TALAY Thai Kitchen in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

New favourite place to eat….best food ever! Staff are lovely too!

This is by far the best Thai in Cornwall. If you want a positive vibe, excellent service and mouth watering food this is your place! By the time our drinks came the food had too! These guys don’t miss a thing. Sophie and Rocco

Wonderful food , wonderful staff, brilliant system when it’s busy . Taking us down stairs for a cocktail. Collecting us when a table became available. Best Thai green curry I have ever had. Staff our top notch.

Absolutely sensational. Lovely service, but the food... Take it from me, if you are staying in or near St Ives it is simply compulsory to eat here at least once. Our party of 6 had a wide variety of choices from the menu - meat, fish, vegetarian - and every dish was spot on. Speak to the lovely maitre d' as early as you can in the day to arrange a call back when your table is ready - you won't be disappointed.

I called to book a table which I soon realised was not possible due to the fact this restaurant only accepts walk-ins which is perfectly acceptable, however when I called I was spoken to in a very abrupt, hostile and condescending manner. I can appreciate it may have been a very busy lunch service but this is not an acceptable way to speak to customers over the phone.

We ordered a pad Thai and what can I say it was tasteless and the portion was quite small, the bit I thought was a daylight robbery was the coca cola , very small glass (not even a can) and got charged 3.85£ for it.... Service was really good but I wouldn't go again

Love this place, been a few times and always great.

We had five tapos dishes between two adults and this was about right. If you’re really hungry go for 6 dishes. Great value and great service from the staff. Will be going back again before end of our hols.

Despite being v busy service fast and fun and food excellent

Loving the food they serve here it is our 3rd visit and it did not disappoint. The staff we helpful and advised us on the difference between the meal and gave us great food recommendations. Will definitely be going back next time we are in the tow.

Incredible food, great service, lovely environment. They serve possibly the best tamarind duck I've ever tasted, and they certainly win the prize for the stickiest sticky rice in Cornwall!!

Best Thai I've experienced in a long time. Great food and service with lovely views of St. Ives Harbour. You can't book, but they fast service meant they got a lot of people through in a short time. There may be a wait at bust times.

Lovely friendly, and food was amazing and fresh

Great food, lovely service and a really nice atmosphere. Would defo recommend and well be back on our next visits to Cornwall

Best squid we have ever had! Great food, atmosphere and stunning views. Who could ask for more.

Managed to get a table by the window overlooking the harbour, which was a great bonus. The staff were very friendly and helpful and food delicious. Prices were reasonable, especially when compared with other prices we have seen around St Ives. Only slight criticism was that the food came up almost too promptly which made us wonder how much of it was pre-cooked. Not that it was noticeable in the tastes. Everything was delicious.

Amazing restaurant! The food was incredible, not too crazy on spice, just right. Staff were lovely and very attentive and the selection was excellent. Highly recommended

Lovely late lunch and arrived without a booking. Made very welcome and loved the layout of this restaurant and great location with high tables overlooking the harbour. Great food and service and they have Singha beer on draught which was a great plus as we go to many Thai restaurants and bottles are only available. Will definitely return.

I have been coming here for 4 years. Never had an issue, we’ve even posted them on our food review Instagram. Yesterday I was served raw prawns in my pad thai twice! Both times there was no attempt to make an apology, they tried to play it down so the other guests wouldn’t hear our complaint. Mistakes happen and I understand this however the Terrible customer service will be the reason I nor any of our friends will return to this restaurant.

Lovely restaurant serving yummy authentic thai dishes. We enjoyed our courses of food and loved the fact we managed to get a window seat which gave us a fantastic view. Panang Curry was so good! 100% awesome!

Lovely Thai meal in lovely surroundings and a great atmosphere. It was a busy Saturday evening for our visit and a table was reserved for us on arrival. Had to go to the downstairs bar for a pre-drink before being quickly accommodate upstairs on a table for two.

Fantastic food, great service and a very nice atmosphere in the restaurant. You have to try this place if you’re visiting St Ives!

