The Old Lifeboat House Bistro in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Had booking there tonight at 7.30 not open !!!

A very nice place to visit. Food is good and a lovely place near the beach.

Good food and all freshly cooked, waitress was amazing, great service and really friendly. Well worth a visit and will definitely return.

Absolutely amazing, service and food was a 10/10 The restaurant was small but the lady didn't forget anyone and was so lovely Could have had everything on the menu

Just had the best lightly battered catch of the day cod and chips with homemade tartare sauce! Absolutely outstanding! Husband had steak and chips with peppercorn sauce and said it was 'bang on'! Highly recommend this place. The young waiter was delightful too, so attentive and friendly. Also, very relaxing atmosphere amd dog friendly too 10 out of 10, easy!

Sehr gutes Seafood Essen in einer außergewöhnlichen Location. Reservierung ist von Vorteil, da nur wenige Plätze vorhanden sind.

A quaint life boat building , always seemed to be full. A beautiful meal , plentiful and succulent fish . Well worth a visit . Book for the following evening as it does get busy! Would thoroughly recommend this restaurant, lovely staff . A great meal to end a great holiday.

Service was ok,but what the "catch of the day" is should be told to every table sitting down,and not only when you remember to do so...Food could also be improved with some more flavour but was ok too,only bit overpriced.Nice position on the harbour.

Food and service both excellent. Lovely setting, and dog friendly too.

Although we booked our table months in advance as we know this restaurant only opens in the summer & you need to book. When we arrived for our booking the restaurant was closed! Despite confirming the booking, date & time no one contacted us to advise! Absolutely shocking service! I’ve called & emailed with no response. If this is how they treat their potential customers then I’m glad I didn’t spend my money there!!

We really enjoyed our fish selections -- the pancetta-wrapped cod, the catch of the day etc -- and the fact that we could be seated outdoors. I would easily give the restaurant top rating except for two things: 1. when we asked for more tartare sauce, it showed up on our bill at a pound each! 2. Seating inside did not feel very pleasant -- the air was close and not something I could have endured over a meal

We enjoyed excellent service delivery wonderful dishes. We visited twice in the week (Why change a good thing?) Great place.

Lovely little gem of a place, nice and relaxed and the food was great. Recommend booking as struggled to get a table for two days as it was so busy. Highly recommended

pesce super fresco e piatti sfiziosi, se passate da pensance è un must, ricordatevi di prenotare perché il locale non ha molti posti a disposizione

Absolutely amazing seafood and great staff. Also best value we have found in the area. Not to be missed. Definitely would recommend.

Highly recommend this bistro. Lovely setting inside and friendly, efficient staff and service. Food was amazing and a good range of choice. We had two steaks that were cooked spot on and all the trimmings for a very reasonable price and I had the smoked haddock, leek, Mac n cheese - a taste sensation! Also, our son had a brownie for desert that was presented at a high standard. An expected find and would definitely visit again. Thank you to Toby too, great service and attentive but not overbearing at all.

Juat had a superb meal, very tasty, great service, and very friendly staff. Very quick with the food. My wife is extremely picky because she is a good cook. And she couldn't fault it. They even did a mini fish and finger and chips for our 10 year old, which wasn't on the menu. We will definitely be going again.

Lovely meal here with my wife and inlaws. Just staying overnight in Penzance and needed a bite to eat. We were very pleased to have found this place. Great service, good size portions of amazing food, fresh fish and seafood, but leave space for dessert as you wont regret it!

Food was okay. Service was not brilliant. Bottle of white wine was warm. No explanation of the fish platter. No chance to order dessert. Bit overpriced as well.

We had an excellent dinner at the Old Lifeboat House. Very friendly and efficient service. The main focus is understandably fish and they do this very well indeed. Delicious fish cake starter. The dressed crab salad and the catch of the day (John Dorey) were also very tasty and well prepared. Great puddings too - and good value. It’s quite a small restaurant so well worth booking ahead. A few people had to be turned away.

Good food friendly service great place top marks

Tasty but thin mushrooms soup, not generous portions.

Good fish pie and salad. Sole was poorly presented with asparagus almost raw and inedible. Lemon posset delicious. My coffee was served with a jug of rancid milk and they had no more dairy milk available. So a very mixed standard of food. A shame as it seemed a nice friendly place attempting to serve home cooked fish dishes but with mixed results.

Came here after a disaster in The Boatshed, and was pleasantly surprised. The staff were super friendly, the food was really good. We had the hot seafood platter, it was very tasty.

How do people book this place, tried email from website, no response, then tried phoning but only got answer machine, left request but no return call 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

Fabulous starters with huge portions. The main course was also good, just too much butter for my taste. Friendly staff and prompt service. We found the opening times on the website confusing and not accurate, so I recommend checking directly with the restaurant.

