Sitting proudly over the gorgeous Roseland Peninsula’s Porthcurnick beach, the Hidden Hut serves up some of the best local produce in laid-back surroundings. Homemade cakes, crumbly pasties and local crab sandwiches are always on the menu but nabbing a ticket to their weekly summer feasts, where tickets sell out quicker than Glastonbury, is a must. You bring your own bottle, plates and cutlery and tuck into just-caught fish or barbecued ribs overlooking the Cornish sunset.
Colwell Bay’s The Hut on the Isle of Wight hits the mark. In the summer this place is as buzzy as a honeypot, with sun-kissed groups mooring up and jumping right into chilled rum punch and grilled lobster platters. Leave space for pudding - Alaska cones with vanilla ice-cream, raspberry coulis and Italian meringue are as naughty as they sound.
The best spot in St Mawes, perched right on the water with a breezily chic beach-style terrace lined with lavender and grey rattan furniture. Cocktails, like the blueberry martinis, are seasonal and little works of art, as is the head chef Guy Owen’s dishes; Porthilly oysters, curried Newyln hake and Cornish Baked Alaska with rhubarb gin. As the temperatures drop, wrap up in pink wool blankets, so you will happily stay for hours.
Once a sail store for the tall Charlestown ships that would dock and depart from the Georgian harbour, The Longstore is a wonderfully rustic restaurant set on Charlestown harbour. It's a waterside haven with an interior to match; chandeliers made of oyster shells and a sea of wooden furnishings. Tuck into a hearty menu of steaks, seafoods and salads on offer – the mackerel and beetroot main is unmissable. There’s a special barbecue pop-up for summer, HarbourQ.
The National Trust’s South Milton Sands might be a wonderful family-friendly beach but the shack, just above it, is also a major lure for visitors. You can pick up a full English breakfast (local style) or the freshest seafood for a takeaway lunch - just be prepared to queue. They are open some evenings for supper and have just a scattering of tables, so a reservation is essential. The lobsters here are something else.
A seafood café that packs a punch and offers glorious views of dramatic Lyme Bay and the Jurassic coast on Hive Beach. The menu is all based on whatever is fresh in that day – but there’s always hot breakfasts, beach baps and creamy crab sandwiches, as well as the best fish and chips in the area. Kids will love the ice-cream parlour that pops up every summer too.
Slap bang on Folkestone harbour, Rocksalt has become a culinary gem of the Kentish coast, opened by Claridge’s former head chef, Mark Sargeant. There’s a bounty of local produce on offer, both from the ‘Garden of England’ and from the sea. Sit back on the sun-drenched terrace and order the baked mussels, smoked bacon and Kentish gala cider followed by the Kentish gypsy.