Porthmeor Cafe in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Forget the great View, forget the amazing food. It was very refreshing to actually feel wanted at this place. Not a hassle for the staff, not a stupid tourist they will never see again. Which is what we have seen a lot. The standard of service at this place exceeded any expectations I had. What a friendly team, always smiling no matter how busy they were, nothing was too much hassle. Thank you for making us feel like our custom was appreciated ❤️ We had breakfast twice, which was amazing. The pancakes were delicious. We were only here for two days but would have come back everyday if we where staying longer. Thank you to everyone for your efforts. Lisa

Greeted with huge smiles by friendly staff. Delicious tapas style food. Lots of choice. Highly recommend!

A wonderful, well-kept restaurant in a prime location overlooking the beach and sea. A small, fine menu. Tasty, freshly prepared dishes. Very friendly and attentive staff. Relaxed atmosphere.

One of my favourite places for dinner in Cornwall. Haven't been for a few years but was relieved to find it was as good, if not better, than the last time. Obviously the view is incredible but the food is just as amazing. We always love to order loads of small plates as you get to try everything! As a vegan, it's so nice to have so many inventive options (plus churros for dessert, yes please!) The highlight for me was the aubergine, cooked so well with the delicious spicy accompaniments. But fish and meat eaters won't be disappointed - my brother loved the jerk chicken and the mackerel. Save the bread til the end to mop up all the delicious sauces! Staff are all brilliant, friendly and relaxed. Not cheap (about 75 quid a head for us with lots of food and drinks!) But so worth it! Make sure to book in advance as its a popular place!

Absolutely superb breakfast, in a wonderful cafe with incredible views. The place is amazing, sat on the cliff face with the beach and sea right opposite, the views are superb. They have various seating areas, inside, in the pods (recommended) or on the benches on the lower level. The service was immaculate, they look after you, are set up with colouring kits for kids etc. We both had the Build Your Own breakfasts with various items. All were superb. Really really good. Cannot recommend highly enough and we’ll be back for a lunch or dinner in the next day or so. Loved it. Edited the review to reflect that we also had our evening meal here. And what a place! If you book at the right time you get to see a stunning sunset. Food wise the evening menu was delicious. We really enjoyed it. We shared scallops, pork tacos, crispy sea bass, tortilla, tomato and moz salad. The little fella had, as usual, chicken and chips.

This is by far one of the best cafes I’ve visited with unique flavours and stunning views, the staff were very friendly and we ended up ordering their banana dessert twice. I cannot recommend this place enough. We came to St Ives again this year I can’t wait to try their food again!!! PS: I still can’t get over that banana dessert with peanut butter ice cream 😍

Location, service and food all excellent. You can eat and drink overlooking a beautiful beach and enjoy fantastic tapas. Highly recommended

Incredible views and incredible food. The waiting staff were professional, friendly and attentive. We had tapas and dessert.

Great place for a drink and food and look out to watch the surfers. And a great beach to go with it.

The other side of St.Ives...... Food was amazing and reasonably priced... Salads to pasties plus crispy chips worth coming round for...... Plus stunning views from there terrace.... Don't miss the opportunity to eat here !!

Excellent service & great food well worth a visit

Lovely little cafe that accommodates walk ins, good service too.

Fantastic location, lovely food and good service but beware the Rosemary fries. Just way too salty.

We decided to go for lunch here to celebrate my husbands birthday. The previous year we had a lovely lunch here. After looking through the menu we decided to go for the crab sandwiches with chips in rosemary and aioli. We asked for brown bread to be told that it would be done in white bread, apparently the accepted method from the waiter. The content was a lot more shredded lettuce than crab. We also noticed that there was brown bread on the servery. When we asked the waiter about this he said that it was sour dough bread that would not go well with the crab. We were in shock on his comment. A nice day spoilt by a poor lunch. Have their standards slipped? For the money this was one of the poorest/dearest crab sandwiches we have come across. From previous photos on trip advisor we noticed that brown bread had previously been used. We were not given that choice!

