorry to say the pub had an issue so no food being offered

Lovely place to eat ,right on the beach. The food is very tasty and very large portions. The staff are welcoming ,friendly and happy to please. A great place for a great meal.

Just had coffee but the service was good.

Absolutely lovely place on the Beach. Vast selection of Drinks.

Amazing place to come right by the sea, also dog friendly . Food wasn’t amazing Pulled pork burger was quite burnt, beef burger dry and over cooked same as the chicken wish is a shame Still tasty food though Great atmosphere in there

It's good down there. I wish they would do something about the seagulls.

After a trip to the beach, thought we would call in for something to eat. I ordered pie, chips and peas. I could hardly cut into it, the pastry was so hard. There were three or four pieces of steak and the rest was a gooey mess. My wife ordered a beefburger and as the photo shows it was inedible! It was black and rock hard. Never again!

We didn't dine here pub was closed but the staff were great. I phoned to see if we could park overnight with motorhome they said absolutely plus it was free. We travelled from Nottingham and used as stopover it's literally 2 mins of last M5 junction Exeter and straight back on to Cornwall brilliant dog friendly we felt safe cctv on pub plenty of parking best stopover I've used thank you will see you next time and have a meal thank you 😊

Needs a good clean and redecorating. Even the outdoor sign had a letter missing

Given this is the only pub in Porth, I really wanted to like this pub, but it is honestly horrific. I can ignore the dated and run down decor, as it’s been a really tough few years for hospitality, but the food was a disgrace. £17 for one meal and the chicken was tough and impossible to cut. The kids meals were similar in standard and overpriced. Dogs everywhere and even trying to jump up onto other peoples tables. Maybe part of the reason for their 1* hygiene rating they received in January. There is a lovely tea room at the other end of the beach and across the road from The Mermaid a lovely little takeaway. Honestly, don’t waste your money; the food and atmosphere were appalling and I won’t even mention the state of the toilets. The staff were nice enough and obviously doing their best with what they have to work with.

Food was ok ish, service a bit slow and not many taking orders

Tasty lunch at a good price. Good coffee

Used as a stop off at the end of a long day's walking on the coastal path three times whilst in porth, sat outside in the evening sun with a lovely cold beer and large white wine for the wife and enjoying the view of porth beach food is excellent and great value for money ,friendly staff and nice atmosphere. Thank you

Been coming here for years and always been a tad on expensive side but this year came for food and drinks and waited over a hour and was charged £99 for 1 adult and 4 kids meals and drinks. Food was lovely but after the wait and the price wont be returning too often. Garlic bread was delicious

Great spot on the beach, ideal to have drinks and food whilst the kids play on the beach or just great views.

Great food Great music Lovely view of the beach when sitting outside, and lovely and chilled sitting inside.

Staff lovely food amazing definitely recommend it

Only went for a drink, all the ales were sold out/off. First choice of lager also off, very disappointing.

Beautiful food! We had fish & chips which were lovely! Batter was crispy and the tartare sauce was really nice too! So much food we couldn’t finish it! Day 1 of our break away and we’re already planning what we’re having later! Staff were really friendly and good knowledge of the local area!

We’ve been going to the Mermaid for over 35 years and have never had a bad experience until now. The pub decor needs updating, it looks dirty and tired; our food was a complete let down with over cooked chicken burger and chips, left most of it on the plate! And the pub was completely lacking in atmosphere. It used to be the best place to go, lively and vibrant, quality well-cooked food and leaving you wanting to go back for more! What’s gone wrong!!

Popped in one day last summer and was told that because they were so busy, all we could have was chips. So we left. Popped in today for the obligatory 2nd chance and although there was only 2 other tables, the experience wasn't much better. The middle aged barmaid was rather put out by us as she was trying to eat her lunch. She didn't have the patience to wait for my wife to order, she instructed me to take her order through the toilet door as she was in a hurry. When we asked for a table outside we heard an unhappy "Oh, God!" behind the bar. Overall not a good experience. The food was below par, the scampi was dark and had a burnt taste, suggesting the oil needed changing. My daughters chicken nuggets were awful, better if I had gone to Iceland and cooked them myself. Suffice to say, I will never darken their doors again.

