Eating and Drinking in the Isles of Scilly
Whether you’re after something to placate your epicurean palate or just a quick, delicious snack made from local ingredients, or a drink with an epic view, the Isles of Scilly have you covered.
I almost called this blog ‘Try the fish’ because even if you’re not a fan of eating things that live in the sea, the Isles of Scilly might win you over. I’m not a fussy eater, but I have to pluck up the courage to ingest most forms of aquatic life. Steadily, I am broadening my palate. What did I end up enjoying (to my great surprise) this time? Read on to find out.
Out of lockdown and into cocktail hour
We took our trip to the Isles of Scilly only three weeks after they started admitting tourists again after the Covid lockdown. Most places were open on the island of St Mary’s where we are staying (unless otherwise stated, all places referred to are on St Mary’s). A few which weren’t back open were doing take out, although personally we didn’t do this because eating out, for us, is a great deal about the ambience. Fortunately, although the restaurants we did go to had very sensible protective measures in place these did their job of making us feel safe without killing any of the ambience. Some, like the restaurant in our hotel, The Atlantic Inn, used an app so we could communicate with the kitchen staff directly and order our meals.
Others had transparent screens between tables. This was done most unobtrusively in the restaurant at The Hall Restaurant, inside St Mary’s Hall Hotel where we dined early in our trip. We enjoyed a sumptuous feast of potted beef with mini Yorkshire puddings and onion & Marmite gravy and crab linguine, followed by mains of whole lobster, lamb with feta and lemon.
The cocktail menu relied on the classics - never a bad thing in our book. I always think once you get past four ingredients in a cocktail you’d better have a good reason for doing so. We revelled in our favourites: Gimlets, Negronis, Martinis...
If all of that sounds a bit much in the way of libations for one meal (even with our reputations) that’s because we got the opportunity to work through the cocktail list on repeat visits. The Hotel itself hosted drinks on their lawn every afternoon. We quite quickly slipped into a routine of exhausting ourselves with a 8-10 mile hike every morning and early afternoon, knowing that when we got back to our hotel, showered and changed, we would be able to relax with some cocktails just down the road at St Mary’s Hall. All the exertion suddenly felt worth it as we took our first sips of our ice cold drinks.
We only ate at The Hall once, but we would have happily eaten there again. The food was exceptional and the service attentive but never fussy. We didn’t go back because there were so many other places we wanted to try.
Serendipitous discoveries
On our first day, we happened across Juliet’s, which was just closing as we arrived. Nevertheless, we just about had time to a quick gin and tonic overlooking the bay in which Hugh Town sits. It really cannot be overestimated how spectacular the view from Juliet’s is. And because they have an outdoor seating area, they are not quite as restricted as some other places. Because everywhere is limiting the number of customers, our top tip would be to scout out where you might want to eat and make reservations in advance, otherwise you might be disappointed. Therefore, we made dinner reservations at Juliet’s for later in the week. We were glad we did as it was almost full when we returned. Not for the first time that week, we ordered fish and chips.
I’ve grown to adore most species of shellfish but much else I can take or leave. Even so, I was determined to take myself out of my comfort zone a bit on this trip. Ordering scampi and chips does not sound very adventurous to most people, I know, but for me it was. And you know what: I’m now a scampi convert.
Begs the question: which fish will I grow to like next?
Food on the move
Lunchtime some days amounted to something we’d picked up from the Co-op near our hotel. Because we knew we’d be walking a lot and we didn’t know when we’d be hungry or want to take a break, having sandwiches, fruit and chocolate with us was the best way to go. Be warned though: there is only this one supermarket on the islands and there was a queue to get inside every time. In fact, it was a talking point with many of the locals we struck up conversations with. Just build in a bit more time than you think you might need.
On our first day venturing off St. Mary’s, to the island of Tresco, we made time to dine at a pizza place overlooking one of the many beaches. Eating at the Ruin Beach Cafe gave us one of those moments (which were to recur throughout the week) where we had to pinch ourselves that we were still in the UK, such was the laidback Mediterranean vibe. We’re hardly the most laidback people, so we were getting a bit perturbed when our pizzas were taking a long time to arrive. But when they arrived we understood why: they’d been freshly made.
On Tresco we also had our first taste of Troytown ice cream, made at Troytown Farm on the neighbouring island of St Agnes, which we passed on our walk around that island later in the week. We didn’t stop at the farm because we feared missing the boat, but several people on our boat who had not set out to do a loop walk of the entire island said it was worth a visit. We just about had time to eat at The Turk’s Head, the most south-westerly pub in the UK. Service was swift (fortunately) and the Ploughman’s lunches just what we needed after our long walk.
We tried another local of the delicious local gins while we were there. One of the Scilly distillers (Scilly Spirit, who make Island Gin) are based on St. Mary’s. The other is on St Agnes: Westward Farm gin comes in a variety of flavours.
Our dining options on St Martin’s were limited because we had to get our return boat from the quay which was away from the restaurants and we didn’t want to miss the boat. There was a bakery though, which was quickly raided by us and the other day trippers. We gorged ourselves on a kind of French quiche I had never heard of (I was so hungry I forgot to write down the name, sorry!) and a variety of cakes.
Al fresco options
One of my favourite meals was actually the most affordable. I’ve already mentioned I like shellfish but I really enjoy calamari. Being a series of islands, you’d expect their seafood to be more adventurous. Antony was excited by the pollock on the menu of Bakery Shop Cafe, but when I saw battered salt and pepper squid on the menu I knew I had to have it. The Cafe did not have any seating of its own but there were picnic benches opposite, overlooking the harbour. They were also licensed. Al fresco salt and pepper squid with chips and Sauvignon Blanc? Yes please!
We initially thought we wouldn’t be able to trip Dibble and Grub, the top-rated tapas restaurant on the Porthcressa Beachfront, at the back of Hugh Town. We’d seen it on our first day but forgot to make a reservation. When I emailed on the morning of our final full day in the Scillies they regretfully informed us they were full. But they promised to call back if a table for two became available. So I was overjoyed when they did and our last evening meal was one to remember. Although, to be honest, I can’t remember the names of everything we ordered because we’d had another energetic walking day and ate it up with, frankly, indecent haste. Also, the delicious bottle of English Pinot Noir sparkling rose we ordered probably didn’t help our memories. We are increasingly impressed with English wines. The only small positive of our world’s changing climate means more grape varietals can now be grown in English soil and more sun means riper grapes and more palatable flavour profiles, especially in the South. The award-winning example made in Cornwall by Polgoon is one of the best we have had.
Last orders
Ahead of our return journey on the Scillionian we fortified ourselves with a drink at the Dungeon Bar in the bowels of the Castle Star Hotel. As the name suggests, the bar is located inside a real dungeons where people who were politically out of favour once resided. Although we didn’t sample the food available, it looked delicious when others ordered it. After our queasy crossing to get to the Scillies, we thought it would be tempting fate to have anything more robust than a cocktail. As it happened, the crossing was absolutely fine so we needn’t have worried. We’ll make sure we dine there next time.
All of the places we ate and drank in we would happily revisit. I can’t think of another trip we’ve taken where I would say that was honestly the case.
My - now dwindling - aversion to fish aside, we will eat almost anything and we have no intolerances. But everywhere we went was very sensitive to dietary requirements and most menus had appetising vegan options. Needless to say, pescaterians will be in paradise!