Went for lunch after a visit Tate St. Ives as it was just across the road on leaving with a prominent position overlooking the beach. Although we were tempted by the tapas choices on the menu, when you have spent over a decade in Spain paying 1€ to 2€ for a tapas dish. In the UK, Tapas seems to mean 'opportunity to pick your pocket'. We opted for the Lamb dish at just under £20. The dish was very well presented but underwhelming in size. We are not big eaters but one look at this well presented dish told us it wasn't the best of choices. To add to our disappointment, the meal was barely warm! The location was great, the staff were great, the food is well presented but I won't be going back 😔

Amazing tapas restaurant overlooking Porthmeor beach. Food is fantastic. Staff were really knowledgeable about the food too.

Beautiful setting overlooking the beach. Great tapas style menu. Great fish dishes. Bring your sunglasses it's a brilliant view.

One can't find a better location for a meal than Porthmeor Beach Cafe. It's on the beach and right across from the Tate, St. Ives. We were lucky as we were seating right away with an unobstructed view of the waves. The food is as good as the view, freshly prepared, and we never felt rushed as we enjoyed the fare. Porthmeor Beach Cafe was strongly recommended to me, and I do the same for anyone who reads this.

I can't fault this cafe! We stayed in St Ives for two nights, and had breakfast at this Cafe both mornings. Typically, I don't really like visiting the same place multiple times when I'm away, but the breakfast was just so good! What we loved about it: Great service - friendly and accommodating staff. Amazing view over the beach Brilliant menu - loved the 'build a breakfast with good sized portions. We loved this cafe and will certainly be retuning on our next visit!

We chose this restaurant for its view of sunset and had a nice meal whilst we watched it. We had mussels and prawn curry and both were tasty. The restaurant was full, best to book a table but the staff found one for us after a short wait.

I cannot understand how people rate this place so highly. Rip off tourist trap. Paying high prices for mediocre food. An amazing view over the beach and sea. The staff are nice and the place is dog friendly. Wish we had done as other folk, looked at the menu and left. Won’t be going again. Very disappointed.

Fantastic Cafe, with great food cooked with flair and attention to detail, the crispy sea bass is a triumph, magnificent, thank you chef. The tapas menu is a marvel of distinct flavours and textures, all delicious without exception. Be amazed by the spiced cauliflower. The tapas menu does change, so look out for exciting new dishes. 2025 Charred Hispi cabbage, stupendous!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Too much salt. Fish tasted like...salt. Fries, although brown and crispy but tasted like...salt. Please tell the chef salt is on the table and we can add it ourselves. We cannot remove it from our food. Oh and they add a 'service charge' of 10%. As if the food isn't expensive enough on its own.

Great food. Nice view. Perfect service

Popped in for a drink, ordered the tacos as a snack and oh my god, if weren't leaving that day based on the tacos which were absolutely delicious we would have booked dinner. Service was attentive and on point, place was clean and nicely organised. Great place for having a drink, tapas and people watching. Highly recommend.

We stopped here for some lunch and didn’t have any expectations but the flavours and the food were so good! The pork tacos were a stand out and the calamari was excellent too! Watching the surfers on the beach was amazing too

Delicious food great atmosphere right on the beach, couldn’t be better!!

Nice view combined with good food.

Nice Place at the Beach, great breakfast for my wife, two friends and I. I asked for gluten-free bread and they had it. Cappuccino was great too. A definite go! I asked the taxi company for a recommendation, and this was great.

We ate here three times it was so good. Superb quality and really wonderful ingredients. Staff friendly and efficient. Really brilliant.

Just popped in for a drink Had some great cocktails right on the beach great views The food going by looked amazing We will be back when we are hungry

Friendly welcoming staff & a great atmosphere big 👍👍 all round

Lovely food and service, great start to the season!

Fantastic little spot over looking the beach. The tapas was great for vegetarians and the staff are welcoming.

Stunning location. Great food. Lovely staff. Highly recommended.

Food was amazing great atmosphere 👌

Amazing tapas, great service, fab views. My only small complaint was that the lemon meringue pie had soggy pastry (which I did tell staff about). It was a delicious filling, and I still ate it, so just a shame. Not cheap, but worth it. Definitely book in advance.

