The seaside town of St. Ives in Cornwall is a fantastic place to holiday with the family. Stunning beaches, independent shops, great family friendly accommodation and eateries make this a top destination in the South West.
We’ve been to St. Ives many times and we always find something new each time we visit. It’s no secret in our office that I, sorry, we, like cake. Pretty much every town and city we visit we make sure we find out from the locals where the best places are for cake and coffee (or tea!). So, on our last trip to St. Ives we popped into one of the local favourites, the Surf Shack Café, that looks out over St. Ives harbour.
The café is up some steps which may present accessibility issues for those with pushchairs but, being that we and our four and six year old are pretty mobile, it wasn’t a problem for us. On entering the café I was taken in by the stunning views from the front window and the decoration. If one imagines what a surf shack themed café might look like, this is it, and it’s fantastic!
Although the menu is quite limited in food terms, what they do, they do very well. As well as a counter serving cakes of the day, the menu mainly lists their famous Surf Shack ‘dogs’ (as in hot dogs) and their savoury and sweet crepes.
As this review implies, we were here for the coffee and cake, but the hot dogs I spied on other tables looked amazing. A quick glance at the menu told me they are imported Bavarian sausages all the way from Germany and served in a vegetarian bun. At £6 to £7 for a range of dogs e.g. curry, cheesy, spicy and vegetarian to name a few, I thought they looked great value for money.
I did like the look of the savoury crepes at £5.85 with a range of fillings including cheese and ham, cheese and Marmite and sweet chilli sauce. However, I had to maintain focus on the sweeter stuff, plus it was 11am and far too early for lunch!
I had my eye on the delicious looking chocolate brownie from the cake counter whilst the kids were going crazy about the idea of a crepe. The sweet crepe selection sounded great with fillings such as lemon and sugar, dark Belgian chocolate, maple syrup and banoffee. Mrs H fancied the home-made Rocky Roads that she’d targeted pretty much as soon as we entered the café!
Our order was delivered quickly and both ladies serving were really chatty with us and the kids so we felt very welcome. We were also amongst other families (and dogs!) which is exactly what you want to see when you walk into an unknown establishment with kids in tow.
My brownie, as expected, was delicious with just the right amount of chew, a velvety texture and an explosion of rich chocolate with a hint of coconut. My accompanying hot chocolate was great too, rich, creamy and chocolatey.
The children’s Belgian chocolate crepe, where we all tried piece, was fantastic and almost too good for the palate of a four and six year old! Blackcurrant and orange fruit shoots quenched their thirst in-between devouring the crepe at great speed.
Mrs H enjoyed her Rocky Roads and latte. The coffee is Fairtrade and organic which Mrs H said was ‘up there’ with the best coffees she’s tried, and she drinks enough of it to know a good one.
Surf Shack Cafe, Wharf Rd, Saint Ives, Cornwall TR26 1LG
Telephone: 07905 998808
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Surfshackcafe/
