The Yellow Canary Cafe in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Best tasting coffee in Cornwall so far.

Great food but at a price! £25 for a cup of tea, small coffee and two rolls. No wonder they don't show their prices anywhere. This is one local that won't be going back.

Beware of the hidden prices! I had a couple of take-out sandwiches & was shocked by them at the checkout. Extortionate is an under statement! I was expecting something very special as I tucked into the beef sandwich but was massively disappointed. Hidden charges for the service, too! They should be reported to the police for theft!

Popped in here with a couple of friends and had a very good flatwhite, it came in a lovely little stoneware type mug. Milk was well poured! My friend had a steak pasty....full of steak, looked and smelt delicious

Coffee was very small but cost nearly five pounds, we had to put our coats on because it was so cold, and then the woman setting up the following morning blasts Johnny Cash at 06:50 waking all of the neighbours. What an awful place.

We bought a Chicken, Bacon and Cheese Pasty. It was unreal. We bought a Cinnamon Bun too which was fantastic, really tasty and crispy on the outside. The guy who served us was really friendly, and only took a few minutes to heat the pasty up. Cost us £9, which I guess isn’t cheap, but for the quality of the food it’s definitely worth it. Would recommend to anyone in St Ives and will go again.

Ordered hot drinks, Pastel de Nata and lemon meringue pie. The lemon had reported missing. The filling was lemon coloured but had no flavour whatsoever. It was disappointing as I particularly love lemon puddings.

We visited for a crab sandwich and cup of tea each which cost us £38 in total. My crab sandwich had shell in almost every mouthful! When my husband raised my complaint the lady who prepared the sandwich apologised and said the crab was bought in pre- picked. Before leaving I again commented to another staff member that the amount of shell was unacceptable. His reply was that they usually take out the obvious shell but not during busy times and that it was a natural product. Presumably implying that this nothing to complain about. For the price involved I wouldn’t recommend anyone choosing a crab sandwich from this establishment.

Nice small pretty dog friendly cafe but on the expensive side. Had latte and hot chocolate but very small cups, an apple pie and custard tart. I would say they looked better than they tasted; very bland.

Superb cafe offering take out quick orders or sitting in. We both had the crab sandwich, which was yummy! Filled with white crab on a huge soft ciabatta bun. Clean, friendly, speedy service. If I had one suggestion - needs a mirror in the bathroom and the toilet push was faulty but a fab little place with scrumptious food!

Picked up a crab sandwich and scotch egg to takeaway, at just shy of £20 I was expecting much more than the tiny amount of crab I got. In fact, I would have said it was more like a salad sandwich. Scotch egg was not to my personal liking, so that was thrown away. The egg in the centre was no larger than a quails egg. I hastened to add, sorry guys, I won’t be patronising this cafe again.

The food and bakery looks nice, but the items we tried had zero flavour and were pretty disappointing and I ended up throwing away most of it.

Very tasty cream tea and great coffee - also pram friendly if it’s not too busy. Well worth visiting and on a great street in St Ives.

Best coffee shop in St Ives 🤍 The pastries are simply delicious, and the coffee is top-notch barista quality. I highly recommend trying the Bolo de Arroz - it's my absolute favorite! Every time I visit St Ives, I make sure to stop by this charming place.

Good service but coffee only ok

Best coffee I’ve had in a while, and the scones were insane! 👏🏼 Lovely vibe inside as well, would recommend to anyone visiting St Ives.

Staff were ignorant! Felt like we were interupting their day by being there!

Staff were very friendly and nice atmosphere. Coffee was fine. We shared a lemon meringue and a custard tart and the filling of both tasted the same. Certainly was no custard in the custard tart and just some drizzle of lemon on top of the lemon meringue. Bland.

What a find, we had probably the best pasty’s ever today. Service great, very friendly. Will be back

Wasn’t impressed with their hidden prices on food stuffs. I had to go back and ask the cost as I misheard the woman say £6.60. My Apple Pay came up £16.60 after I had left which prompted me to return to the cafe. Unbelievable! £7.80 per cob x 2 plus a quid surcharge for takeaway. Food wasn’t great but I would have expected more for that price. Pretentious and overpriced sums the joint up well!

