St Ives – Places to eat

Whilst we were away we had a chalet/apartment style place and we made quite a few meals there. However we also went out and found some awesome food places, which I couldn’t help but want to share!

I’m going to start with my favourite place, because I was totally in love with the menu and the location. This was Porthmeor cafe, which is situated right on the beach so you have an amazing view whilst eating all their gorgeous food. We headed here for breakfast one morning and it was a perfect start to the day, I actually could have sat there for most of the day watching the waves and surfers, and of course eating my way through the menu. I had buttermilk pancakes which came with berries, banana and maple syrup. I also had my own little pot of green tea. Simon had Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, coconut shavings, cacao powder and agave syrup, with a pot of peppermint tea. If you’re around the area this is a place you definitely should visit, their lunch and dinner menus look just as tasty as their breakfasts and I’m a little sad we didn’t get time to head back to try them out.

One lunch we visited the Hub, this is a bar which also serves great food, coffees and cakes. It has the quite popular grungy yet artistic feel with unique wall paintings and cutlery tins on the tables, which makes it feel comfortable but also quirky and interesting (hopefully that makes some kind of sense). It is right on the harbor front and is part of Hubbox, which is a small chain that originally started as a pop up restaurant and now has a few restaurants around the Cornwall area. There are lovely booth seats and an outside seating area downstairs, which would be amazing during the warmer summer months, along with upstairs seating which has great views out over the harbor. I went for a veggie option called Betsy, which  includes Homemade falafel, sweet chilli jam, charred corn & avocado salsa. I then also noticed they offered the ability to switch from a burger bun to a wrap, and decided to take that option, the wraps are also gluten free.

During the week we took a trip to Newquay to visit the Zoo and have a wander around the town. There are quite a few food places around here and I also spotted the Ben and Jerry’s shop which was ever so tempting but as it was a bit cloudy and drizzly I decided it was a perfect time to nip into Walkabout and have a massive hot chocolate =)

On our last day we went into The Firehouse for lunch. This is a modern restaurant and bar which specialises in Gin, it is on the main street of shops in the centre of St Ives. I had a chicken burger with hand cut fries and a side of coleslaw, I really enjoyed my burger, however the Steak and Guinness pie didn’t get the best reviews.

As a snack one day I also grabbed some ice cream from a shop on the harbor front which was delicious, I was walking around eating it like a content child (insert all the eye heart emojis). They had a MASSIVE selection of ice cream and cones but i finally managed to decide on 2 flavours to try, these were Baileys coffee and pistachio and ameretti, which had actual ameretti biscuit chunks in! I think ice cream is my main weakness when it comes to cutting out dairy.

You can, of course, also find plenty of fish and chip or pasty shops around the town which looked so great but there is only so much food to eat in one week! I must go back again to give a few other places a try and get a nice lunch by Porthmeor beach.

 

Visiting St Ives

It’s been far too long since my last post, and what better way to start again than with a post about my recent holiday. I’ve already been back for a week and I’m only just writing this post, I’ve no idea where this last week has disappeared to, can I go away again now?!?

So for the last week of September we headed off to the beautiful St Ives. I’d been worried about the weather at this time of year but it was really sunny and warm for most of the week. We did however get drowned on our first night, which wasn’t very fun whilst walking up the biggest hill ever! (seriously it was huuuuuge). When we got back we actually had to put the heating on as we were feeling the cold so much.

If you head to Cornwall you should be ready to do lots of walking whilst you’re there, I don’t think my body was quite prepared for all of the hills we climbed and the steps we did. However by doing all this walking you’re blessed with some amazing views, beautiful beaches, and possibly even little seals or dolphins playing the the sea! I’m just going to flood this page with pictures as I took far too many of the beaches and sea, sorry not sorry.

St Ives itself is a beautiful little town, it’s a proper picture postcard. The streets are narrow, cobbled and surrounded by the cutest little cottage style houses and shops. It’s got some lovely beaches and a perfect little harbor, which you can sit by for ages watching the waves, boats and surfers. You can also do this with some yummy ice cream in your hand, however be careful of the seaguls!

As we were so close we had to visit lands end, and I have to say it’s amazing to just look out across the sea and think there nothing out there for miles. I find being by the sea so calming and peaceful, I could just sit and watch it for hours. We took a walk along the coast path to the lookout point just before you get to Sennen. This was a beautiful spot to sit and take in the views, and by the time we reached here the sun had fully come out which made it even more beautiful, even if it was a tad windy. Once we got back to Lands End we headed into the bar for a well deserved drink, this is situated right on the edge of the cliffs with even more great sea views. They serve some great sounding food, drinks and smoothies, well worth a try if you’re there.

If you walk through St Ives towards Carbis Bay you get to Porthminster beach, which I have to say was the prettiest beach we saw. You could easily pass this off as being aboard. I find it’s so easy to forget how lovely our country can be, but a little trip every now and again always reminds me. If you’re around St Ives/Carbis bay you definitely need to visit this beach! This beach is also where we spotted a playful seal swimming and poking its head out of the sea. Unfortunately this is the only decent picture I have of the beach, but seriously it’s a beaut!

We took a mid-week trip to Newquay to visit the Zoo and have a wander through the town as it’s been around 11 years since we last visited. The Zoo is rather small but has some lovely animals and the town has some nice surfer style shops and there’s Blue Reef you can also visit to check out the Sea Life (I’ve had a little love for sea life centres since I was little).

I would say don’t let the time of year put you off visiting Cornwall, if it’s not summer just make sure you take some more layers to keep you warm and get out there and explore. The off-season is actually a nice time as it’s a little quieter. I can’t wait to go back again, being by the sea really is my happy place.