The Museum Tearoom in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Tearoom at the edge of harbour. Woman serving was miserable. Not a pleasant experience. Tea isn’t made..tea bags are just left on the tray and the customer is given a mug of hot water. The tray was shoved onto the table with drinks spilling. Definitely no points for service. I won’t be going back.

Appalling and rude service, if you don't want customers just shut down. We really felt that she didn't want to serve us. She just gave us hot water in mugs with teabags chucked on the side. She slammed the tray down causing all the contents to spill and just walked off. Avoid this place!!!!!

Lovely place for a morning coffee and light breakfast. Visited twice and sat outside overlooking the harbour. Great bacon sandwiches and a great selection of drinks and snacks. All served with a huge smile……. 😂

Food was good. Great location, but lady taking our order was very unfriendly and it was as though we were an inconvenience by ordering.

Quaint and a perfect setting for Harbour views. Great Coffee, Cake and seating. Friendly, cheerful staff. It was much appreciated to find that the Tearoom remained open in November, after we had walked here from Pelynt. Will definitely return.

Something so simple yet so perfect. All the taste buds and senses were on fire. Try the Cream Tea and grab a seat overlooking the most quintessential Tudor harbour in England. Staff were pleasant, lots of happy doggies. Service with a smile. And lots of nice Cornwall art to add to the atmosphere. The Museum Tearoom is a must visit refreshment hotspot on your holiday to Polperro, and also as I suspect, if you are a local too! See you next year x

A very welcome stop after walking from Looe to Polperro on coastal path! Food (cream teas) was lovely and good value. Nice location/views from the outdoor terrace. We both felt the jam portion was a little small, and the staff could have been a little more friendly. But otherwise we enjoyed our visit.

I used to love going here when we were on holiday in Polperro. However, on my latest visit, the lady who served me clearly didn’t want to! She was most unfriendly to the point of being rude! I know we all have our ‘off’ days, but we shouldn’t let that be transferred on to the customer. I felt most unwelcome. I suppose I should have said, “don’t bother, I’ll go somewhere else”, but I’m not that impolite. I shall not be going there again in a rush and really can’t recommend it. There are lots of cafés in Polperro serving good food and drink, with much more polite and friendly staff.

I stopped at the Museum Café on two occasions, on both visits I had the cream tea and I must say it was the best cream tea (both times) that I had on my visit to Devon/Cornwall. The portion is generous and does not lack for clotted cream or jam while the scones are a good size. I will be back.

What a lovely place to have some lunch. Beautiful views over the harbour. Tables and chairs are on a small patio down a few concrete stairs. My husband had a cream tea and said the scones were delicious and tasted fresh unlike the crumbly frozen scones on offer elsewhere. I had the homemade pork pie and it was very tasty. We didn’t eat any sandwiches but saw some go to other tables and they looked like they had plenty of filling. Will definitely go back if in the area again.

Very nice cream tea had by the 3 of us generous portions and good price. Service was quick and courteous.

Staff were excellent in their service, however when Mackerel Pate, on the menu, is made with mayonnaise there is something wrong. Not a cheap option either, still heyho, better eaten than left behind, menu needs to be much clearer and not clearly wrong.

Always a pleasure to visit the brilliant Museum Team Room overlooking the harbour in beautiful harbour ! Food great and service lovely :) Regularly visit this very special place :)

Wonderful location with a terrace overlooking the harbour. Delicious scones and cakes. Lovely, friendly staff

I went to the tea rooms with my family and my partner has already posted about the issue we had on here. Having a cream tea prepared by a member of staff who wants to vomit while making your drink isn’t great! Worse still, I posted a review on their Facebook page and in less than 24 hours the entire review section has been removed. As both female staff were glued to their phones I was going they would read it but amazed they have now removed the entire section. There was a mix of reviews on their but positive about food.

