Padstow beyond Stein is a food lover’s dream

Famed for Rick Stein yet defined by far more, this harbour town and its surrounding coastline offer an extraordinary range of bakeries, pubs, delis and restaurants that reward any visitor with an appetite. In this personal guide, Lee Ness maps the walks, meals and memorable tables that have turned this corner of north Cornwall into an annual pilgrimage

Padstow is widely known as the harbour town that Rick Stein helped put on the culinary map. But that reputation only tells part of the story, as an entire food landscape has developed here over time that stretches well beyond any one chef, restaurant group or name.

Within a small, walkable harbour town and the surrounding coastline sits an extraordinary concentration of bakeries, pubs, delis, fish counters, cafés, bistros and fine-dining restaurants that, taken together, make this part of north Cornwall one of the most rewarding places in Britain to visit with an appetite.

Everything about Padstow lends itself to eating well. Coastal paths lead you back towards the harbour just as you begin thinking about lunch. Estuary walks end within sight of a pub fire and a pint of local ale. A ferry ride across the Camel brings you within reach of yet more excellent food. Even a simple stroll through the town involves passing pasty shops, tasting rooms, fish and chip counters and restaurant doors that are difficult to walk past without going in.

For us, this has turned Padstow into an annual pilgrimage and, over time, our ‘happy place’. We visit Cornwall most years and more often than not we return here, drawn by the combination of dramatic coastal walking, dog-friendly beaches, welcoming pubs and a depth of food choice that caters for every mood and every budget, from a warm Cornish pasty eaten on a harbour wall to a tasting menu that becomes an evening-long experience.

We visited again this year from 27 December to 3 January to take in New Year’s Eve in the harbour, and the trip reinforced how completely food shapes our experience of Padstow, settling into the day as naturally as the walks, the views and the rhythm of the town itself.

What follows is not an exhaustive list of venues – there are too many for that – but rather a guide to the walks, pubs, bakeries, delis and restaurants that we have returned to over the years and that, together, explain why Padstow has become such a food-lover’s destination.

Where to Eat

Naturally, any food visit to Padstow should begin with the Cornish pasty. Cornwall is one of the six Celtic nations, the Cornish are a recognised national minority, and the pasty holds Protected Geographical Indication status. It is a meal in its own right and traditionally eaten warm, from end to end. There are several award-winning bakeries in Padstow and our favourite is The Chough, which offers traditional, gluten-free and non-meat versions. If you can, try a traditional one. You won’t regret it.

For those staying in self-catering accommodation, Rick Stein’s Deli provides prepared dishes, sauces and an exceptional fish counter. Next door is Rick Stein’s Fish and Chip Shop. We have eaten in before, though it is usually busy enough to require a wait so we often order takeaway. There is a wide choice of fish and several adventurous options. The Singapore Chilli Crab Burger is always tempting.

A short drive to St Merryn brings you to The Cornish Arms, another Rick Stein venue serving excellent pub food around 2½ miles from Padstow.

Within Padstow itself, Rick Stein’s Café is homely, small and intimate with a great atmosphere and excellent food. St Petroc’s Bistro provides a quirky layout of small dining rooms with attentive service and beautiful food. At the top of the scale sits The Seafood Restaurant, Rick Stein’s flagship, which is fairly large and open with wonderful service and food, and where seafood is the obvious choice. We have celebrated both a 25th wedding anniversary and a 50th birthday here. Padstow, for us, is synonymous with Rick Stein.

A short diversion to Port Isaac rewards food lovers with Nathan Outlaw’s restaurants, Outlaws New Road and Outlaws Fish Kitchen. We were fortunate to eat at Outlaws New Road following a cancellation and the food was wonderful. Port Isaac is also known as the setting for Doc Martin and the home of The Fisherman’s Friends, who used to sing on the harbour slipway and rarely do now due to demand.

Back across the estuary in Rock, reached via the Black Tor Ferry, Paul Ainsworth’s pub The Mariners sits about half a mile south along the road. It serves exceptional pub food and is always busy, so booking is advisable. On this visit we sat outside under patio heaters overlooking the Camel River in late December and ate The Rock Chip Butty, made with triple cooked Yukon Gold chips, rye sourdough, Cornish vintage cheddar, Cornish Brie, aged parmesan and truffle mayonnaise.

In Padstow Harbour, Caffe Rojano combines a low-key, friendly atmosphere with food of a very high standard. On a previous visit the hot dog, now appearing at The Mariners as The Dogs Pollock, was memorable enough to deserve a mention. Try it if you get the chance.

