The Balancing Eel in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

We had a lovely night at the Balancing Eel for our last dinner in St. Ives. The fish and chips were delicious, but more importantly, they humored these silly Americans by serving us our JACKET POTATOES while we recorded them. *We call them baked potatoes (how boring). Our servers Lynne and Fearne were absolutely lovely and kind during our dinner. I promise, I will never call it anything but a jacket potato in my best British accent for as long as I live!

We visited here on a day trip to St. Ives. We went upstairs (the restaurant bit) and asked if dogs were welcome; they said yes. So we were shown to a table (the last one available) and straight away the waitress, Ellie, brought our dog a bowl of water and another bowl with some doggie biscuits. What a lovely gesture!! We ordered fish and chips and were not disappointed. The staff are lovely, especially Ellie. Highly recommend.

I have been going to this great takeaway/restaurant for many years and have always found the food quality and service second to none. The portion sizes are ample and the quality of the food they serve in HUGE numbers has always been excellent in my experience. Yes - because it’s popular you may have to wait a little while, especially during the height of the tourism season. But it IS worth the wait. Over the years the team has changed behind the counter or in the restaurant and I can say with 100% honesty I have NEVER found them more than welcoming, polite and friendly. As a ‘regular’ I enjoy the banter that I can have with the team and them with me as I do generally order the same things 😂 But I will mix it up occasionally to keep them on their toes though!! As I mentioned I have never had an issue with the food quality or portion sizes and trust me the amount of times I visit (my waistline will attest to this!!) I couldn’t have just been ‘lucky’ . Seeing some of the negative reviews is upsetting as, yes, every business can have an unfortunate bad day - not the customers fault of course - but have some empathy. If you do have an issue with your order the team are ALWAYS willing to rectify it!! If you are on holiday and want the best Fish and proper chips be patient, queue for a while, you are on holiday - what’s the rush? To all the Balancing Eel team past and present - keep up the great work!! A very happy regular customer 🙂

The husband and I wanted to start our holiday with fish and chips and called at the balancing eel for take out to sit and eat on the harbour. The chips were lovely but the fish batter was so thick it was still gloopy. Very disappointed. We threw most of it away.

Delicious chips!! I would highly recommend the food from The Balancing Eel. We had food from here twice during our stay in St Ives - worth the queue!

Great take away in the centre of St Ives. The food is always cooked fresh. During peak season you can wait for a period of time so be prepared for that.

All ways freshly cooked good portion size friendly staff

Best fish and chips shop from St Ives! All the locals also eat here

Tried this place twice whilst staying in town. I have tried before and enjoyed it but this time on both occasions it was disappointing. The oil clearly needs changing and chips were just average and not crisp batter a little soggy so left it. It is the cheapest in St Ives though so good value if on a tight budget.

Been buying fish and chips from here since I was a child, but today was the worst fish and chips I have ever had anywhere. The portions were minuscule and wouldn’t have fed a child. The chips were cold and hard. The supposedly large cod was 2 small tail pieces stuck together with grease seeped between the layers and tasted like mushy cotton wool. The batter was thin and soggy and tasted bitter from old oil. There was also a layer of revolting grease at the bottom of the takeaway container when the fish was removed. It was inedible and the meal went in the bin. Apparently it’s under new ownership! Perhaps they are trying to run it into the ground and open something else.

Strange vibes here .. weird queuing system, and a huge lack of customer service. Chips were ok, but fish not great. Decent curry sauce tho’

Best fish and chips I’ve ever had. The batter was so light and golden, freshly cooked to order. Absolutely beautiful. The menu is great, providing a variety of different items catering for those who want standard haddock/cod and chips. To someone like my husband who doesn’t eat fish, so could have a nice pasty with chips. The staff couldn’t do enough for us and they went over and above. My daughter wanted a kids meal but fancied cheesy chips, so the man serving went out of his way to find a special carton which meant she could still have the kids meal but with the additional cheese. She was so happy.

Delicious chips and battered sausage!

This is always my go to place for take away fish and chips and again it didn’t disappoint. This time I was looking for gluten free options and the staff were so thoughtful and considerate when preparing the food. I had grilled, line caught haddock and chips with mushy peas, which was beautiful. The ordinary battered haddock and chips also went down very well. I noticed quite a few gluten free options, including a pasty on offer. Thank you to the humorous staff for your care and attention.

