Diners' Choice: Best Ambiance restaurants in Cornwall

OpenTable

Updated April 05, 2025

Looking for restaurants with the best ambiance in Cornwall? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Narla

4.8

4.8 (41)

£41 and over

British

Fowey

About the restaurant

Welcome to Narla – a modern dining experience rooted in Cornwall’s finest produce. We take familiar flavours and elevate them with creativity, precision, and a touch of playfulness. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or simply indulging in a great meal, we look forward to serving you exceptional food in a warm and inviting space.

Top review

Andre

Dined on Apr 21, 2025

An excellent new restaurant, superb service and sublime food at a reasonable price

Porthminster Kitchen

4.8

4.8 (2516)

£26 to £40

International

St Ives

About the restaurant

Porthminster Kitchen serves up a refreshing, playful take on Cornish cuisine, introducing a menu of smaller plates and lighter options which combine global flavours, fresh local ingredients and creative cooking.

We have stripped out much of what is unnecessary; dairy and gluten take a backseat in favour of fresh and exciting textures and flavours.

Porthminster Kitchen enjoys awe-inspiring panoramic views from its location in the heart of St Ives. From your vantage point above the harbour, escape the hustle and bustle and relax on our sun-drenched terrace, or gaze out from huge windows and take in the 180° view.
We are dog friendly but have limited space for our furry friends please let us know when booking to avoid disappointment.

Top review

Annette

Dined 6 days ago

Fabulous as always. The freshest fish prepared to perfection.

The Chapel

4.3

4.3 (253)

£41 and over

Contemporary British

Bodmin

About the restaurant

Located in the jail’s Old Chapel, The Chapel combines gothic elegance with a unique sense of history to bring you an exquisite dining experience.

Delve into our seasonal à la carte or table d’hôte menus that have been carefully curated by our talented Head Chef and inspired by local ingredients, fresh flavours and classical cuisine.

We also serve a decadent Cornish breakfast menu in The Chapel Restaurant, offering a variety of options to set you up for a day of adventure, right from the hotel’s doorstep.

Top review

Morag

Dined on Mar 24, 2025

Beautiful venue, great menu and very nice food, beautifully presented. The Pannacotta was out of this world! Definately will be back soon. Vouchers bought already for my mother-in-laws Mothers Day gift - for afternoon tea - I'm sure they'll love it too! Excellent, and thank you

Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling

4.9

4.9 (1329)

£41 and over

British

St Ives

About the restaurant

Ugly Butterfly, located in the iconic Carbis Bay, just a mile from St Ives in Cornwall, opened in August 2021. In keeping with Adam’s ethos, there’s a strong focus on sustainability.
There’s no such thing as an Ugly Butterfly, in the same way as there’s no such thing as food waste.

The restaurant and bar offers a relaxed experience, with surreal surroundings. We are lucky to
have one of the most beautiful views of the Cornish coast, overlooking the ocean so that guests can
watch the dolphins and seals. The sound of the ocean and the innovative utilisation of our local
ingredients makes guests forget they’re even in the UK.

Our afternoon tea experience takes guests on a journey around Cornwall, celebrating the
best of Cornish produce. The tea itself is grown on the Cornish Tregothnan Estate – the first tea fields in the UK.

Top review

Yasmin

Dined 1 day ago

Our server Tom and all he’s team treated us like royalty. The ambiance, the view, the decoration and the food was all fantastic. The perfect way of celebrating our 15th anniversary and our first afternoon tea.

Amanzi South African Restaurant Falmouth

4.9

4.9 (525)

£26 to £40

Southern African

Falmouth

About the restaurant

We are a small independent family-run restaurant located in the heart of Falmouth, Cornwall.

Carolyn and Ian - your hosts, would love to make your experience at Amanzi a relaxed, warm, and accommodating one. Born in Malawi and Zambia respectively, they spent most of their lives in South Africa; now residing here in Falmouth bringing all the flavours of Southern Africa directly to your plate.

We hope to see you soon, and that your dining experience with us will be memorable and different.

Top review

Mark

Dined on Apr 19, 2025

great authentic southern african food, relaxed friendly service, one of our favourite restaurants.

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4.7

4.7 (300)

£25 and under

Contemporary British

St Ives

About the restaurant

Bar, Pizzas & Snacks! Service with a smile from a team that really cares is at the core of what we do in our lovingly restored nineteenth century building!

Top review

Erin

Dined 7 days ago

Absolutely incredible food, lovely atmosphere and such lovely staff- they really made the experience perfect, so friendly and welcoming! Definitely recommend to anyone looking for amazing food and an intimate dining experience!

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4.7

4.7 (1046)

£25 and under

Spanish

St Ives

About the restaurant

La Casita boasts a relaxed and welcoming ambience. Set in its Carbis Bay location, this family-run restaurant is incredibly vibrant and has a close team of exceptionally friendly staff.
We invite you to join us at the bar for a pre-dinner gin tonic a fino or cocktail. Relax on the terrace with a glass of fine wine sourced from small boutique vineyards in Spain and Europe. Alternatively, we have some superb Cornish and European beers and ciders on offer.
The finest fresh ingredients are meticulously sourced both locally and from Spain. This is at the heart of La Casita's menu which features paella, pizza, chargrilled meats & local seafood, vegetarian & vegan dishes. Our specials change regularly and we have a great selection on our tapas menu.
Children are welcome and have their own menu with a great selection of dishes.

Top review

Jean

Dined 2 days ago

Warm welcome, pleasant service and lovely paella and sangria, as always.

Argoe

4.9

4.9 (152)

£26 to £40

Seafood

Penzance

About the restaurant

Argoe is a casual harbourside restaurant serving the best of local Cornish produce. We focus on fish and seafood, landed here in Newlyn, and take inspiration from traditional European methods of cooking. Our dishes are served to be shared, arriving from the kitchen as they are ready and accompanied by minimal intervention wines from our taps and a small selection of Cornish and UK made ciders, spirits and soft drinks.

Top review

Patricia

Dined 6 days ago

Fabulous fish & shellfish, beautifully cooked and generous portions. We'll definitely come again.

Tricky's at The Tolgus Inn

4.8

4.8 (553)

£25 and under

British

Redruth

About the restaurant

Tricky's Restaurant and Bar is a great place to dine. Our large restaurant offers cosy corners for intimate diners as well as space to accommodate large parties. We have created a varied menu to cater for all tastes and budgets. From light lunchtime bites to a hearty three course meal and, there's plenty for the children enjoy as well!

We offer fantastic food, wines, real ales and great service! Combine all these with a warm welcome and you can see why Tricky's is as popular as ever.

We are now open for breakfast Monday - Saturdays mornings between 9-11.30am.

When booking please state in the notes if you require seating in our dog friendly lounge area or any specific seating preferences and if we are able to we can seat you accordingly.

Top review

Joy

Dined 5 days ago

We love trickys especially their lunchtime menu it us good value highly recommend it

Slice of Cornwall

4.9

4.9 (175)

£25 and under

Contemporary British

Constantine

About the restaurant

We are SLICE and this is how we roll.
Slice is a unique cafe / restaurant in a relaxed location on the Helford, West Cornwall. We have a proud and unique vision, menu and customer service. Baya & Waffles are our heroes and unique to Slice.
We're open everyday & have something for everyone.

Top review

Sarah

Dined on Apr 22, 2025

One of the nicest meals I’ve ever had, if we ever visit Cornwall again will definitely be back!

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