Too be fair to the tearooms you cannot fault the cream teas. Nice scones, loads of cream and jam, plus the option to swap out the drink so you can have a coffee, hot chocolate or tea. Very pleasant surroundings and Polperro itself is a very pretty wander. However, the service in the tearooms ruins the experience. We visited this establishment in September 2019, then we sat outside and enjoyed the view. We promised ourselves that we would return. Today was the day. We had to sit inside as it was rather windy and overcast. On entering the tearooms, we weren’t greeted by the two girls behind the counter. We chose a seat, had a glance through the menus and decided on the cream tea option. We wanted to swap out the drinks, I wanted coffee, my partner wanted tea and my daughter wanted hot chocolate. My partner went to order. Once again she was not greeted when arriving at the till and had to wait for a while without apology even though the tearooms weren’t busy. She ordered what we wanted and this seemed to cause some confusion, especially as my daughter doesn’t like cream so wanted butter with her scones. After paying and sitting down again, we heard one of the girls exclaim that she hated working in this place, then the other one muttered that she hated making hot chocolate as the smell of it made her want to vomit. Hardly appealing comments to sit and enjoy a peaceful cream tea. We were then presented with our order, once again couldn’t fault and of the food or the drinks. On returning to the serving area we overheard (again) one of the girls as the man that was there, what he was doing to tea, he replied that he was cooking roast beef. “I don’t want that” the girl explained. The chap soon left, we were further entertained with the idea that perhaps the girls should shut the tearooms early and go to the pub for a bit of the hair of the dog! Some more customers then entered and the girls had to tear themselves away from their phones in order to serve them. A Chinese customer wanted a pasty, she wanted to pay by card and was informed that there was a minimum charge to pay by card and did she have any cash. As the girl was rummaging in her bag, there was much eye rolling from the girl serving her. I have worked in hospitality a lot of my life and my partner currently works in retail. Both of us would have been crucified by our various employers for any of this behaviour, let alone all of it. Let’s just say, in conclusion, thanks to the staff working in the Museum Tearooms today, that we won’t be visiting should we return to Polperro in the future. Unfortunate as it is a lovely setting and we could not fault the food or drinks.

Cream tea for 2 Lovely day today wandering around Polperro like many Cornish residents taking advantage of the fine weather to visit tourist spots out of season. Decided we need a cream tea to complete our tourist experience and saw the Museum tearoom over the harbour. Ordered cream teas for 2 and given choices of tea or coffee, fruit or plain scones, and strawberry or raspberry jam. A bit annoying that there is a minimum card payment of £15 when 2 cream teas are £12. I thought everyone took contactless since Covid so shocked that there was no discretion on this payment - add something to make it £15 or find cash. This is a very inflexible option and appears to be trying to get more money out of tourists. Cream tea when served was lovely with fresh scones and plenty of jam and cream. Mugs of tea not filled and only just enough milk in tiny jug. I think the cafe itself has a beautiful position and the products were excellent but let themselves down on couple of things. As already said I’m a Cornish resident not some wealthy person from up country.

Right next door to the Smuggling Museum, so hand for a drink of a bite to eat before or afterwards, we only had a soft drink but another diner fully recommended the cream tea.

We wanted an afternoon tea whilst staying in Polperro and this is where we had it!! A lovely little tea shop, with both indoor and outdoor seating. Quick and courteous service. And a lovely view of the harbour too.

Visited for lunch whilst on holiday. The setting is lovely, the view is great and the food is nice. The server seemed like a request with some of our food was a little awkward, but did eventually agree to make the change for us. Would...

Limited choice of menu and let down by a rude server. Once we ordered the first girl asked for cash and didn't want us to pay on card. When the younger second girl came out with our order on a tray she just slammed the...

this is a lovely tea room with a great view, and nice food let down with the service, suspending service to do the washing up! We overheard then arguing with customers who have not got there orders after a very long wait. Not good enough...

