In September, Chris and I went on an amazing holiday in Cornwall. We stayed in the beautiful coastal town of St. Ives, which is an impressive six hours from Paddington. When we arrived we discovered that the cottage we were staying in had been double booked, so we were relocated to an amazing loft apartment. At first I really wasn’t sure about it as I was expecting a sweet little fisherman’s cottage, but I soon grew to love the crazy fifties styling even if I wouldn’t want it in my own home.
There’s plenty to see and do in St. Ives, with the Tate Gallery, two beaches, boat trips and beautiful coastal walks. Even though the town is quite small, as it’s such a popular tourist destination, there are endless restaurants and pubs. Everywhere we went had a real emphasis on locally and responsibly sourced ingredients, so when we were stuffing our faces with fish and chips we could do so in the knowledge that our food had lived a happy and fulfilling life. Unsurprisingly, all the fish and seafood we ate (which was a lot!) was fantastic. The scallops and mussels were huge and plump unlike the sad little ones you so often get served in London and every restaurant had a wonderful array of fish on the menu.
As I live in London, my ideal holiday involves going somewhere quiet and relaxing where I don’t have to step foot on public transport. As we went in September when the kids were thankfully back at school, the beaches were empty giving us plenty of space to run around like idiots and getting a table in the evening was easy. By staying in England we made a compromise on the weather, but we still had a few days of sunshine. It's difficult not to be enthusiastic about a place like St. Ives; the food was amazing, the town is beautiful, there were so many fun things to do, all in all an amazing holiday. Nothing makes me happier than spending an entire week with Chris and Cornwall was the perfect setting, I can’t wait to go back!
The Alba
We went for an early dinner at The Alba, they offer a fantastic two course menu if you eat before 7:30pm for only £15.50. To start we shared ham hock terrine and Thai spiced mussels and for the main we both opted for grilled mackerel in a creamy sauce. The food and service were both fantastic and the window seats have a wonderful view across the harbour.
Thai mussels:
Ham hock terrine:
Mackerel with new potatoes:
Blas Burgerworks
Quite simply the best burgers I've ever eaten. Blas has won numerous awards, not only for their amazing food but also for their green credentials. They serve an impressive range of beef and vegetarian burgers, along with a daily special. They serve nearly as many vegetarian burgers as meat, we tried the haloumi stack and the spicy bean burger with guacamole, both of which were awesome! After a long walk along the coastal path to Hayle and some frolicking in the freezing cold ocean these burgers were exactly what we needed to warm us up. They also get extra points for playing the second Bombay Bicycle Club album while we were eating.
Haloumi veggie burger:
Beef & pesto burger:
Salad, chips & coleslaw:
Harbour Fish & Chips:
On our first night we went down to the harbour for some fish and chips, there's no better way to start a holiday by the sea. They had every type of fish you could ever want, I opted for lemon sole which I've never had before. The batter was crisp and light, the chips were nice and chunky and the mushy peas were fresh and delicious. It was a great meal to start off our holiday.
Lemon sole:
Mushy peas:
Peppers: Pasta & Pizzeria
One of Chris' friends recommended Peppers to us, it doesn't look all that from the outside but it's well worth a trip. The food was absolutely delicious so we ended up going for the full three courses. To start we shared scallops with cream and bacon, a classic combination. For my main I had a spicy prawn linguine, which is one of my favourite dishes even if it is quite simple to make at home. We finished with an incredibly rich chocolate mousse, amazing.
Scallops with cream and bacon:
Prawn and chili linguine:
Baked cod with roasted vegetables and sun dried tomatoes:
Chocolate mousse with clotted cream:
Porthminster Cafe
We rocked up thinking the Porthminster cafe was just a little beach cafe selling dodgy pasties, it turns out that it's a multi award winning restaurant, crowned Cornwall's Restaurant of the Year in 2010. We sat on the terrace, with beautiful sea views and ordered a couple of starters to share as it was only lunchtime. We had salt and pepper squid which came with a delicious miso dipping sauce, definitely the best squid I've eaten in the UK. We also ordered a vegetarian mezze platter which came with some fantastic flat bread. Incredible food and stunning views, it's a shame we didn't get to go for dinner.
Vegetarian platter and squid:
Salt & pepper squid with miso dipping sauce:
The Seafood Cafe
As recommended by the lovely Lucy, we went for dinner at the Seafood Cafe. It's a St. Ives favourite so getting a table was difficult even midweek in September, but I can certainly see why it's so popular. Rather than having a standard menu, you go up to the counter and chose whatever you'd like out of the vast array of seafood. Or if you're piggies like Chris and I, you go for the sharing platter with a bit of everything! We had king prawns, scallops and monk fish with roasted new potatoes and three sauces. The cooking was very much back to basics, but everything was seasoned and cooked to perfection.
Seafood platter:
The Ship Inn
We went to Mousehole for the day which is a really sweet little fishing village. After having a look in the many art galleries we popped into a lovely pub for crab sandwiches and Doom Bar, a very Cornish lunch.
Tregenna Pasties
After a pretty disappointing pasty on arrival at the Yellow Canary Cafe (all onion no beef), we later discovered Tregenna Pasties. It's a family run business which sells incredible pasties made with lovely pastry, jam packed with tender meat, their sausage rolls are pretty special too. They also sell jams and chutneys, which made nice gifts to take home to the parentals.
Pasties galore:
Jams & chutneys:
Ice Cream:
Unfortunately I've forgotten the name of the ice cream shack we went to, but there are plenty in St. Ives and I'm sure they're all ace. The one on the harbour sold a huge range of incredible home-made ice creams, and they gave you free nuts or marshmallows to go on top! Eton mess and raspberry pavlova were my favourite flavours, YUM!
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