Leider im Internet zu gut bewertet,was leider nicht stimmt.Service war nett, aber Essen mit kleinen übersichtlichen und sehr teuren Protionen.Das Ambiente war auch eher Bahnhofsatmosphäre.

They had only been open a week when we visited. Very welcoming. The food was relatively simple but very tasty with a relaxed feel

So good to see Jane back in her kitchen and smiling waitresses. Lovely fishcakes and lemon possett was devine

Leider wurde uns die Hauptspeise im Format einer Vorspeise serviert, wir bekamen auch kein Wasser, wie anderen Gäste, angeboten… Der Warme Fisch Teller für 19,95£ war höchstens ein Drittel der normalen Portion… wir waren sehr darüber enttäuscht, vom Satt werden abgesehen…

Delicious food, friendly service. We both had the Blanche bait starter. Crispy and tasty. Hubby had the Catch of the day, Lemon Sole, which was Cooked well and very tasty. I had the Fish Pie, which the neighbouring diner was eating and told me it was delicious, she was not wrong! Reasonable prices too. Highly recommended.

Super schönes kleines Restaurant mit sehr netter und fröhlicher Bedienung. Man fühlt sich sofort willkommen und wohl. Das Essen war sehr lecker. Wir können sowohl den 'catch of the day' wie auch die die 'hot sea food platter' empfehlen. Wir kommen auf jeden Fall gerne wieder!

This is a popular place so book a table to avoid disappointment. Being in the old lifeboat house sold this place to me straight away, it’s probably the most unique restaurant in Penzance. The restaurant looks as great outside as it does inside. We came on a Monday evening, I’m not going to lie and say the service was quick but it wasn’t painfully slow either, there was one chef in the kitchen and all the staff (chef included) were amazing. The food is cooked fresh and cooked properly, when this happens I have no issue in waiting compared to chain restaurants which are slow and terrible. The wait here was well worth it but it adds to the overall experience so this is more of a positive than a negative for me. As others have said they don’t add a “compulsory” service charge onto the bill which is a pet hate of mine and as price goes it was a lot cheaper than what I expected it to be. I have already recommended this place to others and I will return again. Brilliant restaurant!

We were lucky to be able to walk-in and get a table and enjoy a fabulous meal - so much so that we booked a table for the next evening!

Went in and asked if we were in time to order food. We were told we just in time by about 5 minutes and they would come over and take our order. After 10 minutes of waiting and watching them serve 3 tables, all of whom came in after us, we decided not to bother. Won’t be trying again.

Our table was reserved for 8.30 and it was a full hour before receiving our starter. The fish dish was okay (a little dry) but the vegan risotto was awful, flavourless stodge. I think it said it was pea & mint and I expected pea shoots and some interesting flavours at the least, but it was overcooked, very bland and literally nothing more than rice and frozen peas!

We had a really lovely dining experience at the old lifeboat house. The food was really well made with high quality ingredients. We had fish and chips, a simple dish but lovingly produced to a very high standard. The service was impeccable too. Incredibly attentive, polite and generous staff. A high contrast to EVERY restaurant and bar we visited in St. Ives. I've never been overcharged and ignored so much in my life. I've also never walked out of 3 establishments in a row for being kept waiting over 20 mins for service!! So yea, the old lifeboat house bistro is very excellent. They don't automatically add a service charge either. Very classy.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch time meal at The Old Lifeboat. I opted for the tapas, prawns & moules marinere. The mussels were plump and juicy & arrived in a delicious creamy sauce with fresh bread. My king prawns were succulent & coated in a spicy sauce with garnish & lemon. My sister's opted for the fishfinger sandwiches which came with a crisp, side salad. The fish tasted fresh and the batter was nice and thin and crispy. It was great value for money. There was a great mix of 60's and 70's music playing and the staff were very efficient and helpful. The venue is also set in a lovely location on the harbour and we would highly recommend it to anyone visiting.

We both had catch oh the day (Cod) which was grilled. Excellent meal.

Very nice evening spent at this harbour front restaurant. Food was excellent and reasonably priced. Also had a nice pint of St Austells Proper Job which went down very well with the seafood. Worth getting there early or booking ahead to get a table as there is limited seating.

This place had such fresh fish that we went on both evenings of our stay in Penzance. That's not to say that it was without faults but they could be overlooked! Their fish pie is well-known but I do wish that it had been topped...

Squeezed us in last minute and the great friendly staff.

Well if that’s fine dining, you can keep it! Three 2p sized fish cakes consisting of mainly under cooked potato, and. a tagliatelle featuring broken mussel shells and fish bones, this meal resulted in a visit elsewhere afterwards to buy some food to eat. Much to be said for a bottle of Fortisip from the pharmacy, and spending what you save on something nice.

Excellent food and service would highly recommend a visit

Dropped in without reservation from the Scillonian...had a great meal as they fitted us in. Fantastic food.