Cannot fault it. Service was lovely. Food was sublime. Thinking of going back for tea tonight.

Wow….amazing the best Thai I’ve ever had outside of Thailand. Lovely restaurant and great staff, amazing food, can’t fault the place!

Beautiful meal this evening - flavours amazing, great selection of wine by the glass Staff really welcome - all in all a lovely vibe on cold January evening

The Thai food here is really authentic. Had the green curry and Masaman curry with white rice and both were delicious. The prawn toast is also recommended. The price is also very reasonable.

Great food but freezing as we was sitting by the door and was so windy and cold when people was coming and didn't care to close the door behind them. Table by the door is not the best idea, food was great and service too ♥️ We will come back definitely but will ask for different table in the future.

This Thai restaurant was my favourite place I ate at on my entire trip to St Ives. Literally everything was perfect for our visit. From our highly trained waitress who described every dish we asked in great intelligent detail to the food itself which was outstanding! We ordered scallops, prawn pad thai and penang curry which were all perfect to the T. Highly recommend this place++++++++++

What a shame. Told you can’t book; just turn up. So we turned up and we’re turned away as we had not booked - unless we waited an hour………get it right Talay. This is poor service - have a system and stick to it!!! With so many other high quality restaurants to eat in St Ives, don’t waste your time standing on their drafty stairs waiting to be told the opposite of how they should be operating. Have signs that are clear - and certainly don’t laugh at new customers reading the signs not in clear sight. Here for the week. We eat out each night. Had some really nice meals - was keen to try here, but I simply will not be treated so poorly by poor service.

I visited with my partner and 18 month old little boy on 5.1.24. The restaurant has lovely sea views and really friendly staff. Food was cooked to order and was prompt to arrive. We ordered a mixture of tapas, curry and one dish. The quality and flavours of the food was amazing. We would definitely revisit and recommend.

The food here was stunning . Everything from start to finish. I had the scallops for starter and the just melted in my mouth . Possibly the best Thai I have had and the Service was fantastic too . Thai curry was also stunning and the Prawns melted in my mouth .

We come here everytime we visit St Ives. The 90 min wait for a table (no need to queue as they take your number, you can go to the pub & they call you 10 mins before able is ready) should tell you all you need to know; it’s amazing & everyone wants to visit. I’ve travelled substantially around the world & I can honestly say, this restaurant is by far the best. Incredible food & great service. No words I say can justify how good it is; the only way is to try it for yourself…

We visited tonight as it’s our last night before we head home (unfortunately). We will definitely return next time we visit St Ives, great food, friendly staff and a lovely vibe

The food was sadly not quite good as in the past

Wow the place is amazing, the portions are a good size, such quick service, and the food is delicious

Take away dinner for 2. Friendly service. Really speedy. Great food. Enjoyed a cocktail downstairs while we waited. Thank you

This place was really busy but they managed to fit us in after about half an hour (called on my mobile to say when the table was ready) and we had a really enjoyable meal here. We ended up sat just under the kitchen counter which was busy and bustling, but didn't mind really as it's quite a small restaurant anyway. The food was good and the service was nice.

We tried to reserve a table, forgetting they don't take reservations. Told to come back in 30 mins, so we waited in the downstairs bar, until a member of staff came to fetch us for an available table. We had tapas to start which were very nice and tasty, but seemed to go downhill from there. I could barely eat my main, chicken undescribable, yet my friend who had the chicken curry barely had any chicken in hers, mainly potato? Maybe there's a reason for such dim lighting? Could barely see the menu. Such a shame as a very popular place with a queue out the door. Staff are lovely.

Only managed to eat here once in two years, and it was ‘ok’ but not worth a 60 minute wait outside for a table! What a ridiculous way to operate a restaurant, no booking, just turn up and hope, how can anyone plan a night out? Personally I won’t return and couldn’t recommend anyone to visit.

