You can’t come to St Ives and NOT have a cream tea. It wouldn’t be proper! It is an iconic food symbol of Cornwall, and St Ives does cream teas in a BEAUTIFUL way.
Before you embark on your cream tea journey, you need to know one very important thing. In Cornwall. It is JAM FIRST, cream on top. Done any other way, well you might as well be visiting Devon!
Cream Tea is a very afternoony type of snack.
A good cream tea consists of a nice big scone – it can be a fruit one, or a plain one. If your scone isn’t big, then you should really have two. The scones are even nicer if they are freshly baked and served WARM.
Your scone should be accompanied by a generous helping of jam and an even more generous serving of clotted cream.
This should all be served with a lovely pot of tea.
Living in St Ives, I’ve become something of a cream tea connoisseur! I’ve tried many many places and have got it down to my top 5 places.
Olives is a hidden gem in St Ives. It is tucked away on Island Square just off Back Road East.
It is a tiny little cafe often filled with aromas of baking. If you get there are just the right time you can get blueberry muffins straight from the oven. Devine with a dollop of clotted cream!
There is seating for many 20 people inside, and if the sun is shining you can sit outside too. If you are lucky, you might even get a visit from Harvey The Cat (of grand facebook fame!).
Their cream teas are legendary – think big, mishapen fluffy scones straight from the oven served with local jam, clotted cream and a pot of local tea!
The Coffee Lounge in St Ives is on Tregenna Hill on the opposite corner to the library.
The Coffee Lounge is a sort of mix of a lovely coffee shop and the Cornish Gems letting agency.
They do WONDERFUL take away coffees, great sandwiches and cakes, and also a very fine cream tea for only £6.25
The Yellow Canary is that beautiful yellow and black cafe on Fore Street, near The Castle Inn pub.
It serves a lovely range of baked goods, sandwiches and great coffee. It does takeaways and sit down cream teas.
Silco Searoom of St Ives Tea Rooms as it was formerly known as sits right on St Ives Harbour.
As well as being “home of St Ives Gin” and mixing some of the best cocktails in town, it also serves a fabulous cream tea!
Porthmeor Cafe is unbeatable. It has the food, it has the drink, it has the beach, it has THE VIEW. My goodness, it is a gorgeous place to eat.
Not surprisingly, they do a cracking cream tea!
Read 101 Brilliant Things To Do In St Ives Cornwall >>
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