The Rum and Crab Shack in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

The house gin tasted like water. The staff gave me another drink when I fed this back so not bad service but unfortunately they gave me a top up of the same terrible gin and when I tried to feed this back they were unreceptive. I didn’t want another drink just for them to understand that their house gin was bad. It shouldn’t be this hard to give feedback.

When searching for something to do in St Ives for the day, travelling as we were by train from two hours distant, my wife came across this establishment. In Truro market the previous Saturday we'd bought two bottles of rum and as that seemed to be our drink of choice for this particular holiday, it seemed to be fate that we should try here. The only criticism I would have is the rum menus are not offered in the sit down restaurant bit - I guess we could have asked - so had to have 'normal' drinks until we'd finished our meals, both of which (Jambalaya & prawn dish) were excellent. Sooo tempted to try the £55 a shot rum but had to decline in the end! Once comfortable sat on a leather sofa, we tried a wide selection of rums from all around the world! An excellent afternoon and are I say the rum consumed eased the pain of GWR cancelling our train back to St Erth! If in St Ives, visit!

Great atmosphere, loads of rum and excellent food. Can recommend the ribs and the jerk chicken. Have been a few times now and never disappointed.

Amazing seafood and crab platter, great drinks and atmosphere.

We so nearly didn’t go in this place for lunch. From the outside it’s up some stairs and didn’t really look open. We were persuaded in by the menu. Not many people in at first but it soon filled up. Staff were very welcoming from the outset and very efficient throughout our visit. The food was the star of the show. I wanted crab and I definitely got crab. Really fresh and tasty and no shell! We shared nachos with crab and then I had the crab salad for main. Hubster had the jerk chicken which was huge and totally delicious. Full of jerk flavour. Would highly recommend if looking for fresh crab and all round delicious food.

The food was good. Unfortunately we were literally ignored by the waitress. Only after calling several times were we able to order new drinks or pay. It wasn't because there were too many people to serve. Otherwise a cozy old pub.

Fantastic service ( Yvonne was fab) Food was sensational and loads of it ! Price was amazing for the quality and amount we received. Drinks were excellent, and happy hour a bonus! We will return.

Only had a pudding but that was lovely, definitely going back to try the food.

Average food nothing special as some people commented here. You don’t loose anything if you prefer not to visit. Would I go again? Not really

Banging lobster! Worth every penny

Had a fantastic day here to celebrate my birthday with family. After several drinks we decided to visit the new dead man's locker karaoke booth. What a laugh. really need to check this out if karaoke is your thing. Fantastic service, drinks and experience

We had a few (lots) of drinks here and booked the Dead Man’s Locker last minute for a bit of karaoke! Just wow! What a brilliant experience. Great drinks, fab service and such fun! What a setting!

Didn't need to book,got a table overlooking harbour, food was good and a fair price,will definitely go again next time in st.ives.

Home of Dead Mans Fingers, what more do you need to know?

Food was dreadful apart from the mac n cheese. Steak was awful, cold, ribs were not that tasty

Loved it so much we went back the next night! Great food and ambience, good service and music just right. Well done guys!!

visited twice this year while on holiday, bang on, both visits

Love this place , sitting in the bay window with a beer, overlooking the harbour is a great place to be. Good friendly staff too

Went as a group of 5, the service was fast, friendly and patient with us. The Soft Shell Crab Burger was flavoursome, but I couldn’t taste any crab, just batter. The Crab Linguine was very nice, just it seem to be very low on crab meat, both could be just due to our expectations, so I don’t want to sound to harsh, the taste and flavours was very good! The burger was good and I would recommend it and for the vegans in our group the Vegan Jambalaya was amazing and very large portion, they were extremely happy! I would go back and would recommend them, service was first class!

You can’t come to St Ives and not go here. You need to wait to be seated at the desk for food or just grab a seat in the bar area. Great choice of fresh fish (surf) and lots of Turf options. Great Rum bar if I was a local, this would be my local. They have a good selection of other drinks I just like Rum and Stargazy is one of my favorites.

What a quirky vibe!! Visited this establishment with my partner and we loved everything about it from the funky decor to the delicious cocktails. I had the baby back ribs dripping in sauce they were so tender and juicy, along with a couple yum cocktails. Deffi recommend this place 👌

We had two meals here during our stay in St. Ives. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, the food was good as were the drinks. There was also a really nice atmosphere. We will definitely be back when we're next in St. Ives

Good Food and Service. Great views of the St Ives beaches/coves.