Incredible food with an incredible view, absolutely faultless!

This is our happy place. It’s hard to beat a table by the wide window, watching the dogs play on the beach as the tide rolls in, and being treated to outstanding food and drink. You can feel your cares melting away! The standard of food here is consistently high, and the chefs manage to get incredible and distinct flavours out of every dish (the tapas dishes remind us of Ottolenghi). The staff are all friendly and kind, and we’re especially grateful to Mihaela who gave us a warm welcome every time. We know there are great restaurants in St Ives, but we keep being drawn back here!

As a local I thought I'd give this place another try after the last bad experience we all had. This time was worse. We waited just over 20 minutes to get our drinks order which then took another age to deliver. The food was nice but the pudding had salt in it which ruined it as it was chocolate sauce. It never mentioned salt in the menu. What made all of this worse was the bill. Bearing in mind one had water and one only had one drink, no starters and only two puddings, it came to £120 for the 3 of us. I also thought it was absolutely disgusting that they added 10% on the bill without our consent. So for me it's really easy. I'll never be going back again!

Breakfast was so good we came back for lunch! Came here based on reviews for breakfast which was really good so we booked for a tapas lunch the following day - location wise it really doesn’t get much better, the menu, considering the location and quality of food is very reasonable. The staff are very friendly and attentive Absolutely would recommend and will be back!

Wow, what a lovely experience lunch was. Friendly team who made us feel welcome and some excellent tapas - we enjoyed the prawns, mussels, crab croquettes and the omelette. All very tasty and well presented and such a beautiful spot overlooking the beach. Will be back for sure!

One of the best places to eat, lovely staff, great food and beautiful views.

Best place for seafood I've been to in a long while. So happy I found it by chance and spent a great time there with my family. Thank you guys!

Wonderful welcome - seated in a window seat for four with amazing views. Service was so friendly and welcoming. Food was incredible. Extremely good value. We will definitely be back! Highly recommend the mussels, crab cakes, fish cakes and children's chicken and chips.

Beautiful sunny February day and fabulous spot to enjoy it all with a glass of wine and some tasty tapas.

Great food and always friendly .Always have meal here in the summer if in the area Great sea food and Service. Book early to get a table

Dropped in for a warming cup of tea on a chilly February day and received a lovely welcome. Didn't eat but the lemon, ginger and honey infusion tea was tasty..

I love the pancakes! I added hashbrowns on the side. I also enjoyed having the English breakfast and their hot chocolate. I love enjoying the ordered food as I sit facing the view of the beach. The staff are also kind and friendly. It was definitely a lovely day.

One of our favourite places to visit. We always enjoy ourselves here and have done so consistently over the years we've been coming to St.Ives . Location couldn't be more perfect and it's made even better by the wonderful food, drinks and service

Need to book for breakfast in busy seasons, but a great breakfast

Called in with the wife after a walk on the beach, we only had a hot chocolate drink each, it looked good when it was delivered to the table but it was tasteless and not very warm, had better in the harbour for less £, probably won't return here.

Shown to seat. 10 mins later had to ask for a menu, 10 mins after that nobody had taken our order - all we wanted was a drink which they said they were happy to do - disappointed

We were passing and came across this lovely beach cafe so decided to stop for a drink, and possibly a light lunch too, if the menu appealed to us. By the time our latte and tea arrived, we’d been seduced by the food that was being served to other diners, particularly the tapas dishes which looked and smelled delicious. We weren’t overly hungry so we opted to share some grilled halloumi, king prawns, rosemary chips and bread, with some lemon polenta to finish. Certainly, we had no complaints about the food which was really tasty and full of flavour. However, it’s not especially cheap here (our bill was just under £50 for what I would call a snacky type of lunch) and we were surprised to find that a 10% service charge had automatically been added to our bill, even though this hadn’t been mentioned to us. Service was okay, but not exceptional by any means, and whilst we would have left a tip, we felt that staff should have been transparent about the service charge. As ‘walk-ins’ during a busy lunchtime, we were seated inside, with no direct view of the sea or beach, which is fair enough, but perhaps if we’d had a lovely view, we might have felt differently about the prices and service charge. All that said, we’d definitely return but would book in advance so that we could take advantage of the amazing views that everybody talks about!