Somewhat disappointed with the service here. I ordered a cappuccino, received what I know to be a latte instead, went back to inform them and was told I was mistaken. I was not mistaken, the cup was full to the brim with NO room for...

This is a lovely little cafe on the harbour side of Polperro, so you can sit and overlook the boats whilst you have your drink/meal. The scones were delicious with the clotted cream and jam (jam first in Cornwall). They were made fresh each morning....

Coffee, cake and staff were superb! I am shocked to see how poorly treated by other people hospitality staff are though. After witnessing some of the most uncompassionate and entitled behaviour of a "customer" because they cafe had closed due to legitimate family emergency. The...

Called in here on Thursday 7th July. Excellent food and service. Scones were delicious and baked that morning by one of the ladies serving. Jam was the best ever (raspberry and elderflower) with lashings of clotted cream. Cannot praise this place and staff enough. Hope...

Staff were so rude and table was not clean. Spoke to regulars at the cafe and complained about tourists within about 2 metres of us and others. We felt shortly after as an uncomfortable environment was created. I will never visit the cafe or village...

A lovely place with a good choice of food and drinks. Sit outside for a lovely view over the harbour and it is a real suntrap. The food is plentiful and freshly made and we couldn't fault it.

Dropped in last week on a drizzly day for a cup of something hot and a snack. Always on the lookout for a great crab sandwich and was not disappointed! Doorstop crusty brown bread with beautifully fresh crab.........absolutely delicious!! Oh, and the service was pretty...

We ate indoors and still benefited from the best possible view of the harbour. The soup was delicious and the pasties were superb!

A nice little tearoom. Nothing to write home about. There wasn't much friendless or even a hello from one of the ladies who works there. Cream tea was okay

Nothing better, morning coffee and snack and watch the harbour. Fresh food, great service, excellent staff and if lucky a bit of sun. Please be prepared cash only. However worth the walk. Love it .

We wanted tea and scones, but there were no scones at 3pm???? Surely that is a reasonable time for afternoon tea? We sat outside with our cardboard cups, having coffee instead of tea. It was nice, but it wasn’t what we’d hoped for - China...

After lovely walk from Looe we descended into the museum café. Wife got a sandwich which was sizeable on doorstep bread which she enjoyed and filled her up. The coffee was great and there was non dairy milk. Son had a vegan cake which he...

There's a nice view across the harbour so a nice place to stop. The lady who served me was grumpy. The tea and cake were good but served in a paper cup and the cake was just served in a bag so it doesn't set...

This place has a great location in the port side and in full sun at lunchtime. Our visit was in covid times so there were certain things that were different i.e. disposable cups/plates etc. I thought £60 for three ploughman's a crab sandwich and four...

There are tables both inside and in the fresh air by the harbour – useful in changeable weather! My group had teas, coffees and pastries. All were good. Of particular note was the size of the coffee – pleasantly large! Service was relaxed and efficient...

Excellent little find. Beautiful setting with lovely view. weather was good enough we were able to sit outside. Only one member of staff who was a little abrupt however scones were some of the best I’ve had. What better way to spend a little time?!

We saw this place from across the harbour and decided to go there to avoid some of the Polperro crowds. As it was, we got the last free table, with lovely views back to the town. We just needed tea and scones, and we were...

We ate here on a trip to Polperro last week. We stumbled upon this place by accident and luckily there was a table free. Beautiful views across the harbour. Cold drinks and lovely sandwiches. Also it was part of the eat out scheme! Great food...

What a fantastic little shop food was amazing and great crab definitely would return. Great cream tea too.

Popped in here on our recent trip to Polperro this week. All outdoor seating with lovely view out over harbour. Felt very clean and tidy. Ordered a mixture of drinks and food all of which went down very well. I had a fantastic cream tea,...

The tearoom balcony has an enviable position right on the water front and with no indoor seating it does get busy so be prepared to wait. Service is fast and efficient, tables and chairs cleaned between customers, thankyou it's appreciated :) Highly recommend the cream...

