Eating in Padstow when half the quay has the same name on the door

Padstow is an unusually good place to eat and an unusually confusing one, because a lot of the names on the doors belong to the same two families. Here is who runs what.

The Stein businesses

Rick and Jill Stein opened The Seafood Restaurant on Riverside in 1975. Rick Stein's own site now lists five restaurants and bars in Padstow: The Seafood Restaurant, St Petroc's Bistro, Stein's Fish & Chips, Rick Stein's Cafe and Ruby's Bar. It also lists three shops (a deli, a gift shop and a fishmonger), a cookery school and six places to stay. The nickname Padstein comes from that, and a travel feature by Greg Dickinson published on Yahoo News in August 2025 found people in the town who dislike it and a museum chair who said Stein has done a lot for local fishermen. Whether or not you like the idea, The Seafood Restaurant does what it says: fish cooked simply, with a set lunch at £40 on its own page and a Seafood Bar that keeps seats back for walk-ins. Stein's Fish & Chips does takeaway from noon and unlimited chips if you eat in.

Paul Ainsworth

Paul Ainsworth at No6, on Middle Street, is the town's Michelin-starred restaurant. The catch for planning is that lunch is a seasonal service: Wednesday to Saturday, 11.45am to 2pm, from 20 May to 30 September in 2026, with dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 5pm to 8pm and Sunday and Monday closed. Book online. His Caffè Rojano on Mill Square is the easier option: Neapolitan pizza, pasta and small plates, breakfast from 8.30am, and food from noon to 9.30pm every day. The restaurant websites you may find in older guidebooks, paul-ainsworth.co.uk and its cafferojano pages, now redirect to paul-ainsworth-no6.co.uk and caffe-rojano.co.uk.

Independents

Prawn on the Lawn, at 11 Duke Street, is a small seafood restaurant from Rick and Katie Toogood, opened in Padstow in July 2015 and closed on Sunday and Monday. It books through SevenRooms, charges £35 per guest for a cancellation with under 24 hours' notice, and takes two small dogs at a time if you say when you book. Burgers & Fish, at 1A The Strand, is family owned, opens noon to 9.30pm every day, and advertises a two-course set lunch at £20.95 on its site.

The pubs

The Golden Lion on Lanadwell Street says it is the oldest remaining pub in Padstow, first recorded in 1783, and it is the Old 'Oss's stable on May Day. It serves food Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner and does a Sunday roast from noon to 4pm. The London Inn, just down the same street, dates to 1803, is independent and family run, and works with St Austell Brewery. The Harbour Inn on Strand Street is a family-run pub open seven days a week, with live acoustic music nights. The Golden Lion's bar is open 11.30am to 10pm every day, subject to change in busy season, and it serves food at set times. The London Inn and the Harbour Inn do not publish opening hours on their own sites, so ring before a late visit.

Pasties, beer and gin

The Chough Bakery, which older guidebooks and directories still list for pasties, is no longer trading under that name. Malcolm Barnecutts, a Cornish family bakery, opened its fourteenth shop in the same building at 3 The Strand on 10 February 2026, says it is working with the existing team, and is open seven days a week from 8.30am to 4pm. Directories and older reviews still call it the Chough. Padstow Farm Shop, at Trethillick Farm, is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm in summer. Padstow Brewing Company runs two bars, at 8 Duke Street and on Broad Street, with a guided tasting of six beers every Thursday at 4pm (not in the main six weeks of summer). Padstow Distilling Co makes gin and vodka from barley grown at Tregirls Farm and runs a bar at 17 Duke Street, open from 4pm Sunday to Thursday and from noon on Friday and Saturday.

What changed

Two things in the last two years catch people out. The Chough Bakery is gone, as above. And the Padstow Christmas Festival is gone: its founder cancelled the 2024 event over costs and sponsorship, and its old web address, padstowchristmasfestival.co.uk, now shows a gambling advertising page. In its place is the Padstow Christmas Fayre, a free four-day food event, on 3 to 6 December in 2026, from its own site.

Booking, roughly

Book No6 and Prawn on the Lawn for any weekend and for any date around May Day or Christmas. The Seafood Restaurant takes bookings online and keeps walk-in seats at the bar. The pubs take walk-ins; the Golden Lion also books through its site. If you cannot get a table, Stein's Fish & Chips takes pre-ordered takeaways until 8pm Monday to Saturday.