Just a little quiet when we called in. But I can bet this is the place to be when it's a sunny summer day, being right next to the beach.

The atmosphere is just chill and enjoy the views.Great friendly staff and lovely food.

Came as a group of 10 for my son's 12th birthday. The food was so overcooked, my daughter's food was burnt black (sausages) the fish and chips were dark brown batter and awful and my scampi had seen better days. Overall the food was absolutely disgusting. I was so ashamed I had chosen this place for my son's birthday.

We arrived late on Sunday afternoon, they were finishing Sunday afternoon roasts, we enquired to see if they could fit us in, due to our daughters severe dairy and egg allergy it's always a worry. However Chef popped out to see us, reasured us that all would be fine. The food was delicious, and the waitresses were wonderful. We will be back very soon. Thank you all

I have been going here for 20 years, and this year most disappointing. Food was cold, service poor. Whoever owns it now, is missing a trick. This is a great location. Hope it doesn't go under

Friendly, helpful staff. Amazing food (I had steak and red wine pie, chips and peas).

Food not at all good ordered Squid which had soggy batter , kids meal was disgusting 4 hard dried up scampi bites and a few frozen chips ( £ 9 ) over priced too ! Burger average and chips poor Food here used to be good but not anymore

Right on the beach. Sure its great in summer. We went on Feb 24, so quiet. But was still nice to call in after walking the 🐕 on the beach.

Great location and good food (mostly) but that's where it ends. Clearly very popular as nothing else to do in Porth. Probably because of their popularity in this sense no money is spent on decor, cleanliness or toilets. All dated, dirty and broken.. website is out of date as steak is now £9 more than on the website. Example on the specials - warm chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. Served cold and with cream. Server says we don't serve ice cream - yet it's on the special board. No attention to detail. Just greed in running this place even from the new ownership. And then we find out it's a 1 star rating by hygiene standards

Nice pub grub and plenty of space for a walk in on a Sunday afternoon so suited us well.

Lovely place nice atmosphere great food

Gets quite busy and noisy but worth the beach views Lovely staff 👌

Bit old nice atmosphere benches need some TLC

If it was possible to rate less than 1 then that would have been more accurate. We had booked a table for 7 well in advance. Staff were plenty but immature and clearly untrained. They had mistakenly booked the table under the name Brad, yet we are a British Indian family (maybe that’s what threw them) and the booking was made under a very simple 3 letter nickname even a 2yr old could spell. We were told the choice was roast dinner only just pork and beef however, other tables were being served from the menu so we raised a query and the excuse was ‘ that’s for walk ins only’ I explained we booked in advance, the manager then went to check when the menu would be back on. We do eat pork and beef but it was clear that our choices had been restricted for other reasons. it was clear we were not welcome due to the colour of our skin so we made an exit. Having all been born in the UK and growing up in respectable British towns and cities this is the first time ever we have encountered such prejudice. Definitely won’t recommend this place unless you are of a very pale colouring.

Great location and good food (mostly) but that's where it ends. Clearly very popular as nothing else to do in Porth. Probably because of their popularity in this sense no money is spent on decor, cleanliness or toilets. All dated, dirty and broken.. website is out of date as steak is now £9 more than on the website. Example on the specials - warm chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. Served cold and with cream. Server says we don't serve ice cream - yet it's on the special board. No attention to detail. Just greed in running this place even from the new ownership

Lovely pub right next to Porth beach. Food was brilliant and a good choice of real ales. Also has free parking.

They ran out of Guinness on St Patrick's Day. 🙄

Lovely family friendly spot. Great location and really good service, lots of dog walkers with their furry friends. We'll priced for such a nice location.