Fabulously tasty tapas menu and great location to watch the world go by

Excellent food, great ocean view, friendly staff. Fish stew was delicious!

We were inspired to visit after reading the review by Miss Piggy (couple of reviews below this one) Miss P seethes so much over so little we just had to see what the fuss was all about Imagine how disappointed we were when we discovered a charming beach cafe with wonderful staff and food to die for And with views over a stunning bay We tried really hard to master some anger and negativity but we just couldn’t The place thwarted us with its pesky excellence Doh

Service with an attitude, including manageress. However one sympathises it's challenging for the waiting staff dealing with a neverending queue of demanding holidaymakers. Food fair, location lovely overlooking beach.

Great food with an amazing view, the staff are very nice and efficient

Amazing place with beautiful views . Very nice food and service . Staff super friendly

Lovely tea and vegan chocolate cake, a really nice end to our honeymoon! Thank you :)

Great food, great service, great views.

Oh my goodness this place is fantastic! Not only is the location amazing but the food is exceptional. The service was impressive too - highly recommend. You must book otherwise you won’t get a table.

Perfect glass of wine watching the surfing 👍

Stunning views and you can have a heated pod so you can get refreshed while you watch the tide roll in.

Beautiful views but overpriced for portion size. Great coffee!

Great beach place, mussels are really delicious 🤤

Having recently moved to Cornwall we are keen to explore the area, so on a nice Sunny Sunday in October we took the Dog for a walk on the beach and we were just about ready for some breakfast. Very friendly service and they accommodated our Dog. They do a 'build your own Breakfast' which is a great idea. Yes, its not the cheapest Brekky ive ever had but it was certainly one of the best. Kept me full up for most of Sunday. Highly recommended if in the area

Had a wonderful lunch with family, visited on 29th October. Staff amazing and the food was out of this world, thank you for a fantastic meal.

Great little place to get a hot drink or something to eat.

Exquisite food, service and location.

This is a perfect place to eat and relax with friends. I went with my grand-daughter two days ago and, as always, every thing was wonderful. The food is delicious and the staff are so friendly and efficient. We love it. I was pleased to note that dogs are not welcomed. I love dogs but around food? NO! We shall return time and time again.

A lovely family meal, slightly marred by the freezing cold wind blowing through the verandah, made worse by the fact that the heater didn't work. We still had a great time there, as we do every year. Food fantastic. Enjoy

We had breakfast here on two morning’s The food was fantastic, with an excellent menu. The views are breathtaking and the staff are second to none.Highly recommended, we will be back!!!

Our favourite spot for food when visiting St Ives. It has the most amazing view of Porthmeor beach and we’ve always been so impressed with the food and service. We love being able to sit outside in the heated pods in the winter - an absolute must when visiting St Ives!

Our annual treat - breakfast every day during our week in St Ives. Fantastic food, friendly attentive staff, and what a view! Looking forward to returning next October already!

We had a delicious lunch here last weekend. We shared olives, crab sandwich and mussels. The mussels were delicious, really good size and super tasty. My one tiny issue was we ordered vino verde, we had 3 glasses but I’m almost convinced it wasn’t a vino verde, either that or it wasn’t a very good one as was very sweet…..our take away coffee was also stone cold. BUT food was good, service was good and location was beautiful

Staff are amazing in here, the food delicious. Had tapas one evening and also breakfast which was lovely

The food was amazing and there was plenty of it, though a bit pricey. The service was exceptional even though they were busy.