We live relatively close to St Ives and have routinely tried to eat in this restaurant only to be told we can't book and to come back, hoping to get a table. Tonight (within an hour of opening) was the final straw, tried twice to book/get a table, only to be told that we could only get half of our party in. Frustratingly there were clearly tables reserved, having been told we couldn't reserve!!! The most ridiculous business model ever! We will never bother again.

Fabulous food - loads of choice and really well priced - delicious! And staff were all lovely, speedy & efficient- highly recommended!

Very nice fish based tapas. Camper weekend in St. Ives to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Friendly, attentive, young waiting staff. Recommended.

Mia was a great waitress and a good sitter 🙃

Superb food… ordered online and picked up ready on time. Highly recommend this restaurant. Food excellent, quick service can’t say any better than that!

Amazing food. Tasty, fresh. Favourite place to eat out

Lucky to get a table on a wet November Friday night. Very busy. Ordered five tapas dishes and one main between three of us, which was about right. Delicious food served by very friendly, smiling staff. Lovely atmosphere. Highly recommended. Well worth a visit if you can get in!

The service and drinks are phenomenal there wasn’t a “Long Island ice tea” on the menue but it wasn’t too much of a bother the waitress was very kind and said that could make it right away ! Super service and the drinks tasted AMAZING ! Also very welcoming and accommodating with us having a toddler ! Highly reccomend for families and the staff are great !

We ended up going here 3 times in our 2 week stay as we loved it so much! Best place to eat in St Ives. Atmosphere is lovely and food delicious. One of if not the best green curry I’ve ever had, better than the Thais near us in London. We had a takeaway one time and it was equally delicious. Yes not being able to book is a slight negative but the fact it was always so busy in November must be testimony to how great it is. Despite not being able to book and it was always being jammed we were always able to get in within 30-40 mins, and being able to have a drink in the nice bar downstairs whilst you wait is no bad thing really.

Talay Thai serves mediocre Thai food at best. The dumplings we ordered were extremely bland and the meat was quite tough. The pad Thai was so-so, as well as the fried rice. The only good thing we ordered was the Thai duck red curry. When the table with the sea views freed up, the waiters refused to let us change our tables even before we ordered our food. There are much better Thai restaurants than this and I wouldn’t come back.

Ordered a take away and when we arrived bang on time it was ready, friendly staff and all was very easy. Couple of beef dishes, duck and a vegetarian all of which were excellent. The beef was as tender can be. One portion of rice...

We have been coming to this restaurant since it first opened. Last night I was shocked to find out (from a helpful member of staff) that the curry sauces contain fish sauce. I'm vegetarian and for years thought the Butternut squash curry was vegetarian. This...

Great food and good prices. We had tapas size curry's sharing a rice was more than enough for us. Second time here not disappointed.

Not an expert on thai food but having called in on passing we had an amazing meal. Thai Tapas is an brilliant idea gives you a chance to try lots of different things. WIne very good. And very reasonably priced too. Will definitely be back

We had a takeaway from here a couple of times when staying in St Ives. The first time it was good, although the portion on the sesame prawn toast was mean, given the price. On the second occasion, there was no satay sauce with the chicken. Furthermore, the jungle curry was awful: there was very little meat and the sauce was insipid and thin. A jungle curry needs to be spicy; this was not. It was like eating veg in very watery bisto gravy. Avoid this dish and you should do ok.

We visit St Ives every October (half term) and this restaurant has always been a favourite as it’s great food and something a little different. It’s on the harbour front and upstairs so has great views and whatever we order always tastes great. This time...

So, having read other reviews we were aware that forward booking isn’t an option. If you have any commercial brain you can immediately see why - in early November they are constantly full and turning tables around instantly! Why complicate that? The reason - very...

We visited Talay twice during our visit to St Ives. It is extremely popular and you cannot book so unless you arrive as soon as they open, or late at night it is doubtful you'll get a table. The menu had tapas dishes and main...

Fantastic food, great service and nice small restaurant. Popped in to reserve a table and sat in pub next door till waitress came to get us. Food was delicious and we sat in the window overlooking the harbour and all the twinkling lights. Lovely experience.