Absolutely loved it here. Everything from food to atmosphere was perfect, well worth a visit. The hidden Jem of St Ives

Lovely place to chill. Great cocktails. Need to do food sometime

It an awesome resto-bar with exceptional selection of seafood and grilled meats! My wife and I especially enjoyed the seafood broil. That giant crab. Mouth-watering! Be sure to go with an empty stomach as you will definitely be licking your fingers after each bite! They also have some delightful ribs and the lobster was phenomenal. I especially enjoyed the beer and espresso martini! The prices were quite reasonable, I reckon! Worth a detour!

Fantastic views and the crab salad was amazing, highly recommend

Rum lovers paradise. It's location is right next the harbour and you climb up some steps to get to the entrance of the restaurant. Inside looks much better than the outside and we've seated in a booth, my favourite. Food menu is great with plenty options for fish dishes and your typical meat dishes too. Drinks menu is vast with rum shots (x4), cocktails and vast different rums. Will definitely be going here again in the future!

First time in the rum and crab shack, definitely not our last, food was lovely, we had a mixture of small plates to share , nachos was bloody lovely with pork on top . Asian wings are very tasty. Dog friendly..

Just love this place & St. Ives. Great rums and food in a very relaxed style. Keep coming back - never disappointed.

Went to the Rum and Crab shack for my birthday. Contacted via email beforehand to see if we could book a table and they replied straight away saying no need, just turn up and you will get a table. That's what we did on a very busy Friday night. Place was heaving so we got in line to get a table. Had two Margarita's which were amazing when waiting, good chat from the barman whilst waiting good bar experience. Then sat down on a good table, we had our dog with us and was no problem. The staff loved him. There was a wait for the food, but with the level of tables being served this was acceptable. Staff were working really hard to get the food out. Wait was also down to me having the sharing seafood platter. Food was great, i had the seafood platter (see pictures). My kids loved it too, they tried some of the seafood for the first time and loved it. I'd definitely come back, maybe without kids next time and have more cocktails! Cheers guys

Absolutely delicious crab 🦀 sandwich and refreshing 😋 Red Stripe beer. 🍺

Brill lunch, excellent service! Would highly recommend!

The best ribs I've ever had! Been 3 times and they're always great! Cocktails are good too!

Friendly service, lovely in house beer, tasty soft shell crab and amazing view.

Presentation off food was very disappointing and over priced

Popped in for some lunch. Different approach to seafood but refreshing and accompanied with good cocktails and beer! Recommend the dirty crab fries!

We had the Louisiana seafood boil and some oysters on the side. Tasty food with good price, but service was poor. No bibs or gloves were available for the seafood boil which is a bit odd. We had to ask for them to also provide plates, cutlery and more serviettes. Tabasco was not provided with oysters even though it was mentioned on the menu. Staff were not very attentive and didn’t seem like they wanted to be there which ruined the atmosphere

Lovely setting but both me and my partner were very let down with the food. Ordered the crab sharer platter, for £65 we had high expectations and were disappointed. Crab was mediocre, mac and cheese came cold and tasteless, mussels didn’t taste fresh, whitebait tasted like a cheap throw in for more profit, grabbed a mcdonalds on the way home. Drinks were great and waitresses were kind, but the chefs need a wake up call or swapping out for someone else. Won’t be returning

Lovely place by the seafront to eat and drink! Great music and vibes here, staff are really friendly and helpful too. Shoutout to the staff member Frankie who was really lovely and welcoming, she’s great 😊

I have been coming to St Ives for St least 8 years, this is the first place my family and I head to. Food fantastic, always a good choise of Rums, ales and lagers.

Ate in here twice on our holiday. Fab grub. Reasonably priced too. Gumbo and the Crab linguine were top of the pops. Staff super friendly too.

This was our 3rd time over the years to Rum and Crab shack and by far our favourite! The crab mac and cheese yummy! Kids meals were devoured, and I chose the vegan jambalaya which was so flavoursome I can't stop thinking about it. Amazing frozen cocktails!! We had a great time!! We will see you next time we are back in St Ives!