Lovely little spot for a coffee with a view. Very welcoming, clean, great choice of beverages, cakes and light bites. Best coffee in the village!

As we were in Cornwall for a few days we were determined to have a cream tea before we left! We decided on The Museum Tea Room & were certainly glad that we did! Excellent cream tea, service & value for money! If we're ever...

Whilst walking along the other (west) side of the harbour - in shade and a chilly northerly wind - we spotted the sign for this place on the other side. What a contrast! We were able to sit outside in the sunshine, and also were...

Great crab sandwich (a bit of shell,) good value. Other meals looked very appetising. Next door to interesting museum.

Had breakfast this morning at this beautifully located tearoom. We went a few years ago on our last visit to Cornwall and remembered the beautiful setting. Ordered boiled eggs and soldiers, it came with soldiers cut and buttered beautifully, unfortunately though, I was not able...

What a perfect little tea room for chilling in front of Polperro s quaint harbour. the local fresh cakes, pastries and scones are wonderfully fresh, of which my friend and I had plenty !!! we were made very welcome , even though we loitered for...

What can I say that hasn’t already been said, probably nothing except my congratulations to a business which is well run and exceeds all expectations and that’s just the Salted Caramel Milk Shakes (wow) followed by good quality coffee. The staff are friendly, even the youngsters who are as cheerful at the end of the day as they are at the beginning. Carry on doing what you are doing well, if the prices have to rise so be it but don’t compromise on the quality. Our only regret was that they were not open evenings say till 9pm at the height of the season so that we could partake in another of their gorgeous coffees. Well Done.

Really lovely tea and cakes in a great location, perfect for watching the harbour. Loved the resealable cans of water, too. A shame that it’s cash only as we’d have spent more otherwise.

Friendly and helpful - food and drinks were all fabulous - we can highly recommend the hummus and haloumi on toast - the fruit scones and pasties great too!

There's not a lot of outdoor seating but we managed to grab a table with lovely views!We had a variety of drinks and afternoon tea. The scones were delicious and quite big for the price as well. We all enjoyed our hot drinks, and they offer babycinos for the little ones as well.Pleasant little place and lovely service

We came here every day on our long weekend trip to Polperro. Lovely cakes and scones. We didn’t have the sandwiches by they looked very nice and generous. Options to sit outside or inside and watch the harbour. Could easily spend hours here just relaxing.

Enjoyed a lovely cream tea with a view. Not a great deal of seating but very sweet little place. You get two scones and a mug of tea for £5.50.

Stopped here for a light lunch, it was delicious.

We always come here when in the area as nice place to sit and watch the world go by on the public seats. Ordered drinks and was served by unhappy looking lady and when I asked what the soft drinks were she just shoved a menu at me. No smiles or conversation here, just the bare minimum of service. Felt a nuisance for being there. Needs training in customer communication. After all it’s us that contribute to her wages!

Another must-visit for us as this tearoom does a great cream tea (far better than the one at the Duchess of Cornwall's place).

We went for morning coffee and ended up with a cream tea. Whether you have your's the Devon or Cornish way, it was delicious.

So nice to get a large mug of tea along with the best scone we had in Cornwall. What a great find. The venue is only small, and there are some public benches outside which is nice to sit on when the sun is shining overlooking the harbour. Definitely recommend. Very reasonable prices too.

Located in a sun trap over looking the harbour it is a nice spot for refreshments. The coffee was good and reasonably priced. The service was first class and good humoured (the lady laughed when I banged my elbow on the display case but so would I have done).

Had a cream tea which was very nice. Extremely generous with both the cream and jam - we had the raspberry and elderflower which was delicious but couldn’t finish them. Lovely view. If in the area would go again.

This cafe next to the Polperro Museum of Smuggling and Fishing is a hidden gem. It offers a range of good wholesome snacks and other food including pasties.