We called in on spec on a Monday night when most restaurants were closed. We were warmly welcomed and sat down to both a delicious cocktail one of the best seafood meals we have ever had in the UK or abroad. We both chose the...

Definitely worth a visit. Charming little place with great food and welcoming staff.

Klein eettentje met vis-, vlees- en vegagerechten.

A group of eight dinned here in July 2022. The food and service was mediocre but acceptable. After we had left, we realized we had been charged twice for one of the meals. The owner, Jane Docherty, was contacted. She was very apologetic and offered...

We were very hungry looking for a good restaurant. This place is on the harbour at a very good location, however, the food especially cod was very bad cooked. Unfortunately, we could not enjoy, either finish our dishes. The service was not bad, however, the...

Food excellent, wine for the price also excellent, service fantastic, a great find all round value for money just brilliant. We will be back again.

We had a lovely meal tonight - Very friendly waitress attentive -good music & atmosphere Plus Dog friendly 🐶💙

Great food and fantastic staff. Thank you for a very lovely night and helping out anniversary be a little more special

Lovely staff, nice atmosphere and dog friendly. The food was okay but unfortunately the fish mains were overcooked and under seasoned.

Went here a few weeks ago and pleasantly surprised - returned with another couple and not quite up to the previous visit. Several items on the menu not available - no mussels, no swordfish, no crab, no proper job. Squid was rubbery , although they...

It's been some years since our visit but this was easily the best meal, service and evening of our holiday to Cornwall. We visited during the pandemic, during the governments help out to eat out scheme in August 2020. As you can imagine, the restaurant was full, both inside and out. The owner was an absolute delight, she spent time speaking with us and gave our little dog Crumpet extra attention and a little meal! The meal itself was incredible... we selected from the specials menu and we can't praise the meal enough! It was sooo good Go to this restaurant! It looks beautiful and they make beautiful food!

What a nice feeling to be back here once again a cracking bistro with excellent food I had the fish and chips and it was huge and my wife had the seafood curry which was divine she said went back tonight and had the fish...

Food was full of flavour, smoked haddock mac 'n' cheese was particularly amazing but everything was well seasoned and nicely cooked. Small staff so they clearly have to work really hard but the food is worth a small wait.

We needed a dog friendly seafood restaurant and the Old Lifeboat House Bistro fitted the bill perfectly. Greeted by very friendly staff, fed top notch, freshly cooked to order local seafood and two very refreshing mocktails. Can recommend the seafood nachos and seafood platter. The building is beautiful too and you can see into the kitchen and watch the chefs - all looked very clean and hygienic. We will definitely return when next in the area.

First class meal cooked to perfection at a reasonable price

This a small and charming restaurant in a repurposed lifeboat station with a view of the harbour. Booking is essential as it is very busy. The owner and restaurant staff are welcoming and attentive without being intrusive. I have noted other reviews that claim the...

Bestes Essen! Sehr freundliches Personal, alles super frisch. Besser geht nicht. Und der hausgemachte Brownie ist der Hammer 😍😍

Great soup of the Day, and a perfect grilled fish. And the dessert, also handmade with Love, thank you verry much for this great Dinner 🥰 oh i forgott, the espresso was also verry teasty ☕geeds from Switzerland 🇨🇭

Quite nice but nothing special. Food good and service, but strangely lacking in atmosphere. The sound of ice being crushed for the cocktails was annoying, we were seated furthest away so those tables nearest the bar would have been getting the worst of it.

Waited for 75 min to get our main course, 25 min for starters. the service is extremely slow. When you wait 75 min , you are expecting something incredible, but it was just ordinary. Only positive things are they are dog friendly and prices are fair.

When we arrived there was a tray on our table and something like tuna floating in the warm table water already on our table. The paper menus were water stained with some words smudged. Considering how small the restaurant was, approx 9 tables, service was...

Excellent food Great staff Great wine Great view OH did get mackerel served even though we did tell the waitress he was allergic and a bit of ceiling did drop on the table and they ran out of port so only one of us had...

A lovely meal here in a cosy setting with a view of the harbour. We had an delicious meal here and couldn’t fault the service or food we were served. The waiting staff were friendly and polite and just the right level of attentive. The...

Lovely food here. Decent portions as well, good value.

Great Bistro, coffee shop, good location by the Harbour. Friendly owner and staff all offering great service. Tried pan fried plaice today, fantastic! Great olive tapenade and fresh salad.

Ate two lovely meals here during a very busy week in sunny Cornwall. The service is friendly and efficient and the food is beautiful. The portions are huge which is an absolute treat because my cod loin dish felt pretty high end and tasted so...

