The best cafés, pubs and restaurants in Charlestown, Cornwall

The home of Sunday lunches and special occasions

Those who’ve visited Charlestown will be familiar with its ship-lined harbour, small sheltered beach and Shipwreck Treasure Museum that comes alive at Christmas. But for those who’ve yet to tick it off their Cornwall bucket list, a handful of brilliant eateries are waiting to be discovered. 

To help decide where to book your next table, we’ve rounded up nine of the best cafés, pubs and restaurants in Charlestown.

1.    The Longstore

Style: Restaurant
Price range: £££
Menu: Seafood, steaks and cocktails
Website: Click here

© The Longstore via Instagram

Always a Perfect Stays team favourite, The Longstore is arguably Charlestown’s most popular restaurant. It sits at the bottom of the town with views over the harbour and serves a fantastic menu of mostly steaks and seafood. Meat-lovers can choose from Longstore big cuts like tomahawk and chateaubriand, while seafood dishes include delicate lemon sole topped with brown crab and samphire. Vegetarians are well catered for, with a devilish mac and cheese burger, an autumn fig salad and spiced cauliflower with pomegranate molasses appearing on the autumn menu.

Aside from lunch and candlelit dinner service, the restaurant also opens for breakfast from 10am each Saturday, with a boozy bottomless option available to add at £38 per person. Sip cocktails and choose from grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs benedict, donburi bowls and a plant-based cooked breakfast.

Perhaps the piece de resistance, a winter’s trip to Charlestown isn’t complete without a Longstore Sunday roast, served from 11:45am each week. Our favourites include the low and slow Cornish beef and the rolled crackling pork belly. All options come with roasted root vegetables, seasonal greens and garlic roast potatoes served to the table, plus the all-important Yorkshire pudding.

Dining here means moreish cocktails, an open kitchen and prompt service from attentive staff who are on hand to recommend standout dishes.

2.    Rebellion Roast House

Style: Pub
Price range: ££
Menu: Brisket, loaded nachos and Sunday lunches
Website: Click here

Stave off the November chill and book a table at Rebellion. Occupying a prime spot above Charlestown Harbour, this dark and moody roast house promises the ultimate winter warmer with its flavoursome starters and indulgent mains. 

Rebellion classics include a 12-hour braised brisket served with confit garlic mash, roasted shallots and a bourguignon sauce. Highlights from the “stacks” menu feature honey glazed pork, garlic chicken, grilled halloumi and fish goujons – each served in a rosemary focaccia bun with coleslaw and skin-on fries. You’ll also find a smaller selection of salads, sides and seafood dishes if you’re looking for a lighter meal. 

Another of Cornwall’s must-try Sunday lunches, start things off a little differently with salt and pepper squid or crispy hot wings, before traditional dishes and jugs of rich gravy take centre stage. The vegetarian option features a sweet potato, carrot and thyme nut roast, which like all Rebellion roasts, is served alongside a cauliflower and broccoli cheese, Cornish greens, shredded cabbage and fluffy roast potatoes. 

If you’re dining with children, smaller Sunday lunch portions are available for under 12s, and there’s a dedicated “Little Rebels” menu served through the week. 

3.    Springtide

Style: Restaurant
Price range: £££
Menu: Pasta, small plates and seafood
Website: Click here

© Springtide via Instagram

Sitting just opposite its older Longstore sister, Springtide opened in 2021. Thanks to a mix of indoor and outdoor tables, the restaurant is family and dog-friendly, and the menu keeps fresh seafood close to its heart. With Cornish mussels farmed less than a mile from the dining terrace and made to order one of three ways, there’s a big focus on high quality local ingredients here.

Dishes from the summer menu feature prawn linguine, Indonesian curry and Cajun mackerel, to follow starters like crab arancini and pork belly skewers. 

When it comes to the restaurant’s Mediterranean interiors, think high vaulted ceilings, whitewashed walls, rattan pendent lights and a well-stocked bar for after-dinner drinks. We’ve got our eye on the raspberry bramble and the passionfruit Hussey. 

4.    The Boathouse

Style: Restaurant
Price range: ££
Menu: Pizzas, seafood and Sunday lunches
Website: Click here

Found in the heart of Charlestown, The Boathouse is open daily for lunch, dinner, or just coffee and cake after a leisurely stroll by the coast. Well-behaved dogs are welcome inside the restaurant, or you can choose to dine al fresco in the garden when the weather’s kind. 

We recommend ordering a selection of sharing plates and starters. Think tempura feta with watermelon and heritage tomatoes, whitebait with paprika and roasted garlic mayo, and Da Bara Bakery breads with olives, hummus and balsamic oil.  