WOW! Those hidden prices need revealing so that customers stay the **** away! Seriously, you're taking the pee! Had better sandwiches from Tesco's at a fraction of the price. Disgusting & disgraceful is an understatement!

Delicious sandwiches and other baked goods

I was really looking forward to my custard tart, but unfortunately I was just as disappointed. The “base” was bland and crumbly and looked like it hadn’t been baked enough, and the custard filling was far too sweet. I find it almost a bit outrageous to charge £4.50 for this. My rating refers purely to the food, as I ordered the tart to take away and therefore can't say much about the service or ambience in the café.

Really tasty food, lots of options from sandwiches to pasties. Seating inside although limited and can be quite busy. Staff are super friendly. Food seems to quite expensive. Vegan pasty for those plant based people 🌱

I visited this cafe with my youngest son, we only had a couple of hot drinks and a pastry. But I could see the most unbelievable selection of sandwiches/ special pastries etc on sale. Also it had indoor seating that seemed a total rarity on this street, staff are very attentive so it’s 5 stars

Delicious cream tea and cakes, relaxing ambience and super pretty decor. Loved it!

Sorry but £4.50 for an iced americano that came in a tiny glass with mostly ice and maybe one shot of coffee that I didn't even feel and it took ages to be served it's a bit excessive..

I visited the Yellow Canary every morning of the week that I was staying in St Ives, initially because it was the first place to open and then just because it was such a lovely place, with friendly and efficient service. Thank you for your cheerful attitude and lovely takeaway teas, you got each of my morning walks off to an excellent start. See you in November!

Visited the cafe today for the first time. Staff were very friendly and the cream tea and coffee was lovely. Thanks for making our visit memorable. Strongly recommend you visit it.

Amazing food and coffee. Best oat flat white I’ve ever had. Well decorated and taste inside. Small inside but cosy. Cool South African staff.

Not the tastiest, a bit expensive . Good location

Service was warm and welcoming. Dog friendly which was great. Gluten free pasty was cold in the middle but waitress sorted straight away by cooking a fresh one. Normal pasty was ok, have had better.

After all the offerings of pasties in this town it was a refreshing change to get an interesting soft roll choice of rare beef with horseradish and some homemade frittata. The coffee was again exceptional and staff members very polite and attentive. Lovely lunch, thank you.

Walking through the crazy streets during my break as I work just down the road, the serving hatch makes it so easy to quickly order on a break. Yes St Ives prices but the cafe is competing with 100 others in the town. Hands down the best sandwich and scotch egg I I think I’ve had in Cornwall. I think other reviews are unfair regarding value for money. I’m local and didn’t have a problem with the price it is what it is in a holiday resort town. Lady serving was lovely too. I actually wish the sandwich lasted longer, cheers guys. Never feel compelled to review but well deserved!! Freshest bread I’ve ever had. Nailed it.

A lovely little cafe in the heart of st Ives. We visited a few times as they did gluten free pasties. The food is good but I do feel the prices are a little on the high side, and it would be nice to see a sandwich option thats without pork or brie. The iced coffee is good and the staff are really friendly. There isn’t loads of seating available but when you do get a space it’s a nice atmosphere or you can take away. They also do gluten free scones!

We popped in here and it was very busy with locals and tourists. Cream tea was amazing. Scones were delicious and lots of cream and jam. My wife had gluten free scones and they were delicious. Excellent service and we will be back.

Went here on a mini day trip to St Ives having seen a little sign saying gluten free cream tea and I must say I was not disappointed!! 2 warm scones in a little bag so definitely no cross contamination, loads of lovely jam and Cornish clotted cream- was delicious and scoffed within minutes! Service was really speedy, and staff were attentive. Would definitely recommend for a little afternoon tea and scone - especially when it’s drizzling outside as the light decor and cozy atmosphere are just so lovely

The good: coffee and the lemon meringue pie, the latter is brilliant, lovely pastry and curd. Nice cafe atmosphere. The bad: the Cornish pasties were very bad - overcooked and burnt, lacked flavour too (traditional steak, and vegan veg). Disappointing ice latte isn’t included in breakfast deal.