Absolutely great place. Great service. Food delicious. View is spectacular. Staff were really helpful. Thank you :-)

Had my 50th birthday meal here and enjoyed our time. Food was fantastic and I loved the rum sauce. Forgot to bring us a round of drinks that we had ordered so that’s the only reason the service has been marked down. Prices are what you expect to pay so no real surprises. Pleased we ate here after wanting to give it a go for a while

Very poor service and overall experience tonight at the Rum and Crab Shack. After being told there would be a 45 minute wait which our party was okay with, we ended up waiting 1hr 30 for our food to arrive. We had to wait for 15 mins before a server even came to take our order and as we had 2 young children with us in the group, we asked for their meals to come out first but told this isn't possible and had to order a starter for their food to arrive first. We then had to wait further whilst our unneeded starter to be finished before they started on the main courses. Once our main courses arrived we were disappointed with the quality of the food where 2 of the surf and turfs steaks were overcooked after being asked how they were wanted, we expected more for a £30 meal. With all this also being subject to a already added 10% service charge it left a lot to be desired with the overall experience tonight, food was okay but service was terrible.

Amazing place. The staff are fantastic and create a great atmosphere. The food was the best and freshest I've had for a long time. We had a small child with us and enjoyed a family meal, but could just have easily enjoyed a cocktail fueled party night.

My fav restaurant we visited in St ives. Good value, excellent tasty food. Found everywhere else to be trying to hard but with no flavour. This place was the opposite. Basic but yum! Great staff. Good music. Amazing views.

We visited the Rum & Crab Shack on a busy sunny Friday lunchtime in August. We were seated quickly. The staff were really friendly and helpful. The food was better than expected. Really worth what we paid. There was an issue with the dessert as they had no bananas. Although there was quite a delay our server was attentive and ended up comping the dessert as it took so long. Would definitely visit again and recommend.

Very nice pub with a good selection of beers and cocktails. Food was average, I found the linguine bland and the crab sandwich was good but I would have preferred toasted bread / more seasoning.

Good food, the crab sandwich is huge and the crab Mac and cheese is a lovely twist. Cornish classics fused with New Orleans/American finish. Lovely spot overlooking the harbour.

Rum cocktails and crab burgers are a must.

We had a sharer set of rib and chicken, the portions are generous and we love it.The dishes are well furnace control as well.

The Rum and Crab Shack is a great place to seek out when in St Ives. It's relaxed and stylish and the menu is excellent. I recommend the soft shell crab burger which is excellent and the popcorn shrimp is also. If you're in the St Ives area I recommend a visit .

A nice restaurant overlooking the sea. We ordered the seafood boil, oysters and ribs, which were all super tasty.

Very cosy retreat, lots of character and conversation with others may ensure. Friendly atmosphere but may not suit everyone.

Came here for food today as we are staying in the area. We were looking forward to the food here but sadly we left VERY dissapointed. My partner ordered the fish and chips which was honestly average, the fish was pretty tasteless and the batter was quite greasy. But the real let down and quite frankly almost unbelievable aspect of it was ordering the whole crab. When I lifted the crab shell it was completely empty.. No crab meat inside it at all. I called the waitress over to ask if I was going crazy and she tried to tell me that it was normal! So effectively I was paying £23 for two crab claws! Little did they know but I grew up in a fishing family and I definitely know that there should have been crab meat inside a crab! They offered to supply some crab meat in a serperate pot but this was also below par and was full of shell pieces (lethal) Then another member of staff came over and I had to use the phrase "they don't come out of the sea like that" as a way of explaining that crabs are most definitely not hollow. Overall VERY dissapointing and I'd love to know what they actually did with the crab meat that they charged me for.. It probably went on another crab dish on the menu to save buying more crabs! Based on this I cannot recommend nor visit again.

Good food and good waitress service. Had a satisfying family meal.

Great location but less than average seafood for price, same priced far better quality available in the same area. Sorry, service and location ok, just not great food.

I been today with my family and everything was absolutely perfect, the food was amazing and the drinks too, staff was very friendly and i can’t wait to go back!

Amazing place to eat, great drinks and amazing food, especially dead mans ribs. Staff very friendly.