Well cooked, fresh, cod and haddock and chips. Fair pricing and good sized portions. This is a Solid take away option. It is a shame they don't have somewhere to eat given the issues with seagulls in the harbour.

Probably the best fish and chips in St Ives. Cooked to perfection, I always head here for my fish and chips. Take away only so no sit in but don't let that turn you away, eat them down on the beach etc. Highly recommend.

I’ve given 5 for Atmosphere as although I takeout - the staff are polite but also have a good sense of humour and there is a lovely relaxed vibe about the place. Beautiful fresh fish, line caught haddock, cod is best I’ve ever had and I reckon hadn’t been out the sea more than 2 hours. Yummy crispy on outside fluffy on inside chips. Pea fritters are very good. All sauces, condiments, eggs - up to scratch! Thanks Guys! See you soon!

The battered cod was tasty and delicious but the chips were dry and lacked seasoning. The in-store experience was odd - staff struggled to hear/understand ordering and weren’t particularly warm.

The best fish & chips in St Ives, though take out only at the moment. Love the steamed 🐟

Have been here numerous times over the years we have been coming to st ives. The cod, chips and mushy peas are very good and would recommend as a take away option

Service was very slow for a Friday lunchtime, cooking on request. Portions were small. £2.70 for a small chips, which quarter filled a box is not value for money. £2.50 for pea fritter which was tiny. Fish was ok but definitely not any better than that

Delicious fish and chips. Line caught haddock available, and tasty chips. So busy when we ordered, but no surprise.

Fabulous place to get good quality fish and chips...we have lived in Cornwall 35 years and this fish an chips shop has been there all the times we have visited...yesterday another trip to St Ives and chips today only but cooked to perfection proper chips ...thanks we will return soon

Great fish and chips. Best bit of cod I’ve had for ages. Good all round service. All freshly cooked. Just off the main drag.

Best chippy in St Ives. Just does what it says on the tin.

Absolutely brilliant chippy, incredible large fish and chips (only downfall check opening hours)

The staff are friendly here and the food is good, yes it could be seen as expensive but where isn't!

Nice fish and chips only regular fish the size of a large batter sausage

Great fish and chips takeaway with curry sauce

Chicken not cooked well enough ended up throwing away.

The best Fish and Chips in town by far. Lovely friendly run Fish and Chip shop in a popular sea side town. The chips were to die for and batter was superb crisp and dry, very tasty and served up with a smile.

I ordered Haddock, Pea Fritter and Chips whilst camping with Radio Amateur friends at Camp ROC near Penzance. I really enjoyed the meal, which was excellent and know that my friends enjoyed theirs too. I will definitely be ordering again next camp!

Everything you want from a Chip shop, proper tasty chips, great portion size and friendly accommodating staff. Always our go to when in St Ives.

The best fish and chips I've ever had and the boss of the shop is so friendly. Would definitely go again.

Best fish and chips shop in St Ives. Quick service, and delicious food. There’s always a long queue for this place and it’s def worth the wait.

A very busy shop. I had a small cod & small chips. I thought the portions were reasonable. However the fish was quite flavourless & the chips weren't that tasty either.

Good food but shame about our second visit.....just wanted 1 portion of chips....easy you say? Nope, you have to wait for the people waiting for their fish and burgers to be made fresh to order.....how can a chippy struggle to have enough chips on the go. Everyone in front of me was happy for me to get some chips.

Great value and really nice chips

The staff are the best and one of the staff look like Johnny Depp the atmosphere is amazing and the food is the best

Best fish and chips in St Ives, by an absolute mile. Fish was huge, chips were amazing. Curry sauce was lovely. Kids had chicken nuggets and chips and not a crumb left on their plates. Superb all round.

The Best Fish 🐟 and Chips in St Ives.

Nice fish and chips for takeaway only. Ordered the small cod and small chips which was already of a decent serving size. Food was freshly fried so we had to wait around 5-10mins which was fine. Staff were friendly and warned us about the seagulls by the beach outside which might be eyeing our food.

