St Merryn Restaurant Guide

Rick Stein’s large, much extended village pub has had its ups and downs in the past, but continues its recent upward curve; the worst that anyone had to say about the British pub grub on offer is that it was “OK” (and one fan praised the vegetable tart as a “little pie of dreams”). If the “barn-like dining area” doesn’t appeal, opt for the garden in summer – or make a night of it in one of the six new ‘shepherds’ huts’ on the property (far less rustic than they sound).

The “stunning location” of a 15th-century manor house near Padstow ensures this Cornwall venue is among the most popular in Robin Hutson’s shabby-chic Pig hotel group, helped by its “wood-paneled dining room oozing history, with friendly and helpful staff and great food” – including vegetables grown in the 200-year-old kitchen garden along with fish and seafood sourced nearby. There’s also the ‘Lobster Hut’, a “slick indoor/outdoor restaurant”, serving “reliable food” under canvas.

“Out of this world!!” – “Paul Ainsworth’s flagship restaurant goes from strength to strength” and few restaurants in the UK achieve such a high level of esteem in our annual diners’ poll. “A culinary haven in the middle of, and yet a world apart from, the tourist crowds of Padstow”: it certainly eclipses its local rivals nowadays, with Nathan Outlaw a few miles down the coast its most serious nearby culinary competition. Set in a bijou Georgian townhouse, “the open kitchen shows off the enthusiastic team and it’s a case of selfies all round with the chefs after the meal”. “No, it isn’t cheap, but we found ourselves wondering how the team managed to set such high standards for the money”. “Special mention go to the dessert… and we don’t usually like desserts!” “All around an amazing gastronomic experience”!

This casual venue – one of five outlets the TV chef and his family run in their adopted home town – is “not your typical café”: “prices are reasonable and the dishes spot-on”. The all-day menu runs from breakfast staples through to a lively mix of bistro and Asian dishes alongside seafood and steak sarnies.

One of the lesser-known venues in the local Stein empire, set in an old stone building in the heart of Padstow, this low key bistro serves “excellent” and “reliable meals that never disappoint” – “we usually enjoy fish”. Importantly for some visitors, there’s “a small indoor dog-friendly space”.

Rich & Katie Toogood’s Cornish offshoot – a tiny spot near the harbour – generates much less feedback than their Highbury Corner original in London, but the ratings for its small plates of local seafood remain high. They also run a seasonal pop-up called Barnaby’s on similar lines, at Trevibban Mill Vineyard a short drive from Padstow.

Paul Ainsworth’s casual spot is a “surprising crowd-pleaser”, turning out “perfect arancini”, “brilliant salty house fries” and “excellent pizza with blistered crust” (“other dishes are available, but I’ve never got past the pizza”). While the odd skeptic who hasn’t visited since its 2020 bistro relaunch rues the disappearance of the “formerly excellent pasta dishes”, the vast majority love the “amazing” small-plates menu and, for dessert, “the brown butter soft-serve ice cream with your own toppings to add is SO Paul Ainsworth – fun!”.

“Continues to impress after 25 years or more since our first visit” – the Stein family’s harbourside HQ continues to deliver the goods for the very many people who report on it in our annual diners’ poll. Opened in 1975, it is nowadays run primarily by Rick’s ex-wife Jill and her sons, and achieves the hard task of living up to the world fame of TV chef Rick (who nowadays spends a good chunk of his year living down under in Aus’). If you were to quibble, you would say the food is “lovely but not brilliant” or that it’s “not cheap by any means”, but to an impressive extent serious disappointments are completely absent in feedback this year: “you get the excellent seafood that you would expect with a good mix mix of interesting dishes alongside more plainly cooked options that allow you to fully appreciate the quality of the fish”. “Well worth the trip to Cornwall: the freshest seafood served with care and love!”

2022 Review: “Well worth a visit if in the Padstein area” when you're in the market for “great fish ’n’ chips”; “other Rick Stein eateries are available but this one has views over the estuary” – although they come with the caveat that your reveries “can be interrupted by tourists peering through the window to see what is on your plate!”

2021 Review: “Windows overlooking the vineyard” afford views onto this peacefully located spot – run by Andy Appleton (a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall) although the “huge barn” it occupies can feel a tad “quiet” at less busy times. Numerous “excellent” meals are reported last year from its Med-slanted modern British menu.

The dining room at this smart century-old hotel has long been one of Cornwall’s prime culinary destinations, but the volume and tenor of feedback was more muted this year, so we’ve left it un-rated for the time being. There’s a choice of tasting menus in six or nine courses, and less of a focus on seafood than in the Nathan Outlaw era of a few years back. Karrek is apparently Cornish for Rock.

2021 Review: Still a “lovely, relaxing” location, with views across the Camel estuary, but feedback at this hotel dining room has become very mixed since the departure of chef James Nathan and his illustrious predecessor, Nathan Outlaw (and the ownership of the hotel itself changed in January 2019, which “may not have helped”). Whatever the cause, while it does still have some fans, some regulars feel it’s “just not in the same class” as it was formerly.

Limited but still all-round enthusiastic feedback this year for Fred & Donna Beedles’s low-key operation, in a parade of shops away from the harbour. The menu is a two-course or three-course à la carte, whose seeming straightforwardness belies the skill of the cuisine.

2023 Review: This “modern spa hotel with views out to sea” from its clifftop vantage point is fully geared-up for the eco tourist, with a solidly rated kitchen serving up sustainable meals from breakfast via lunch and afternoon tea to dinner, when there is a choice of tasting menus including vegetarian and vegan. Non-residents are now welcome to book, but it remains child-free.