Not many good things to say about our experience. Firstly we booked a table but we arrived and there's not enough chairs... THEN we order and half our order arrived wayyyy later than the first half so half our party had nothing to eat for a large gap of time. THEN my sister finds PLASTIC in her food. We informed the waitress and she took the plate and closed her eyes and nodded and silently walked away without saying anything. We asked for table water about 3 times and we still didn't get it until one of us actually had to get up and ask. ALSO we ordered the seafood chowder and it had BACON in it. We don't eat bacon. Quite disgusting. Cherry on the top of this entire experience was the waitress had the audacity to hand us our bill with a SERVICE CHARGE on it!!! You better be joking. I was nice about not paying it but I was actually incredibly angry. I absolutely hate hidden sneaky service charges on a good day, but our experience was insanely awful. Also the food was overpriced considering everything.... We weren't even offered a refund for the food spiked with plastic and bacon. What a complete disaster. This all happened in February but it's stayed in my mind for a long while, I always think of this place when I think of having a bad experience somewhere. At least the waitress was sweet even if she was utterly useless and clueless.

Seafood boil was very tasty. Nice shop

Great place for food or just a beer..

I have been lucky enough to visit this place 4 times over the last few years when staying in Cornwall. The view across the harbour is amazing the food is absolutely fantastic and the service is always great. In my opinion the best place to eat in St Ives.

We liked it a lot. Not your typical food. Nice flavours and nice drinks

very good food and great friendly service, with a great view

i havent rlly tried the food here but me and my family come in here for a few drinks and the staff seem rlly friendly and the whole vibe is nice

Wow what a place, amazing atmosphere and the food was unreal! The seafood sharing platter was incredible and the cocktails were delicious!

Lovely venue Great staff Great rum xxxxxx

Fab food crab sandwich was amazing Lovely friendly staff. Good portions good price

Very tasty food. Very good service. Amazing atmosphere and drinks.

We wouldn't recommend. Not really tasteful, most of it tasted like it was cooked another day, sadly we ended leaving half of our food there. Not only did they forget our water twice but the table next to us did not receive their order correctly. But the music was nice and it is dog friendly.

Clueless staff, extremely long waiting time for everything, food, drink, bill. High level of unprofessionalism, seems like just a bunch of „kids" running around like a headless chicken and they have no idea how to run a pub, or a restaurant!

Just drinks while here , great views of St Ives

Waited 70 minutes for main course and was told that due to the fact that we had starters (bread and dip) that’s our order had been placed to the back of the queue. Food was very basic and lacked any decent seasoning. Not worth the price and also they are tried to overcharge £50 by adding additional drinks on the we did not even have.

Stunning little find in St Ives! If you're a rum drinker, this is heaven. So much choice! And the food is amazing, obviously crab based but we had the jerk chicken and ribs combo - wow. You need to seek this place out if only for the veiws 👀

We were sat at a big corner table which was perfect, excellent food, I can recommend the chicken and dead man fingers board with the popcorn shrimp. However the service was slow, had to ask for order for be taken, ask to be cleared, never checked on and ask to get the bill which we were then overcharged and they added a service charge automatically, when places do this I expect 5* service and this wasn’t so wasn’t best pleased. I can highly recommend the food however.

Drinks were delicious, food was fantastic flavours, the prices seem a wee bit steep but the portion sizes were huge so definitely good value for money! And the staff were attentive checking in a couple times, and when taking our order made sure the chefs were made aware of allergies. My only downside is that unfortunately the “gluten free” options including chips are not as gluten free as they seem- the chips are fried in the same fryer as gluten containing fried foods so please be careful if you can’t have cross contamination, and this does limit the gluten free choices. Though the waitress was very on the ball and flagged that with me immediately allowing me to browse the menu and choose another option. But all round great atmosphere, great food, and nice to try the DMF special cocktails (and mocktails!)

I love this place I have been twice now snd both times the food was great and the second time we had a fantastic view from our table over St Ives harbour and it was hot and sunny so it looked amazing, I would recommend trying it if you have time and like seafood (It is an upstairs venue though if you struggle with stairs)

Turned up at 5.30 , no tables available so we had a lovely ginger beer from the bar , 10 or so minutes we were seated for dinner at the window with a stunning view of the bay, we both had a crab Mac n cheese , & then a linguine, good portion sizes & great taste lovely staff , will eat & drink here again :)

Nice place. A little overpriced for what you get but a good atmosphere. Would recommend the cocktails 👌

Love this place. Came here for my birthday where we were seated in the window overlooking the harbour. Ordered the sharing platter. The only thing I would say was the mussels weren't very nice, they seemed soggy so didn't enjoy them, but everything else was great including the whole crab 🦀

Staff very friendly and excellent food .