Two very average cappuccinos and scotch eggs cost £16:50 which just felt very pricy to me

Bland pastries and overpriced. £5.50 for a small single serve custard tart. Disgracefully expensive!

My sister and I had takeaway food beef panini, Brie panini then a very delicious large apple slice and a huge custard tart, no complaints very yummy 😋

The tart on its own was very dull. Custard was almost tasteless. Never ever in my life had a meringue tart that has hard meringue on top. Taste was okay. Only good thing was the size, at least I can fill myself up a bit with £4.5

Don't list the prices for the sandwiches and then have the audacity to charge you £8.40 for one. They aren't anything special. Staff are nice but the prices of everything there is extortionate.

Stay away from the crab sandwich. Had two crab sandwiches and an ice tea for £36! The crab sandwich had absolutely nothing going for it apart from the bread being nice. No flavour. Genuinely would have walked away happier having just been served a prawn mayo sandwich from Sainsbury’s.

It looks really nice and the reviews are good but clearly the scotch eggs aren’t what people go there for. Got a takeaway scotch egg, no price written and it turns out it cost £4.60 😱 Below average scotch egg, even discounting the extortionate price.

Best “cream tea” scones I’ve ever had!

Very nice cafe. The sandwiches and cakes tasted excellent.

Very ordinary sandwich and pastry. No taste of a coffee. Not worth for the price. 名過其實

Fantastic cafe food with lovely staff. My decaf macchiato was great, my brie sandwich was on incredible bread, and my scotch egg from a previous visit was amazing! My partner’s frittata gains the “best frittata of my life” accolade. The cafe’s vibe is comfortable and relaxed, albeit a little noisy in the summer due to the sheer number of people visiting St Ives. Many thanks for the repeated lovely experiences!

Fab sandwiches! This is the first place we’ve enjoyed during the last 5 days in Cornwall. Excellent food and staff.

Best pastel de Nata around. A very welcome stop on my morning walk with my dog.

Stopped in for a crab sandwich and cream tea. Friendly staff, lovely well filled sandwich and fresh, warm scone with jam and cream. Quite pricey (£15 for a sandwich) but worth the money for a quality product

We recently visited St Ives and had breakfast here twice. Lovely cafe, friendly and engaging staff, excellent coffee and delicious frittatas. Would definitely recommend.

Best cafe in St Ives! Don’t miss this beauty!

I had a take away custard tart which looked very good. A bit shocked at the £4.50 price tag for a take away cake. The pastry was very thick and the custard lacked much flavour and what flavour there was is masked by the cinnamon on the top. Good looking cake but better value elsewhere.

This is opposite a chain store of pasties. We looked in it was dull and boring. The Yellow cannery was full of traditional pasties and the atmosphere was traditional. The food was great and even had some Portuguese cakes. The coffee was lovely. I definitely would recommend it. The two girls who served us were very pleasant and friendly. 9/10 the whole experience. Can’t find any faults. It’s a must visit and sample the food.

Had the most superb cream tea here. Warm fluffy scones with generous amounts of cream and jam. Very friendly service and great value for money.

Certified gluten-free Pasties that come in bags. They were good. Sadly , because they have to be in bags to keep them Gluten free certified, and then heated up in the bag, it makes them a little bit soggy so you don’t get the flakiness but you also don’t get sick. Some gluten free desserts too. Lovely staff. My daughter with celiac was thrilled to get a Pasty so we are truly grateful! Thank you!!!! We just returned Spring 2024. I forgot we had visited in 2021. The design of the space is lovely. Great tile. The iced coffee was really good, even the decaf. And the staff was helpful and kind. Great spot in St. Ives. They do have gluten free cream tea (if you’re from another country that means you get two scones with cream and jam and tea)

Really good afternoon pick me up. Cream tea for The Mrs, brownies for the boys and pistachio slice pour moi. Lovely vibe, decor, music and produce. Also loved the doorway. Definitely one to stop at when in town.

This Cafe was such a good find while exploring St.Ives. It was open earlier than most cafes so was perfect stop after my run. The pastries and cappuccino were very delicious and the atmosphere was very welcoming. The staff was super friendly and just made you feel at home even during an early hour. I will be back!

