Penryn, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: The “lovely riverside setting” – complete with moorings and showers for passing yachties – is the main attraction at this inn, parts of which are believed to date back 800 years. But the low volume of feedback tells you something given the stunning position – it’s well-rated by reporters but doesn’t have to strive that hard given the place’s other virtues.

“The combination of informality, fantastic location, superb discrete service and excellent food makes this a winner” – Olga Polizzi’s flagship in St Mawes has established it as perhaps the most famous and stylish hotel in Cornwall, although it was a run-down mess when she bought it 27 years ago (she cheered herself up by watching episodes of Fawlty Towers!). The “lovely dining room is well served with top seafood” although it is fair to say the culinary level achieved does not quite match the “exceptional” setting.

“The food is always tasty and hearty” at this picture-book, 300-year-old inn, named for its situation, just yards from the Helford estuary and its foot ferry across the water. Perhaps “it’s a shame the specials menu doesn’t vary a bit more”, but you do receive “good pub food done well with a formula that seems to work” and it’s “a safe pair of hands for a great meal in a beautiful setting”.

2023 Review: This “hidden gem just outside Truro” from husband-and-wife team Ben & Sam Harmer features “impressive” cooking, “exceptional service” and a “splendid outdoor eating area” for warmer weather. Ben’s classical training took in the kitchens of The Savoy and Le Gavroche – hence “the soufflé is impressive”.

Jude Kereama’s second venue – sister to nearby Kota – occupies the top floor of Celtic House with views across Porthleven harbour from most tables. Its menu is well-rated and mixes ‘Mini Kai’ of smaller bites (such as Duck bao bun or Tempura Porthilly oysters) with main plates of items such as Seafood Laksa or Panko Hake Fillet.

“Fantastic beer bar with great small plates” (“the constantly changing specials bump the food up a notch”) from Penryn-based craft brewery Verdant. “Walk-in only”, its “buzzy and generally crowded” – which might explain why Verdant added the nearby Seaview Inn to their roster last summer.

On the site that was formerly included as Hooked on the Rocks (RIP), this cliff-top property is now in the same ownership as The Harbour House in Flushing and opened in its new guise in February 2025. No feedback as yet in our annual diners’ poll, but its all-day offer of local seafood, cocktails, drinks and takeaway snacks looks promising, and it’s a short walk from the well-known Gyllyngvase (‘Gylly’) Beach. It seats 100 covers inside, with a further 200 covers outside on the terrace.

“Great fish and seafood” make this conversion of a former Customs & Excise building on the harbourside “a wonderful find” at the tip of the Roseland Peninsula. It’s “very reasonably priced” for a proper sit-down meal, and also does a roaring takeaway trade in classic fish ’n’ chips.

2022 Review: Perched on top of Porthleven harbour, this hip two-year-old café-kiosk is run by Kelvin Batt, also behind the Porthleven Food Festival (the name is a play on the famous Alabama recording studio where The Rolling Stones laid down tracks). The tiny kitchen turns out “tasty” French bistro-style food such as moules-frites – for the full effect you can opt to eat on a pontoon in the harbour.