Lee Ness Presents His essential guide to the best food In Padstow And The Surrounding Area From Its Most Famous Chefs.
Following on from the recent piece about visiting Padstow at New Year, this piece is about the food mecca that is Padstow. With both Rick Stein and Paul Ainsworth having multiple restaurants in and around Padstow, the area has an embarrassment of riches for food lovers of all types and budgets.
I found an embarrassment of riches for you, so here is your Guide to the Best Food in Padstow
Padstow has more than its fair share of places to eat for all budgets, from incredible Cornish Pasties, traditional public houses that serve good food along with excellent local beers, IPAs, cider and lager to Michelin Starred restaurants. Cornwall has a particularly strong range of breweries and has a dozen excellent pubs and bars in the town. In our multitude of visits we have visited them all, including the ones further out; The Cornish Arms in Churchtown (owned by Rick Stein) and The Mariners in Rock (owned by Paul Ainsworth).
All are excellent and worth a visit for food or drinks. The Cornish Arms is worth the short trip by car to have a Sunday Lunch. The Mariners gives seemingly run-of-the-mill pub food an incredible uplift. The Rock Chip Butty, with triple-cooked Yukon Gold chips, rye sourdough, Cornish vintage cheddar, Cornish Brie, twelve-month aged parmesan and truffle mayonnaise. Or, The Dogs Pollock which is ostensibly a hot-dog, but one the likes of which you have never tasted before. It would make a New York hot dog seller weep and retire.
Rick Stein’s Padstow
Padstow is well known for Rick Stein’s presence and there are certainly plenty of his venues to visit. Rick Stein’s Fish and Chip shop can be both eat in or takeaway. There is a huge range of choice of different fish, as you would expect in a fishing harbour and the quality is excellent with a few more exotic dishes to accompany your chips if you are that way inclined.
Rick Stein’s Cafe offers a cozy, unpretentious setting with a warm atmosphere and a menu focused on simple, high-quality cooking. There are also rooms available here (we stayed here for our 25th wedding anniversary). There is also St Petroc’s Bistro, another Rick Stein restaurant. This one is a ‘proper’ restaurant and located a short trek up a steep hill. The food is excellent, and the dining rooms are small and intimate. I think this is the highest end restaurant we have visited anywhere that is dog-friendly.
At the pinnacle of the Stein portfolio is The Seafood Restaurant, his long-standing flagship. While non-seafood dishes appear on the menu, the ocean-fresh catches are the main attraction. We visited here both during our 25th Wedding Anniversary visit and for my 50th birthday. That should get across how special this place is.
Paul Ainsworth’s Padstow
As well as Rick Stein, Paul Ainsworth also has a strong presence in Padstow. Paul Ainsworth’s restaurants complement Rick Stein’s in a way because they are not competing. They offer a different experience and food style. Remember the Black Tor ferry to Rock? If you take the ferry and instead of heading north to Polzeath, head south along the road for about ½ mile and you will arrive at Paul Ainsworth’s pub, The Mariners. This is high end pub food, but it’s a great atmosphere and a lovely place to sit and look across the Camel to Padstow.
In Padstow Harbour is Caffe Rojano which is Paul Ainsworth’s ‘lower’ end restaurant in the harbour. Lower is a relative term for a Michelin starred chef, but the atmosphere is more relaxed than the fine dining of No 6. The menu looks like a regular restaurant and the atmosphere is low key and friendly, but the food is outstanding.
No 6 is Paul Ainsworth’s flagship restaurant set in a Georgian Townhouse in the centre of Padstow. This is fine dining at its very best (and we have eaten at restaurants of Gordon Ramsay, Nathan Outlaw and Claire Smith). It is expensive of course, but it is worth every penny.
Further Afield to Port Isaac and Nathan Outlaw
Sixteen miles up the road from Padstow is the stunning fishing village of Port Isaac. Made famous by the TV series Doctor Martin and the home of the sensational sea-shanty group Fisherman’s Friends (and location of the film of the same name), Port Isaac is also home to Nathan Outlaw’s restaurants. Both the Outlaws Fish Kitchen and Outlaws Bistro have been awarded Michelin stars.
We may have only eaten in the Bistro, but it was superb. Along with Number 6 and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Outlaws Bistro is one of the best restaurants we have eaten at and certainly worth the 30 minute journey. Seeing the beautiful Port Isaac is worth the trip alone, but the restaurants are, as they say, the Chef’s Kiss.
Tell me more about where to find the best food in Padstow.
As the main title says, there is an embarrassment of riches in Padstow and the surrounding areas. With the major players like Rick Stein, Paul Ainsworth and Nathan Outlaw setting the standards, not only are there the restaurants in the links below, but there are also many great pubs and cafes to choose from. See my other guide to Padstow for a wider view of this incredible little Cornish Town.