We love Thai food, but sorry to say we were disappointed with the takeaway. Heard good reviews about the restaurant, but prawn pad Thai was bland, the chicken and Thai basil stir fry was just ok, we ordered chicken satay (some pieces were pink), the...

Tried to get a table here on three consecutive nights, succeeded on the third night! We had heard all the hype about this place and were extremely eager to visit. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing on the whole, and not worth the hype. The views from the restaurant are lovely, and the service was great, with helpful staff. Having substantial experience of Thai food, The seafood jungle curry was not aromatic at all and much too salty. If not for the seafood in it, it would have been pretty inedible. It was adequately spicy, but unfortunately there was little else to it. The jasmine rice was very nice but the portion was too small for the price. We ordered the Thai Collins and Fiery cocktails but they lacked the lemongrass kick that I expected from the lemongrass syrup. Having had similar drinks in Thai restaurants abroad, I had some idea of what to expect. However the Fiery drink was still quite good with a nice hit of chilli. Perhaps there were better dishes to be had, but we decided against ordering more as the food was underwhelming and not worth the price at all. All that said, Talay may be a better option compared with other restaurants on the harbour, and I suppose this could explain the hype. Perhaps for British/European tastebuds this place really hits the spot, but it did not do so for us.

My partners favourite restaurant, I personally love the cocktail bar underneath! Staff are polite and dishes taste authentic. Views of the harbour are to die for. Don't take bookings so if you have to wait just go downstairs for a drink.

Great food. Really attentive service and a great view! Thanks!

Second time we have eaten in at Talay Thai & it didn’t disappoint. Great fresh tasty food, very friendly team, fab atmosphere- really buzzing ! Can’t wait to come again.

Spot on service, great value, atmosphere and fabulous service. An excellent place to eat. Cocktails are fabulous too with a wide range of choice

An excellent dinner on one of the tables overlooking the port of Saint-Ives! The place gets crowded very quickly, so you should think about coming a little earlier to secure a table. The dishes are absolutely excellent, the curries plentiful and well prepared. Possibility of taking plenty of tapas for the table or one dish per person. Pleasant service.

Thai tapas style and main dishes, all very fresh and tasty. No bookings so may have to wait when busy. Great for visitors who have not made advance restaurant bookings.

Beautiful restaurant, great staff Insane food Can’t wait to return Clean delicious flavours We loved the tapas menu it it’s so good you’d just try it all

Perfect Every singe thing about this place is wonderful Service, food and wine are all superb You can order with a blindfold and a pin and you will get an amazing meal In a stylish room overlooking the ocean They have utterly nailed it

Disappointed today .service not what I am used to in St ives highlighted to manager but dismissive!!

This is our fourth visit to this restaurant and it doesn't disappoint. Fabulous food, great service and amazing views. We will definitely be back.

I had read good things about this restaurant and how busy it gets so tried my luck getting a table on a weekday evening. Unfortunately, there was a long wait which was disappointing! They have a pub downstairs if you fancy a drink or two while you wait for a call from them for when a table is available but I was not willing to wait that long for a table. Decided to do a takeaway instead as it was the food I was interested in. Placed the order online on their website and it was ready in good time. Chicken street style noodles, panang curry with prawns and coconut rice all blew our minds and exceeded my expectations of Thai food there. The portion sizes are good too. If you like Thai food, this place is a must visit.

Very authentic Thai food with plenty of dishes on the menu. Very friendly staff who are quick and efficient. No bookings, you have to rock up to request a table , then wait for it to become available. For us that was almost an hour...

Rude unprofessional front of house staff. Lack of booking system is ridiculous, in my opinion. However said staff apparently dismiss my opinion and see it as a reason to lose their temper towards me and my daughter. What happened on Tuesday 26 September evening was...

No booking system in place other than joining a waiting list and being at their whim for timing of table.Other restaurants manage booking systems. Slammed door on my daughter. Woman was threatening and extremely rude. She can't handle any criticism. I think it's a ridiculous system not to be able to book and she blew her top. Wouldn't allow us to order takeaway and threw us out. I neither raised my voice or swore, I only said it was a ridiculous system. I am entitled to have an opinion, even if it differs from yours. You had no right to speak to us or treat us in the way you did. Shame on you.