Sunday roasts are served between 12 and 3pm and 5 and 9pm from September onwards. The menu features slow cooked beef, roast chicken, and a lentil and sweet potato veggie roast, and children’s portions are available for £8.50. 

5.    The Pier House

Style: Pub
Price range: ££
Menu: Burgers and pizzas
Website: Click here

© The Pier House via Instagram

The furthest south of our nine Charlestown eateries, The Pier House is nestled just above the beach and harbour wall. Its elevated terrace and outdoor tables mean glistening sea views are guaranteed if you’re visiting in the summer months. 

Dishes change daily, but the sample menu features a range of falafel, buttermilk chicken and katsu curry burgers, plus a tempting list of stone baked pizzas. The giardiniera is topped with artichokes and roasted red peppers, the goat’s cheese special with red onion marmalade, and the hoisin duck features plum sauce, spring onion and like it or not, pineapple.

A St Austell Brewery-owned pub, expect to see your favourite Cornish drinks behind the bar, or try something new with the Baobab wheat beer, inspired by the Eden Project. Pier House also have a new “no and low” drinks menu, where Winter Sun cocktails, salted caramel espresso martinis and a High Point ruby spritz await, alongside a selection of 0% lagers and ciders. 

Following a devastating fire in January 2023, the restaurant will be closed for refurbishment from 4th November, but the Pier House team promise to come back with a bang in spring 2024. 

6.    Charlie’s Coffee House

Style: Café 
Price range: £
Menu: Cooked breakfast, cream teas and homemade cakes
Instagram: Click here

One of the most dog-friendly places on our list, this café sits at the top of Charlestown and is perfect for a post-walk snack. The interiors are everything you’d expect from a quaint Cornish café – there’s a roaring log fire, handwritten chalkboard menus and just a handful of wooden tables if you choose to eat in.

The counter is always overflowing with freshly baked treats – from brownies and carrot cakes to cream teas and cookies. Those with a savoury tooth can enjoy sandwiches, paninis, jacket potatoes or homemade soup, best enjoyed from the window seat on rainy days. 

7.    Short and Strong

Style: Café 
Price range: £
Menu: Sandwiches, salads, pastries and coffee 
Instagram: Click here

© Short and Strong via Instagram

A must-try spot for brunch, Short and Strong is open seven days a week from 9am until 4pm. Serving “coffee and good vibes”, their smiley team and signature blue crockery serves unique foodie delights – including blackberry and lime flapjacks, and root vegetable cakes made with pumpkin seeds and orange. 

Pick up a marshmallow-loaded hot chocolate from the hatch on your way down to the beach, clear foggy heads with a ginger wellness shot on the go, or catch up with friends over a cinnamon bun breakfast – indoor and courtyard seating means the choice is yours. 

8.    The Cellar

Style: Wine bar
Price range: ££
Menu: Tapas and wine 
Website: Click here

True to its name, The Cellar finds itself underneath The Longstore and runs a select tapas-style menu from its sister restaurant. A bar-meets-lounge where wine can be bought by the glass to enjoy over dinner or bottled to take home, it’s recently undergone a refurbishment after opening as The Wine Store in 2018. 

Perfect for pre-dinner drinks before a reservation upstairs, The Cellar opens from 4pm through the week and from 2pm on weekends. Walk-ins are welcome, but if you’re hoping to book onto an upcoming wine tasting event, we’d recommend booking online. 

9.    Rashleigh Arms

Style: Pub
Price range: ££
Menu: Sunday lunches, burgers and fish and chips
Website: Click here

The Rashleigh Arms is a popular choice thanks to its central location in Charlestown. Dogs are welcome and a private pub car park makes for easy access to the courtyard garden for those who choose to dine outside. Service can often be slow, but its reliable pub menu and extensive drinks selection make it a safe bet for family meals. 

Daytime light bites include moules frites, a beetroot falafel wrap and a smoked salmon and cream cheese baguette. Or, if you’re visiting for dinner, choose from mains like hot shell seafood medley, pan-fried fillet of hake and pumpkin and sage ravioli. 

If you’ve saved room for dessert, take your pick from a sweet and citrussy lemon curd cheesecake, or be tempted by the warm chocolate brownie with crushed meringue to end the evening. 

Holiday homes nearby 

Make the most of your time in Cornwall and plan a south coast staycation to remember. Set in the idyllic neighbouring village of Carlyon Bay, Serenity is an ocean-view hideaway perfect for those wishing to explore Charlestown. The South West Coast Path makes its way past your front door, so you can indulge in the harbour's foodie delights from breakfast through to supper.

Image credits: © The Longstore | © Springtide | © The Pier House | © Short and Strong