Crugkern Barn - Cot Valley
Places to Eat and Drink
Cafes
St Just itself has some interesting cafes. The Dog and Rabbit, just past the main square, is one of our favourites. Good coffee, home-made cakes, breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Also on the square are The Square (excellent takeaway salads and pizzas) and Keg ‘n Teg café. The Cook Book, along Cape Cornwall Road on the other side of the square is another popular café. The fish and chip shop in the main square does a good meal, but if you like quirky, local service, try Lil’s Chippy in Pendeen. As well as good fish and chips she also does great breakfast rolls, and we sometimes pick one of these up, together with a take-away tea/coffee, drive down to Pendeen Watch and have breakfast looking out towards Land’s End. Unbeatable! Also along the St Just to Pendeen road is Geevor Mine café which must have one of the best views from a café window in Cornwall!
Talking of good views, but a little further afield, is the Newlyn Art gallery café (upstairs) with its big picture window giving stunning views out over Mounts Bay towards St Michaels Mount and the Lizard peninsula. Still in Newlyn, beside the car park, is the welcoming and friendly Duke Street Café which does good breakfasts and lunches and, if you enjoy fish, then maybe try Mackerel Sky by the bridge. Also in Newlyn is a not-to-be-missed ice cream ‘parlour’, Jelberts. This is a seasonal treat but you can tell its good stuff when you see people queueing out onto the pavement! There is only one flavour, vanilla, but with a blob of cream and a flake this home-made ice cream is arguably unbeatable.
Penzance has a wide range of cafes and we have not sampled all of them but can recommend the Honey Pot (just off the top of Chapel Street) and The Front Room (at the bottom of Market Jew Street). On the harbour front is the Lifeboat café. All these places do good coffee and lovely lunches. If you vegetarian or vegan and prefer a wider choice on your menu then maybe try Archie Brown’s just off Causeway Head at the top of town.
Pubs and Eating Places
St Just area
There are several good pubs around the square in St Just which do food.
Commercial Inn (01736 788455) – pub grub
Kings Arms (01736 788545) – many of our guests have reported back on how much they have enjoyed both the choice and quality of the food here.
Wellington Inn – changed hands relatively recently but does good pub-grub I believe. Not tried it yet.
The Queens Arms at Botallack (01736 788318) does quality pub grub and has a good restaurant for evening eating.
If you fancy something more ‘Cornish’ then The Gurnards Head near Zennor does excellent locally sourced and inspired food (01736 796928). It’s a popular venue so we’d recommend booking a table to make sure.
Further Afield (or a little bit different)
One we’ve discovered recently, and can personally recommend, is the Victoria Inn at Perranuthnoe. The set lunches here are brilliant – high end food at very acceptable price, and if you want to treat yourselves, the evening menu is always excellent. Great food and thoughtful service. If you are over Gulval way why not pop in to Tremenheere Kitchen for coffee or lunch (see Places of interest section too). Classy food in a stunning location. Other restaurants which are popular (and must have some of the finest outlooks in Cornwall) are The Godolphin Arms (great Sunday lunch) or the Mount Haven Restaurant in Marazion, both overlooking St Michael’s Mount and Mount’s Bay.
This is not an exhaustive list. There are of course many other really good cafes, pubs and restaurants in this area and we will happily advise if we can if you are thinking of going somewhere we haven’t mentioned.
If you are into traditional music then The Star on a Monday night is the place to go. No food but great traditional music session in a true ‘locals’ pub. There’s also and ‘open mic’ night on a Thursday which is usually excellent value.
Take Aways
There are two ‘take away’ outlets in St Just – the Chinese takeaway at the top of Cape Cornwall Road and The Square (on the square) which does takeaway pizzas, good salads and light-bites. Penzance has a wider range of Indian, Chinese and Thai Takeaways but Crugkern Barn is outside their normal delivery range so you’d need to collect from them or check for any delivery charges.