Stopped here after a nice walk ,small place ,seating outside and dog friendly ,as we entered the woman on the counter ignored us ,no greeting just stood talking to some friends who were in ,couldn't see any signs to either order at the counter or table service .....eventually ordered, ate and left ,won't use this place again plenty more available cheaper and better service

A nice little restaurant.The lady serving was a bit grumpy but a nice tea and sandwich.The real problem was the toilet was,disgusting,no hygiene,no toilet tissues a big zero on that.

Had tea and cake here during our week visiting Cornwall and it was very nice indeed.

Ordered drinks, tea, coffee, milkshake and hotchoc. All ok. Asked for additional milk in the jug that sat on the counter.Employee leans over to look in the jug before topping it up. I seemed to have offended her by asking her to top up the empty jug. Its a customer service role. Customer service..

If you visit this place, then I heartily recommend having a cream tea. £5.50 and absolutely delicious. Good service, great quality and friendly service. Sod the calories, just go and enjoy.

The coffee was mediocre at best. No concept of what a flat white white is however perfect location. A customer asked where the loo was and was simply told outside in store room, no directions given!

We had a lovely tea and cake overlooking the harbour. The ladies working there Sharon and Jackie were very friendly smiley and chatty. Returned the next day and it was the same fabulous service.

Myself,husband and daughter popped in on a beautifully warm October afternoon. Lots of people sitting in the sun with fantastic views. What spoilt it was the miserable woman who served me. I only asked for 2 diet cokes and if they did milkshakes..she completely ignored me...carried on talking to the colleague about brown/ white bread , made no eye contact so wasn't sure she heard me and so i asked again and she said " yes they are made up from the ice cream"rather abruptly Oh so you did hear me then....just being a rude cow!. I paid and she dropped my change into my hand no thanks or thank you!

Called in for a light lunch, the ham sandwich was certainly value for money, in fact we purchased two rounds, we could have shared one between us. The tearoom can be found next to the Polperro heritage Museum and is dog friendly.

Visited tearoom last week after checking reviews on trip advisor. I was not disappointed had a lovely coffee and cake. Probably the nicest coffee cake I’ve had for a long time. Would have given 5 stars if the member of staff serving had been friendly but thought she was rather miserable. I know you have probably had a long and tiring season but still service with a smile would have been nice. We save all year for a holiday so would have been nice if we were greeted with a friendly smile.

Love coming here when we come to Polperro. Parents can get a cream tea and they do fab coffees and a range of cakes - something different each day. Only improvement would be more tables, but no complaints!

This is my second review the last being 3 years ago, I can honestly say that the high standard has not dropped. Lovely cream tea with a great view.

Possibly the highlight of my holiday, wonderful location, great service and the food was absolutely spot on. I had a Fisherman’s lunch which was extremely generous with 2 mackerel fillets, a huge amount of prawns and a generous helping of beautiful white crab meat. My family went for sandwiches which again weren’t disappointing with masses of filling. Highly recommended lunch destination in the beautifully unspoilt Polperro 5 stars!

Wow what a fantastic little place !!! The food was absolutely delicious !!! The fisherman’s lunch was huge and the the crab baguettes Devine

Enjoyed a Traditional Cornish Afternoon tea at The Museum Tearoom in Polperro , would highly recommend with beautiful views over the harbour , spent a good 1.5 hours sat in the sun enjoying the view and lovely afternoon tea

Our go to whilst staying in Polperro. Beautiful surroundings and great coffee. The museli with banana yogurt and honey is a hit with my husband. A fab place to relax, popular with the locals. Dog friendly xx

Great coffee good choice of breakfasts wonderful cakes ...just lovely sitting outside overlooking harbour

We dropped by late afternoon for a cream tea and drinks for kids. Agree with others this was one of the best creamtea so far of our holiday.