Nice décor and building, but the service was pretty poor. Wouldn't serve us food with our drinks (or even any sort of snack bar snack) because they were too busy – despite the range of obviously empty tables. View would probably have been nice at high tide, but as it was we were mostly looking at traffic and mud. Hard to mark them down for the tide – yet at the same time I can’t really ignore it…

A great, freshly cooked meal. Friendly accommodating staff who not only looked after us, but our 2 tired dogs too. Very clean even though it was getting busy.

Beautiful food in a stunning environment, we would suggest booking in advance, the scallop starter is a must and the wine in perfect.. we will be back again. Little gem found in Penzance 😀

This restaurant is in such a lovely location and has wonderful staff! It’s impressive how so much has been fit into a small building, without it feeling cramped for customers. The staff really have their hands full and are all about the food and service,...

Terrible meal, expensive. We ordered bouillabaisse, salt and pepper squid and fish of the day (cod) which was over £100 with drink. Bouillabaisse was tasteless fish on tomato sauce, squid was rubbery and inedible and chips were undercooked. Went to pay and the chef had a bag of frozen cod sitting on the floor of kitchen, can only assume all the fish is frozen. Not recommended.

This is a little gem of a place. Food is delicious. Service very friendly with a lovely atmosphere. Highly recommended.

All I can say is wow ,the food was fantastic, the portions were great . The staff lovely ,so much choice . Definitely going back to try other dishes. Book to avoid disappointment, you'll be sorry to miss out .

Me and my husband ate here this week and it did not disappoint.. I normally only find one or two things on a menu I fancy but I was so spoilt for choice.. I had the trio of fish cakes to start, followed by the...

The building is quaint and nicely decorated. Unfortunately that is all the good I can say about the place. Arriving at 7:50 for an 8pm booking we really expected to be eating before 9:15 , we ordered very quickly but there was no communication from the staff that the food would take over an hour to arrive. The fish was over cooked and although I like capers I don’t want my meal to taste of nothing else. Very disappointing

Hidden Gem! Do you love locally sourced and well prepared food? This is your place in an intimate and historic settings We just finished 4-days of hiking on the Cornwall Coastal Trail and wanted a special dinner to commemorate the adventure. This was the place...

An excellent place to eat and drink great food I would recommend it to anyone ideally phone them and book a table if you want to go there

Sunday evening in November so clientele sparse, adding to the lack of ambience unfortunately. The restaurant was chilly with a strong draught. The autumnal menu was varied. It was disappointing to see that the blanch bait was a commercially frozen product but nevertheless it was...

To start with, on a rainy evening, just before opening time, we were greeted at the door and immediately shown to a table by the door, even though we hadn't booked. The menu is small, but obviously well-thought-out, and i wish we'd been more than...

Came here for meal at end of holiday. Beautiful little place made even better by friendly waitresses. Great food - mackerel pate, cod loin with prosciutto and lovely potatoes. Friends and hubby all enjoyed food too. They even welcomed our dog and even he got...

Made welcome on arrival, impeccable friendly attentive service. Great menu and quality food. Recommend to anyone in Penzance.

Very friendly and efficient service. Food very tasty and well presented.

On holiday and decided to visit The Old Lighthouse. What a meal. Just fantastic. The staff really friendly and nice. Three of us had no complaints at all in fact would go back again when revisiting.

Excellent service with a smile. Food fabulous and generous portions. Lovely old building. Would highly recommend and dog friendly as well

Really nice food and relaxed atmosphere. Staff were very welcoming. Great selection of fish dishes. We all enjoyed our choices.

Lovely meal and relaxed atmosphere. Really good food selection

Fantastic find, the food was excellent, the staff attentive and friendly, and the whole experience was relaxed and enjoyable. They had no problem with our family of 7 and all of us mentioned how good each of our differing meals were. I highly recommend this bistro and will be visiting it on my return to Penzance. Good show Old Lifeboat team and chef.

I visited with my parents and sisters to celebrate a birthday. It was lovely to receive such a warm, personable welcome from staff that recognised us. They were so accommodating and friendly throughout the service and the food was top-notch, as always. Great cocktails, too!

This restaurant is set in a lovely old building overlooking the harbour and following the mostly good reviews we decided to go her on the last night of our holiday locally. The staff were really friendly and accommodating even though we were a little early....

Great starters, even better mains, well recommended

Excellent Bistro serving really tasty food with beautiful flavour at a good price. Great find.

Lovely food here! Glad we booked in as there are only a few tables inside. We had the baked camambert to start followed by the cod loin and the catch of the day with chips. The portions were generous and it was delicious, would definitely...

Fantastic meal and service. Wonderful place

we found the staff very helpful and Kieran kept me amused running up and down stairs in fact the waitress explained they were trying to keep him fit !! The cocktail - well I could have drunk more of them!! They are very aware of...

An excellent night out. The cod loin in pancetta and bream seabass were superb especially with the nice dry prosecco. We shared starters and the puddings looked great but we finished after main courses. Will go again soon