We came in at 17.30 to reserve a table for the evening but were told they don't take reservations and we'd have to come back just before 19.00 to get on the waiting list. We came back at 20.00 because we had prior commitments. There were no tables so we asked to order takeaway. One person in my party said that it was ridiculous that they don't take reservations. The waitress told us she didn't make the rules and that we could order online, shoved takeaway menus into our hands and then stormed off. Another waitress came along and said we had been rude to her staff, told us to get out and that she wouldn't serve us, yelled at us until we left and slammed the door in my face (I hadn't even said a word this whole time). I've never seen customer service like this in my life. As a waitress myself in the past, customers complaining about something they don't like doesn't equal rudeness, and retaliating with agression and sarcasm is highly unprofessional. Management should consider training staff on customer service skills

A fabulous find on the harbour front with great views if you're lucky enough to get a window seat. We arrived early and were promptly seated and our order taken. Servers were highly attentive. Loved watching the busy chefs in the kitchen. As an international visitor to Cornwall we wanted to eat local seafood. The fish curry we ordered was done justice and one of the best we've eaten outside of Thailand. The sticky ribs were also amazing. Would highly recommend.

I'm writing this review after our last visit to this restaurant. As a continued returning customer I feel this review needs to be written due to extremely poor customer service by 2 members of staff that has left me quite unhappy and re-thinking my continued business here. Prior to our last visit this restaurant ticked all the boxes 5/5, we are always eager to return. It holds a special place in our heart so we always try to visit here when in St Ives. Unfortunately we arrived here at around 19:00 to be told there is no availability and they will no longer be adding to the wait list. We thought fair enough, very disappointed but that cant be helped so we went else where. One of our favourite drinks is the Thai tea so after our meal we went to the bar below who no longer serve it here, it has to be ordered up in the restaurant. We go above to the restaurant and ask for 2x Thai teas to take out not thinking it would be an issue to be given almighty attitude by a staff member. This was obviously to much hard work for the staff member to prepare how ever she reluctantly prepared it after stating it wont be happening again. Another member came around with the card machine, no conversation, no words just placed the reader in front of me where I paid an amount I did not know how much. Finally the drinks were made where she made a point of placing them on the bar whilst maintaining complete eye contact with me and didn't say a word and turned her back. Rude. I get that we turned up around 21:00 how ever, having worked in the customer service industry my whole career I know the importance of delivering top customer service from the start of shift to end of shift. Manners cost nothing. We left a very empty looking restaurant (after being told they were too busy for more bookings) very disappointed and revaluating our continued business here. The one good thing that came out of this experience was finding a very good restaurant near by, The Beach Restaurant who did amazing sea food and were friendly throughout.

It was a busy Saturday night when we got there so needed to wait a 1hr until the table was ready. When we ordered everything came at once which we didn’t know would happen but it’s okay. We then had a stir fry which I had never had before, I tried it and didn’t enjoy it so therefore ate none of it. We told the waitress who was quite rude with us and started to argue that she wouldn’t be taking it off the bill as it wasn’t their fault we didn’t like it and that we ordered it so it’s not their problem. As I work in hospitality I thought this was quite rude and told her that I didn’t eat it and I didn’t enjoy it , she then said “ that’s not how that works here” and refused to take it off our £63 bill. So we was not happy with the service here.

Arrived knowing that we would need to check in and come back for our table Greeted by Luke who said a table would be around an hour- we left our number and 59 minutes later our table was ready Food was delicious- pork skewers, pad...

First thing to mention is as with previous reviews, you can’t pre book this restaurant, so be prepared for the fact that you may not get a table. When we arrived we were told that there was going to be a one hour wait, and...

Phenomenal Thai food. Staff are excellent! Cocktails are top drawer. Really nice atmosphere. Food is great value too.