On our most recent visit, our final evening was spent at Paul Ainsworth at Number 6, the Michelin-starred flagship. We are not food critics, so describing the food in a way that does it justice is difficult. We chose the tasting menu at £195 per head and, with drinks, the bill came to just under £500. This is something we do only every four or five years for special occasions. We have eaten in remarkable restaurants before including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Launceston Place and Gramercy Tavern, and this experience sits comfortably alongside them.

The dishes change with the season, and in a way the specific food is not the point. It is how extraordinary the food tastes, how parts of a dish have no right to be as good as they are, and how every course is brought with pride, explanation and detail. There are personalised menus, the ability to scan a QR code to see where the fish was caught and by which boat, and even a surprise at the end of the meal. We spent nearly three hours there and it remains one of the most memorable dining experiences we have ever had. The lamb alone made my eyes roll into the back of my head. From an experience perspective, it was worth every penny.

There are plenty of other places to eat beyond the ones mentioned here, and the absence of a venue only means we have not yet visited it.

Where to Drink and Spend an Evening

Padstow has more than its fair share of traditional pubs serving good food alongside excellent local beers, IPAs, cider and lager, and Cornwall has a particularly strong brewing culture. A trip on the Jubilee Queen offers the novelty of having a pint of Doom Bar, in the Doom Bar, on the Doom Bar, while touring the coastline.

The pubs we return to most often are The Shipwrights, The Harbour Inn, The Golden Lion, The Old Custom House, The London Inn and The Old Ship Hotel. We have eaten in all of them. They provide very good pub food at reasonable prices and a welcome stop after a wind-swept walk with rosy cheeks. A seat by the fire with a pint of Cornish Best in The Harbour Inn is one of the simple pleasures of a Padstow visit, though you have to be lucky to get one.

The Padstow Tasting Rooms is also well worth a visit. On New Year’s Eve we spent the late afternoon here listening to a live band before moving to The Shipwrights for dinner, and at midnight the whole town gathered outside for fireworks over the harbour.

Where to Walk

Whether you have dogs or not, Padstow offers coastal and estuary walks that vary wildly and shape the rhythm of each day. There are four main routes from Padstow Harbour:

The first is the South West Coast Path heading north towards St Saviour’s Point War Memorial through Chapel Style Field, continuing along the cliffs to Stepper Point and then back south towards Harlyn Bay. This is a long and challenging walk with crashing waves of the Celtic Sea providing the soundtrack. The full route is around 7½ miles one way, though you can walk out and back as far as you like, with Stepper Point and back around 6 miles. There is a bus service back to Padstow. On previous visits we have walked this route to finish at The Lobster Shed at The Pig, which is temporarily closed and due to reopen in 2026.

In the same direction, after around a quarter of a mile along the coastal path, a short drop at low tide brings you onto St George’s Cove, from where you can walk along the beach to the old lifeboat launch at Hawker’s Cove, now converted into a residence. This is around 1½ miles each way on sand.

In the opposite direction lies the Camel Trail, a relatively flat route along the old railway line divided into three sections of roughly 5½ miles each, with views across the Camel Estuary and the river.

The fourth route, and our favourite, involves taking the Black Tor Ferry from Padstow Harbour to Rock. The ferry runs every 15 minutes at £3 per person. From Rock you can walk north to Polzeath, a surfers’ resort, along the coast path at high tide or along the beach at low tide. The walk is around 3 miles each way and well worth it.

Where to Stay

The attraction of Padstow for us is how easy it is to settle in and live there for a few days rather than simply visit. We always book an Airbnb because there is so much choice and, although we have never stayed in the same place twice, we have always found something perfect. Prices are not cheap, as Padstow is very popular, but it is worth it for the convenience of being able to walk everywhere.

On one special occasion we stayed in the rooms above Rick Stein’s Café for our 25th wedding anniversary, which offered a more intimate way to experience the harbour while remaining at the centre of everything.

Lee Ness is a freelance writer and author with a background in sport and travel. Over the course of his career he has written extensively on destinations across Europe and beyond, combining practical insight with clear and engaging storytelling. He is the author of five novels and a non-fiction book, and continues to balance his journalism with long-form writing projects.

READ MORE: ‘We ditched Cornwall for North Norfolk — and found a coast Britain forgot‘. After years of joining the slow crawl to Cornwall, Lee Ness and his wife decided they’d had enough of the traffic and the crowds. This autumn they turned east instead, hiring a motorhome and taking their two dogs to North Norfolk — a part of the country they’d somehow never visited. What they found was space, quiet roads and long stretches of unspoilt coast.

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