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The Best Places for Seafood In Falmouth

The Best Places for Seafood In Falmouth

When you’re visiting Cornwall on holiday, you’ve simply got to try the fresh seafood served in our local restaurants! Famous for fresh fish and foodie culture, Falmouth is the perfect place to try a new dish or return to an old favourite. Whether it’s fine dining or wrapped up in paper on the beach, we think we can find something to suit everyone…

The Verdant Seafood Bar

This tiny tucked-away tapas bar changes their menu regularly based on what’s available to them at the time, supplied by local fishermen. You can usually find their staple favourites on the menu though, as well as a current special.

Recently these have included ‘pan-fried John Dory fillet on organic watercress velouté topped with beetroot relish’ and ‘crispy plaice fillet on a coconut curry with pickled carrot, radish, coriander and toasted peanuts.’ Delicious! They also always have a vegan and/or vegetarian option.

Hevva!

Relatively new to the Falmouth seafood scene, we’ve only ever heard good things from the locals who visit time and again. Owner Finn describes the food as ‘deliciously simple fish and shellfish dishes at neighbourhood prices… with a regularly changing blackboard menu revolving around the seasons.’

Because of its small space and cosy ‘at-home’ dining feel, they do say on their website that they can’t allow dogs, and have no space for storing pushchairs! Best for a date-night or ‘grown-up’ meal rather than ‘everyone pile in after a muddy walk’ situation we think! They’re open Weds-Sat evenings and you can email them to book.

Harbour Lights Fish & Chips

A staple on Falmouth’s high street, Harbour Lights is an award-winning classic fish and chip shop, and have also been noted nationally for their sustainability efforts.

They say “we encourage you to be brave and try a new species of fish, they are all delicious. Your willingness to experiment is great for the protection of the oceans too, as it takes pressure off the stocks of the most popular species. We always have a variety of Cornish Fish from Newlyn on the menu and our Cod, Haddock and South Atlantic Hake, are all MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified.”

Open 7 days a week, you can eat in, click and collect, or wander up for a take-away to enjoy wherever you choose!

Brasserie on The Bay

A part of the St Michael’s Resort, the evening restaurant overlooks their gardens and offers glimpses of the sea, providing ‘relaxed dining’. They are passionate about their local suppliers, including ‘The Cornish Crab Company’, who ensure that their catch is completely traceable and landed sustainably.

Previous fish dishes on the menu include ‘Cornish crab with cucumber, avocado & jalapeno gazpacho’, ‘Seared mackerel with caramelised fennel, tomato emulsion, aubergine purée, chervil’ and ‘Mussels in Cornish Orchards cider with creme fraiche and dill’. They are open seven days a week and you can book online. Why not combine it with a spa session too?

Pysk

If you fancy cooking ‘at home’ in your Cornish holiday cottage, then Pysk shop in Falmouth’s Events Square sells a range of shellfish as well as pre-prepared fish dishes that are ready to cook at home. These include a lime and coconut fish curry, fish fingers, in-house smoked fish, and herb butters to accompany your meal. They also host occasional ‘Sushi Evenings’ as communal dining events, so keep an eye out on their website and social media for those!

Gylly Beach Cafe

Although not exclusively a fish restaurant, the cafe (also serving evening meals) has a range of seafood dishes to fit its waterside location right by the sea on Gyllyngvase Beach. Sourced mostly from Newlyn Fish Market, their nautical dishes include Shell-On Crevetts, Smoked Cod, Moules Frites, Battered Cod & Chips, Grilled Market Fish, Smoked Salmon Sandwiches and a coastal take on a Ploughman’s, the ‘Fisherman’s’ with whipped cod’s roe, smoked salmon and marie rose prawns. You can book a table online, as well as check out the beach conditions with their live SwimCam watching Gylly Beach!

The Beach House

The newly opened ‘Beach House’ above Swanpool Beach is also following in its predecessor’s footsteps and specialising in seafood. Worth mentioning are their half price oysters every Monday: “We will be serving either Porthilly Shellfish oysters fresh from the Camel Estuary in Cornwall or Sailors Creek Shellfish from the Fal.”

During the rest of the week, they say their menus will “shine a spotlight on the best of local, sustainably sourced seafood. Highlights include Falmouth Bay scallops, lobster and crab caught just eight miles down the coast, and daily fish specials from Newlyn market.”

Many of these local, independent restaurants source their fish from local suppliers including FalFish, Sailors Creek Shellfish, Newlyn Fish Market, Porthilly Shellfish & The Cornish Fishmonger. The sustainability and ethics of the fresh fish industry in Cornwall are becoming more and more important to visitors and locals alike, so we are pleased to support those businesses that are doing good where they can!

Many of the local restaurants will happily chat to you about their relationships with suppliers and how they adapt their menus to suit the seasons and fish stocks.

As always, we love to hear your recommendations too, so if you’ve got a great restaurant we should add to our list, get in touch…