Amazing food and wonderful staff.

Popped in at about 6 o’clock on a Thursday when it was busy and was seated straight away which was good as didn’t book. Got drinks and starters very quickly. Once finished drink was waiting a very long time for anyone to come over to see if we was ok I had to approach them at their table for another drink. Same thing happened for getting the bill was ignored again. Only reason you are getting 4 stars is because the food was amazing if I was leaving a review purely on service it would be 2 stars

Food was amazing, the specialist rums were exceptionally good have to try a few of course

Found a large green caterpillar on one of the salads with the whole crab. Eventually got the meal replaced after quite a wait but only the salad had been changed, rest of the plate including the crab was the same 🤢. Put everyone off their whole dinner. Attitude of the staff to the live creature on the plate was dismissive at best.

Really disappointing family meal this evening at the Rum and Crab shack. Ordered the Dressed crab and was horrified to spot a large green caterpillar crawling through the salad. The waitress replaced the dish and removed it from the bill but at that point everyone’s appetite was ruined and the food was only average at best.

Very rarely write reviews however one is needed on this occasion. My partner ordered the crab burger to find hardly any crab and a weird jelly and colour inside. The ribs were dry and pretty tasteless and the fry’s I’d say are just frozen. There was no table check so we had to wait until someone came over to ask if we were finished to report the issues, we were informed the crab used for the burgers is imported and that they literally just batter and fry it which to say your eating at a ‘rum & crab shack’ in st Ives looking at the sea you expect fresh crab! Very underwhelmed as we’d looked forward to this meal all week. Food is very over priced and average for what you get. The waitress was very good once we’d told her our issues and did say she would pass it on to the kitchen and removed our drinks from the bill. So many nicer places to eat in st Ives, sorry to say I wouldn’t return.

As expected, in tourist areas, restaurants right in front of the beach should be avoided. The food was average, the prices were expensive, the tables were sticky and the smell was not very good. Hidden restaurants in the alleys would be good.

Food was good and generous portions if very carbohydrate heavy though competitively priced for St Ives.

Lovely restaurant with great views and atmosphere. The food was served quickly even though it was really busy. Staff are super friendly. Dogs are allowed in the restaurant which is a bonus if you're on holiday. Prices were good for the food but a tad expensive for the drinks. Definitely worth a visit

Went here on our holiday, only in st Ives for 4 days but came here twice for dinner and drinks. It was amazing, staff were great and the food was very tasty. Would highly recommend.

Venue looks out across the harbour in st Ives, this time of year the view is fantastic. The serving staff were attentive and very warm. This is one of the few places outside of London I've seen a seafood boil offered and for a very good price so we opted for that, the food was amazing, though we would have both liked to go for more spice as it was very mild. They have some great rums in too.

Sweet little place with a great vibe and atmosphere, staff were friendly and food and drinks were amazing definitely worth a visit, we showed up during happy hour so we got ourselves two drinks each at a discount.

Really good seafood, many gluten free options, and a pretty good attempt at cajun seasoning, coming from an american! Great vibes as well, had a cute fish tank and had the perfect music playing.

Feels like more of a late night bar than restaurant. Seems to get business due to its location rather than quality. Very strange combination of food style, part local seafood and part deep fried US food, average pub quality. Waitress forgot about us and started polishing cutlery before taking our food order.

What a fantastic restaurant and dining experience. Lovely creative menu, even for a vegan like myself! The cocktails were perfect as well as the wine selection. Staff were friendly and service was spot on. Tye view if course is a bonus!

Not often that I give negative review, but I think this one is required. We tried to book a table and check for allergen friendly food. No answer evebthoug we called several times during the day. We arrived and we're seated in a draft spot as the other table had their window wide open. We ordered the crab pasta that had not a lot of crab in it. One we finished our meal there were no pudding options and glasses where whisked away with seconds the bill was there and we felt more than rushed out of the restaurant. The price was £££ for the meal received and service felt not engaged or suitable for evening service. Shame as it was a special night for us.