Best coffee I’ve had in a long long time brewed to perfection! The food was fresh and flavorful. Great staff thank you!

Gone here a few times over the years, it’s always consistent, coffee has taken a decline recently, but still an enjoyable experience.

Well worth a visit, good friendly welcome.

if you want the best coffee in st Ives ,look no further !! Excellent quality coffee + baked to perfection pastries staff are super helpful and sweet they really went out of their way to find me a phone charger, very kind much appreciated

had a crab sandwich. i really wish i had checked the price. £14.50. the bread was stale and heavy, the crab was tasteless and not seasoned, the salad was a dour few pieces of tomato with a dreadful balsamic glaze. very poor value for money, and just tasted so dull. reviews suggested its a good place, but im pretty sure you can find better elsewhere.

Such a great cafe Delicious cakes and sandwiches brilliant service from super friendly staff Nice indoor seating area Really great interior decoration Popped in and had a really fab leek & potato soup with lovely bread

Lovely coffee, friendly staff and good sandwiches. HOWEVER, expensive for what it was, it would be good to have prices on the food so you knew how much it was going to be before going to pay!

Lovely ambience, but rather expensive for what you get. At £3.20 for a tea you'd expect loose leaf tea bags at the very least! Instead you get (what looked like) PG tips. The cappuccino was not strong enough, too milky, and not hot.

Gorgeous! If you’re American, you can find a DELICIOUS filter coffee here! Pastries are also so good, we had the cinnamon bun (someone on here called it a Pastel de Natal?) it was our favorite. We also had Scones with Cream & Jam and they were fantastic. Gentleman running the front end is very friendly and welcoming. So happy we found the Yellow Canary!

We visited following google reviews! It was the most beautiful cafe.. greeted by a big smile and welcoming young man :)) I can honestly say the cream tea was amazing the nicest I’ve had.. definitely worth a visit to this cafe.. ❤️ ( we also couldn’t resist a take out of home made scotch eggs and a frittata) ❤️ also the most delicious of smells from the cooking that’s going on :))

Luxurious hot chocolate and chocolate tart on a rainy day...Delicious!! Friendly staff, lovely welcome, comfortable atmosphere. Products on offer were tasty, satisfying and felt like a treat. We took home a lemon tart, Scotch egg and Pork-pie for tea. Unique!

I’ve been calling into the lovely cafe bar for the last few years while on holiday in st Ives , Every morning when I’ve finished my walk it’s my go to for a cappuccino and almond croissant,the almond croissants are the best I’ve ever tasted and the coffee is so smooth ,the pastries ,sandwiches and cakes are gorgeous too All the staff are very friendly 5 star service 🥐☕️

2x Pastel de Nata and decaf oat lattes. Good selection of Vegan also . Check out the apple pie and sweet pasties.

Came across this place after wanting to try a traditional Cornish cream tea. Waiters seemed a bit surly and was a little annoying that there weren't menus available (you kind of had to take a look around the display or at the main counter) BUT...the cream tea itself was beautiful. So good we came back again for another visit before we left Cornwall.

Nice cosy cafe. Quality pasties, custard tarts and cream tea. Tasty food and good friendly service.

Lovely place. Happily dog friendly. Nice selection of food and drinks. We had cream tea and cinnamon bun. So good! The staff was kind and thoughtful as well.

Came to Cornwall and booked into an Airbnb with another couple. Went into the town and got four very tasty cakes here the next day we needed breakfast and went back to sit inside and were welcomed by the owners who are lovely people and incidentally own the New Craftsman Gallery which is just down the road and I would recommend as they display local Cornish artists work.

Lovely place, and has the best cream tea.

Lovely place to stop and have a coffee

A cute little cafe located in the harbour. It's open later than the other cafes. Their scone was the nicest that we had while in Cornwall. It was homemade and fresh out the oven. Their iced latte really hit the spot. Tasted so unique, would defo recommend!

Bought two apple slices, cost £9.50 which I think is rather high. The slices were soggy and tasteless, the dog even turned her nose up.