I can’t recommend this place enough, we only went once but I wish I had the chance to go back...I will make it a priority next time we are down in Cornwall. When you visit Polperro there is a wealth of choices for tea and cake etc as soon as you start walking down the hill into the little village. Trust me make the walk to the harbour over the little bridge and down the end you will see the little Museum tearoom overlooking the boats. It’s such a lovely place to sit outside and just relax. The Tea comes in mugs and the jam and cream are generously plopped into little pots (not pre packaged) and the scone was the best we had all holiday. This is how a cream tea should be, it was absolutely delicious. The staff were really friendly and the ice creams the kids had were really lovely too...my eldest asked for it again all holiday but nowhere we went after that did the same flavours :(

Sunny and quieter spot this side of the harbour. 2 lovely scones each with enough jam and clotted cream. Friendly and welcoming service. Dog friendly.

Enjoyed coffee whilst taking in the view of the harbour and cliff walk. Very obliging and made me iced coffee even though it wasn't on the menu.

A great choice of cakes and drinks and outside seating to sit and look at the lovely harbour. A well run business, very nice wares, and a great location

We called at this tearoom for a cream tea after walking on the headland over this wonderfull fishing village.The tea was supplied with two scones and tea and more than enough jam and cream for the scone a truly excellent cream tea

Having just arrived for a week in Polpero we decided a Cream Tea was in order.

We'd had cream teas all over Cornwall and the Museum Tearoom is the best we've ever had. Wonderfully fresh and tasty and a great view of Polperro harbour. Well worth the trip!

Only found this tea room on our last day. It is tucked away out of site by the museum and overlooking the harbour. Had a gorgeous cream tea in the sun. Definitely worth seeking out. Follow signs to the museum.

This is the place for cream teas. Great scones, choice of jams and plenty of cornish cream. Yummy! Sunny little corner with lots to see in the harbour. Highly recommended.

We stopped for a drink and some food which was actually very delicious. Unfortunately, it was spoilt by a very rude woman serving us. We all had a similar experience as we went up to her separately. One of us just wanted lemonade and she said ‘is that it?’, someone else was standing waiting to be served and she just ignored him and started chatting to someone else, another of our party ordered more than the rest and it was like a massive inconvenience to the server. All in all, would love to go back and try more food but won’t bother if she’s there- not worth the hassle!

After a visit to the museum, stop at the tearoom near the entrance. Has great views and local home made produce. You can seat either inside or outside so can enjoy what ever the weather.

ottima insalata di gamberi purtroppo senza birra o vino.

Excellent food, friendly service, very good for gluten free, can’t beat the views. Such a charming tearoom. Would highly recommend a visit if you’re in Polperro.

What a fantastic place. The cream tea was to die for, and included a choice of strawberry or raspberry jam. I chose raspberry, and was served up some Roskilly's Raspberry and Elderflower jam. OMG! The best jam I have ever tasted! We even purchased a jar from the cafe to take home. Can't sing the praises of this place enough. We will be back soon, hope to sit outside in the nice weather with our dogs.

Had a cream tea here one unexpectedly sunny afternoon and was very pleasantly surprised. You can sit on a lovely sunny terrace overlooking the harbour of this picturesque Cornish harbour and have one of the best cream teas I’ve ever eaten. The crab sandwiches and cakes are pretty good too!

One of my favourite places to eat in Polperro, staff always friendly and helpful and the food is really good Had a Brie and Cranberry sandwich this time. which is made to order .

Sat and had a coffee and a delicious slice of Victoria Sandwich. It was a lovely way to spend a short time taking in the view of Polperro and spoiling ourselves with the cake. The staff seemed very welcoming and friendly.

Had morning coffee and cake, coffe was very nice and the cake, carrot cake, was excellent very moist with just a small amount of soft cheese / cream on top.

Beautiful setting and lovely food. The sandwiches are huge and they are very happy to split between two, including each having a portion of the salad & crisps that come with it.