Porthminster BeachCafé

A 1930s beach house on Porthminster sands, run as a serious restaurant for more than thirty years and listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide. Mick Smith, the Australian-born executive chef and co-owner, has cooked here since the early 2000s, crossing the day's seafood with Asian and Mediterranean notes; much of the green matter comes from the café's own kitchen garden on the slope opposite, developed by Jim and Julie Horn, with foraged coastal ingredients worked through the menus. Ben Prior — formerly of Ben's Cornish Kitchen in Marazion — runs the kitchen day to day. A glass-enclosed heated terrace makes the beach a year-round proposition, and two sister cafés work Porthgwidden beach and the Wharf, all three within St Ives.