Lovely fish and chip shop tucked away on a side street & food not badly priced but be aware that drinks ie cans and small cartons are £1.70 each

Tucked away just behind St Ives harbour, this fish and chip shop is the best out of them all. If you want super crispy chips, your food freshly cooked to order (still quick), flakey fish and golden batter… this is your place. This chip shop isn’t like the others and has non-tourist/ reasonable prices. I come here every time I visit St Ives and have waited in total no more than 10 minutes on a very busy day! The service is super friendly with an efficient order/ collection system. They will always ask if you want salt and vinegar as you collect. Only comment I have is that they should stop using plastic bags but they do ask if you want one or not. I will definitely be returning <3

I’ve been visiting st Ives for years and always used the balancing eel. This year I had chicken chunks and chips and I’m pretty sure they were undercooked, the batter was greasy and slimy and I have spent the last 24 hours being really sick. I unfortunately will never return here. Shame

Popped here for lunch after years of visiting, and it was terrible! Come on! We feel totally robbed. My fish was so small and soggy. The chips were oily and small too. See pictures. It opened at 12 pm and we were there a few minutes after. Upstairs remains closed for the restaurant. Won't be returning sadly. I want crispy batter and fresh chips. Absolutely gutted! I'd AVOID here.

My favourite place for fish and chips

First time here, haddock delicious loved the chips, big portions!

Loved having some fish and chips by the harbour. Seagulls didn’t get us. Batter on the fish was quite thick. Oil perhaps not the freshest. The actual fish was nice. Also had a hamburger and that was very low quality. Had a sick child afterwards. All in all, if in a bind for somewhere to go, it’s ok.

Perfect Fish and Chips! Curry sauce is excellent too - would recommend.

We have been coming to St Ives for over 50 years and have bought fish and chips from the balancing Eel loads and on our recent visit they were the worst fish and chips we have ever eaten from the Balancing Eel - soaked in grease, under cooked and inedible - so so disappointed 😪

Best fish and chips by far in the town but portion size was a little on the small side, asked for a large but was quite small (cod). If I could give it 4.5 I would but if they made the portions bigger I’d give it a solid 5.

Good fish chips and decent service. More recently the portion of fish has gotten smaller and prices have gone up but then that’s hardly surprising given the economy.

Good chip shop with decent portions

Best chippy in Cornwall I will be back thanks for a lovely meal

Fresh fish, crispy and tasty. For the price, regular size fish and chips the portion is generous!

The batter on the fish badly made thin and very greasy skin left on fish very dry tasting fish chips not nice overall worst I've ever tasted

Fantastic cod and decent portioned food. Good value for money and great tasting food!

Fish seems not fresh and chips are pre-cooked! Worst fish and chips ever.

£21.50 for two fish n chips, I love a chippy supper and Im lucky to have several 5 star chippies, unfortunately on this occasion the balancing eel fell short, batter was not crispy, chips were a little soggy. Maybe just an off day

The worst vegan pasty I've ever had! Friendly service and nice chips but it gave me a deeper appreciation of good food.

I have been visiting st ives for 10+ years. Have always got fish+chips from the balancing Eel. But sadly it's just not the same anymore. The fish isn't too bad, but the problem I have is there are still bits of skin/ scale on the fish. I bit into it and it knocked me sick... The chips aren't very good at all either. Also 2 fish and chips and a small sauce was £24!. Way too expensive for what it is...

Amazing haddock, friendly staff and good parking right outside!🐟🍟

Friendly staff and fantastic food. Hake was huge and chips were very generous and tasty Thank you.

Hands down the best fish and chips I’ve had in ages. Crispy chips and batter all well seasoned.

Always the best fish and chips in St Ives. All the food is cooked fresh to order, normally only a five minute wait and it is worth it.

Good service, good quality food.

Lovely food and friendly staff. I've been here twice in 3 days and am planning on squeezing in one more visit before leaving SI. The fish cakes are yummy, and the chips are cooked well and are still hot when you get them home.

Gorgeous take out chips, generous & well seasoned, delicious eaten on a chilly February beach! Perfect service also (4th Feb, evening ) great staff

Best fish n chips and the staff are so friendly

Be prepared to wait for ages for your order. Cold chips. Curry sauce too thick just awful

Best fish and chips in the area in our opinion. Great batter and nice chips, definitely not soggy chip shop chips.

Great fish and chips, proper chips & not frozen unlike other outlets 😋

The cod is chewy, but the chips are the best! Isn't this the best restaurant in town with both taste and location? !

Nothing Special, ordered 5 rounds of fish & chips, extra salt & vinegar, not cooked well, really disappointed, they put the chips in small boxes & 2 fish in larger boxes! So we had to juggle around everything just to eat, not good service or experience!

Lack of awareness for nut allergies. No signage in place for allergies besides one for Gluten intolerance. No questions asked when ordering. Did not eat my portion as overheard the cashier telling a parent, when collecting our food, that nuts/nut oil may have been used. Following this I did not eat my portion. Would have been nice to have known before paying and collecting. Partner was very happy with her order despite this. Was very happy with the curry sauce.