What an amazing restaurant! No reservations, get your name on the waiting list and sit downstairs to enjoy a cocktail and a view of the sun setting over St Ives harbour. Once upstairs, the restaurant is buzzing with hungry diners sipping on wine, cocktails, Thai...

Amazing Thai food, I had the cashew stir fry with sticky rice - I definitely recommend it, it was delicious. Their espresso martinis were excellent too.

Got a table right in the window. The food is delicious, the staff are friendly and attentive, but that doesnt really matter when your sat looking at that view. Spectacular.

Incredible here!!! The wait staff are super hard working, but make you feel like nothing is too much trouble. They are amazing. The food is tasty and fresh and perfectly portioned. The tempura is heavenly!!!

This restaurant was recommended by a friend, thank you Alex. He said there was no online booking system, just turn up an hour before you want to eat, book then go have a cocktail and chill. It was exactly a 40 minute wait as predicted...

The food was excellent. The service was very friendly and quick. We are happy to recommend it. :)

“We don’t take bookings, only walk-ins. We will always try to give you our best table, but we work on a first-come-first-serve basis.” Entered St Ive’s on the basis of eating here, spoke to the waitress and saw obvious empty tables. She stated that we was unable to have a table as people have put their names on the list and are waiting for a table which would take it to shutting time. If you’re going to state that you don’t take bookings and allow them on a first come first serve basis, don’t take a list of names of people waiting to eat. Instead, state on your website that you need to enter the restaurant as early as possible and put your name down. Ridiculous.

Absolutely shocking treatment of customers! I came to St Ives to go to this restaurant. I tried to book and was told they do not take bookings. When I arrived at the restaurant at 7pm I was told they were fully booked and won’t be able to fit me in. This restaurant states on their website that they do not take bookings. The waitress produced to me a list full of bookings. Why do you lie on your website? Very disappointed. This left me stranded and unable to find food as all the other restaurants do take bookings and we’re fully booked. Avoid at all costs!

Excellent food and a welcoming staff. We entered the restaurant and were told we would be called when our table was ready. We got a call 20 minutes later. We were seated promptly and offered drinks; we chose to have tapas and main dishes served...

This is a wonderful spot to sit and enjoy lunch with a lovely view of the harbour. The food was so good - the portions are quite large for tapas so 2 each was more than enough. Staff are very friendly and they do one...

A friend recommended we visited Talay Thai & it did not disappoint. One of the best Thai's we've ever had. Loved that you could get Tapas style dishes too!! Will definitely re visit when we are back.

Great Thai food you will not be disappointed get here early as it does get very busy or leave your number with them and they will call when table is ready. I had the Panang chicken curry with Jasmine rice with a bottle of Chang Lager.

This place doesn’t take bookings but we dropped lucky that a table was immediately available. Tapas style Thai or fuller dishes if you prefer. All very tasty

Great tasting food and friendly staff. We entered the restaurant and we told we would be called when the table was ready. 10 minutes later we received a call. We were seated promptly and offered drinks, we chose to have starters and tapas dishes to...

Very nice food.Quick take away order and such a great surprise.Delicious mussels 👍🏻👍🏻Great service👍🏻

Amazing food! We are here as a family, and honestly the food was amazing. I haven’t tasted such good Thai Food outside of Thailand! The cocktails were also very good. Service was good even though they were super busy.

The food here was so delicious, best Thai we have had in a long time! We got a takeaway, booked it on the website and had a clear slot for collection. It was ready as soon as we arrived to collect. The flavours were incredible, we are craving some more!

The bar & restaurant are both phenomenal. Highly, highly recommend.

Visited here on the 22nd of August, it was busy and we were told there would be around a 45 minute wait so me and partner decided to have a drink downstairs in the bar, after awhile we were told our table was ready and the lady took our drinks up. The food was fantastic and didn't disappoint and the beer was just as good, Asahi downstairs and Singa upstairs my two favourite 👌🏼. The view was nice out the harbour and the service was spot on, would definitely return and definitely recommend. 5*