This was an unexpected find!! Food was amazing the views are amazing!!! Service is a bit slow, this could because of the time I visited. However the staff work hard to insure we and other enjoyed the experience,FYI the seafood menu is one of the best ( wish could add pictures off the food )

Very popular place so booking is recommended. We have been fortunate enough to grab a stool for a quick drink when passing by, but if you want a table for food I recommend booking ahead of time. The food here is really good and the view across Porthmeor is the best in St Ives (imo). Heat lamps and blankets are provided if it gets cold which it was on our last visit when these photos were taken in March, but there is also indoor seating.

We had a party of 6 eating tonight. The service was impeccable. The food was superb. We have had snacks and coffee on numerous occasions here, but this was the first evening dinner we have tried. It was absolutely brilliant and we enjoyed every part of it. I Highly recommend tapas ,especially the roasted cauliflower, tahini dressing, lentil salad. Hats off to the super friendly staff. We will be returning.. xx

Spectacular food, the mackerel dish was exceptionally fantastic and a much larger portion of fries than i expected (compared to bristol places) and the crab sandwich was delightful. Desserts looked great too. Amazing food, views and atmosphere😊

Called in for drinks only - superb view across Porthmeor beach!

Fantastic breakfast. Great customer service, we come here every time.e we are in St Ives..

Great view, but unfortunately the service is very slow.

Came here a few times for breakfast whilst staying in St Ives, we loved it! The build your own breakfasts are so handy especially if you don’t like all the traditional items on an English breakfast, there is no hassle of having to swap & remove items if you don’t like them! The staff were all very friendly and the service was quick. Great views of the beach which makes everything a bit better! ☺️

An excellent little café with food and drink quality way above expectations for such a small place. Special mention for their coffee - easily the strongest and loveliest tasting black coffee I've had anywhere I've travelled.

Lovely cafe, steady flow of people in and out but they'll always try and find you a seat. The service is excellent, lovely friendly, efficient service. The eggs were great, scrambled but more folded eggs, and roasted butternut squash, well seasoned and almost caramelised..so delicious.. I didn't even care if I had toast, I'd go back just for that. Very nice coffee, a well made flat white. And what a wonderful view 😊

Lovely breakfast. Efficient team but still keeps it relaxed and friendly, especially good at the end of a long season! Good beach vibe. Recommend booking.

This was the highlight of our trip to St Ives, good food, service and outstanding views. The breakfast was brilliant, be sure to book and it's dog friendly in one section

Delicious food and stunning location. Crunch crunch!

Exquisite food & excellent service!

We recently visited St Ives and had both breakfast and dinner here. The food was amazing, the staff are very friendly, and you simply can’t beat the view! What makes it even better is how dog friendly they are, you can sit on the Terrace with your dog and it is suitable on a sunny morning or a cold evening with heaters and shelter from the wind. Will definitely be back next time we visit!

We manage to visit, if we can, once a year and have done for many years. Service is always great: friendly, approachable, professional and efficiently organised. Food: we had Tapas was fantastic. From the simple bread and oil, to the rosemary truffle chips [to die for], to Mackerel and fennel, serrano ham, pear, roasted walnuts and honey, the IOW tomatoes to the spiced aubergine it was absolutely delicious. And not to miss out the caramalised banana and my lemon merangue pie. And the view you cannot beat, with the rolling waves, the lovely beach and the dark blue and cornish turquoise of the sea. Strongly recommend, and to avoid major disappointment- book if you can.

Pleasant place to sit overlooking beach. Inside and outside seating. Reasonably priced. Not over keen on letting customers sitting outside use the toilets.

Visited St. Ives on a drizzly day. Beach Café highlight with a delicious crab salad and a good glass of pinot grigio. Super!

Lovely place. The lovely staff make it even better. The food is not far behind. Super chilled, lovely outlook and delicious tapas.

Greatly disappointed to find NO vegan ice-cream, even though it's advertised on the board for a milkshake. Was going to be the treat at the end of the holiday. Staff apologetic but apparently haven't had any for some time. We left.

Absolutely incredible. Some of the best food we've had in a long time. We visited on the last evening of our trip to Cornwall and everything was brilliant. We're both vegetarian and all the options we chose were so lovely and full of flavour. We were talking about this place for days afterwards! Will definitely be back next time we're in St Ives