Excellent service today from the team. I won't say exactly why except I got more than I bargained for! Thank you Eel crew for making my day...

Excellent - good choice on menu - food piping hot and freshly cooked, fish was so fresh and beautifully cooked. Even when busy the staff were efficient and the queue was moving.

The snack bar is very busy and the service is very friendly and helpful... the prices are very reasonable in my opinion... they also speak German if there is a bit of a problem when ordering... but I will probably no longer be a fan of Fish & Chips... the fish is very fresh but the breading is also incredibly greasy... A big splash of vinegar doesn't help either... the fries here are obviously soft and wobbly everywhere, instead of nice and crispy, eaten and loved... unfortunately for me personally, the food is very heavy on my stomach...

I have just paid £6.80 for a child's fish, chips and peas and can honestly say I have never had chips that I cannot eat before. The batter was like sponge so that was inedible. I managed to scrape a little fish out which was fine and the peas were okay. I wondered why I was the only one there

Best fish n chips in St Ives, run by hard working, professional staff

Really good fish and chips, cooked fresh to order and not too busy at 17.00hrs. Friendly staff and an excellent selection, proper sea side fish and chips.....

Always used it but portions gone down. Didn't get everything we ordered. Probably won't use it again.

Food is your standard take away. Had fish and chips here multiple times over the holiday Can get very busy, however food is tasty and very very reasonable on pricing!

This restaurant has above average fish and chips at great prices. The fish cake was also tasty, but the chips were a bit soft and there is no seating area. Still, this is a good restaurant to take away some fish and chips and have it at the Harbour (beware of the seagulls).

Good fish and chips well run and organised bit of a que but worth the wait

No complaints from me, especially as it seems hard to find a good traditional fish and chip nowadays. I had cod and chips with mushy peas and it did not disappoint me tasted great and I would definitely recommend. Thanks. Colin Reid😎 CR Blinds and Shutters.

Start with the good the food is nice with really good portions. And not to badly priced. Now the bad. The wait is long. The staff can't take an order bigger than 1 portion of chips and get it correct. And still get it wrong after spelling it out to them. However still makes it one of the best in the area

Best fish and chips I've had in years. Perfectly cooked and flavourful fish (we had the plaice), crispy batter, chunky and fluffy chips, and delicious mushy peas. Will be returning soon.

If I'm honest, it wasn't worth the 25min wait..I decided to try as I saw quite few people queuing and I thought it might be a good place if it's busy...but the standard fish was tiny compared to other places, chips were not that great and instead of 3 cokes zero they gave us 3 normal full sugar pepsi, which I only noticed when we took it away. Mushy peas was tastless. The only thing that was really nice was the scampi. But definitely not worth the wait or money, so will be going back to Harbour fish next time.

Tried this place this evening going on rave reviews. Fish was ok but batter too thick. Surly staff will not visit again. Will stick with Harbourside.

Some,if not the, best fish and chips I have had. Well proportioned serving, great piece of fish, gorgeous chips. Service to match as well.

Just went for a small bag of chips ,was given a ticket and had to wait in a que with people who were there waiting for their fish to be cooked , 20 mins was a long time to be waiting for just chips , come on staff get real ,queing for 20mins for just chips , certainly won't see me or my family there again , so be aware people . Unhappy local who keep these places going in quiet times .

Food tasted good but there was a Haiti in my chips (photo posted) and they mounted about giving me tarter sauce and they had very bad attitudes. Miserable staff.

We have always visited here when we are in St Ives but last nights fish and chips were awful. Everything was overcooked and we were very disappointed. Won't be going here again!

Decent fish n chips, filled a hole

The best fish and chips- the fish was perfectly flaky with crisp batter and the chips were super flavourful, neither were greasy. I've tried the Harbour fish and chips and they don't come close to the Balancing Eel, it's well worth the wait if there's a queue.

Good quality food, cooked to order and probably the best Fish & Chips in St. Ives in my opinion. Good procedure set up during COVID-19 precautions.

Really delicious takeaway chip shop - got the works. Just the right amount of batter, curry sauce was delicious. Would highly recommend, no fuss involved.

There is always a queue for this chippy in the evening and for good reason. They offer a basic but traditional menu and the food always tastes incredibly fresh. We won’t go anywhere else to get our fish and chips in St. Ives.