Nice (particularly the coffee) but very and overly expensive. The prices are not displayed by the food in the window or at the counter. A very surprisingly high amount was only known when asked to pay.

A nice place with a very good cream tea. Totally recommended.

Been coming here for 30 years. Love the place. Always great service and top atmosphere. Lovely flat white, plenty of flavour. Perfect to counter the almost too sickly Mississippi mud pies! What a combination. Keep going Paul and Team, always fab!

We fancied a cream scone and drink, we asked the server for that, she asked if it was a cream tea we wanted, she didn’t tell us you got 2 scones cream and jam each. Who wants 2 scones each? If we had known we would of shared 1 cream tea and asked for an extra drink, it would be better reducing the price and giving you 1 scone each £19 we paid, it was tasty though.

Fabulous to find a range of really appealing gluten free options including traditional Cornish treats such as scones and cornish pasties. Fantastic!!

Wonderful cafe offering first class food and beverages. Exceptionally friendly and helpful staff. Cafe is really nicely decorated with a relaxing atmosphere. Loved the background music too. Absolutely nothing to not like about the cafe.

Sandwiches amazing. Barista makes good coffee. Great friendly service also.

Service with a smile, great decor, and delicious sandwich & coffee 👌

We ordered Cornish Tea, as usual people would want to try this new addictive food called scones with cream and jam with black tea. Certainly the scones were warm and very soft and the cream on top off is amazing combo. However its bit costly 9.50£/pp. this should be somewhere around 5£.

This is our 6th year now coming to St Ives and without doubt the most friendly, clean, beautifully presented food, welcoming staff and just all round fab place has to be The Yellow Canary. No matter the time of day, usually twice a day for us, Paul and his team cant do enough for us, always recognising us each year, long may it continue.

Found this gem of a coffee shop last year and visit every morning whilst on our morning dog walk. If you love proper coffee and a wide range of pasties and cakes then this is the place to go. I am a fussy coffee drinker so love proper coffee. Superb place and the staff are great and welcoming. Really confused with the poor reviews seen as we love it here and are made very welcome every time we visit. Love the fact they remember our morning order.

Stopped for coffee and cake whilst shopping. Coffee was some of the best I've tasted and the cakes were varied and delicious. Service and ambience was great with lots of friendly arty locals chatting and laughing with the staff. Things were a little bit more expensive than average bit completely worth it.

I have been wanting to come here for the last 3 weeks but it is always so busy (always a good sign!) but today I caught it post lunch and got a seat. I only had a cappuccino but it was the best cappuccino I have had in a very long time! The taste, the ratio of the different layers in the drink, the service, the atmosphere, everything. Absolutely, spot on!😍 The perfect experience from start to finish and finished my afternoon off on a totally chilled out, blissful high. Thank you🙏

Lovely little tea room with gluten-free options (flapjacks, brownies and pasties) and a range of coffees and teas, including iced versions. Not a lot of seating but they have a take-away window. Dogs welcome. Clean. Very pleasant and attentive staff.

Gluten free pasty was ace! Warm gluten free cornish pasty with plenty of filling, win!

We brought the baguettes several times as they were so good! Tried the beef, ham and humous. All exceptional. The scotch egg and frittata were as good.

Brilliant cafe with great food!!! Can’t recommend enough! We had to wait for a table but definitely worth the wait!

I visited twice during my trip to eat scones. It costs about 9.5 pounds including cream tea, 2 scones, cream, and jam. The scones were soft and the clotted cream was so delicious! On the second day, I wanted coffee, so I ordered a scone and iced coffee. I recommend it!

We first visited this cafe in 2021 on our first visit to St Ives. The food was great then and was great on this occasion but it’s definitely on the pricey side. I recall our first visit and vividly remember chatting to on of the staff members about university. She was a lovely person who was happy to discuss St Ives with us and basically giving us advice as visitors. On this occasion we were served by what can only be described as a surly female with what I think was a South African accent. When you are paying the prices here you at least expect a smile and a cordial reception. Definitely not the case on this occasion. I’m afraid that we won’t be going back again. It’s about the whole package for me and not just the food.