There are such good places to eat in Tintagel and Boscastle that I had to include the areas. They are not exactly Devon, but they are such amazing places to visit that they are definitely worthy of a mention….and to be fair they are so close to the Devon/Cornwall border that we’re sure you’ll forgive us!
Tintagel
Tintagel is famous for King Arthur (he of the Knights of the Round Table legend); apparently he lived there. The views of the castle from the top of the hill by The Camelot Castle Hotel are superb. Looking in the other direction, one can just see Hartland Point and Lundy Island. It really is a beautiful location.
The main street has many places to eat and drink (including Granny Wobbly’s Fudge Pantry which just the smell of as you walk in is enough to make you dribble!), but of most interest is the number of gift shops that sell an array of mystical/magical trinkets. Our son was in his element “Magic, Castles and Swords, Magic, Castles and Swords, Magic, Castles and Swords……..” You can almost feel the superstition in the air. We didn’t actually visit the castle (it’s down a very steep hill – and thus a very steep hill back! – although there is a land rover that will take you for a small fee) as we felt the hour or so we could give it would not be enough. To do it justice you would need much longer and we were eager to also visit Boscastle, so we’ll save that for another trip.
On the subject of food though, we stopped and had a coffee in Cafe Anniden (at the top of Fore Street). They did have a separate gluten free menu, which if we were having breakfast or lunch would have been great. However, it was half ten in the morning and all we wanted was coffee and cake. The menus (both the ‘normal’ and the gluten free one) stated that they had a selection of cakes, but the waitress did admit that all they had on the gluten free cake front was a fruit cake and that they didn’t really do cakes! Also the coffee wasn’t really to our taste.
Hubby and the kids decided to have a pasty – I sensibly had brought my own food along! We were recommended to try a pasty from a local baker (Pengenna Pasties), rather than the bigger chain across the road from Pengenna. Unfortunately, although the pasties tasted lovely, the service was a little bit terse – when asked if they could cut the pasty in half for hubby and my son to share – the lady serving said she couldn’t! To be fair, she did offer us a plastic knife so we could cut it ourselves. We also asked for serviettes and she gave us just one – there were three of us eating and when we asked for more, she begrudgingly gave us two more!
Boscastle
After Tintagel we moved onto Boscastle. Having lived in North Devon for 12 years we cannot believe that we hadn’t made the trip to Boscastle before. The awful floods that wiped out a lot of the village just before we moved to Devon are still a very recent memory and the area itself pays homage in many ways with plaques and reminders of the water levels on a lot of the buildings that line the river. Having said that, we fell in love with Boscastle. We parked relatively easily in the long-stay car park and for £5.20 we had 24 hour parking (a lot cheaper than some of the beach car parks in North Devon!).
We started as we meant to go on in a little cafe, The Bridge, to have tea and cake. The kids both had a brownie (which were devoured!), I ordered hubby a coffee and walnut cake and myself a gluten free cream tea – when in Cornwall and all that. My scone was a little disappointing – it was very flat and quite dry, although the flavour was nice and buttery. My hubby’s cake was okay – a soft sponge, but lacking in flavour. The service was very friendly though and the loos were extremely clean.
We then walked around Boscastle. The views from the white lookout station at the top of the hill (a short walk up from the harbour wall) are beyond breathtaking and on our next visit we have promised ourselves that we would walk the five miles from Boscastle to Tintagel on the South West Coastal Path. The Museum of witchcraft and magic is well worth a visit – you could honestly spend hours reading the detailed and informative exhibits about the history of witches.
There were lots of places to eat and drink and after sitting in the sunshine dangling our hot tootsies in the stream we decided to find somewhere for dinner. We firstly tried The Wellington Hotel. When we asked about a gluten free offering, they said they couldn’t find the gluten free menu, then they said their gluten free offering was out of date. All the starters were duly labelled on their ‘normal’ menu, but the mains were not. The lovely server then rang down to the kitchen to enquire as to what items were gluten free. I was told that they had run out of gluten free pasta, so all pasta dishes were off the menu; they could adapt the chicken and chorizo dish by removing the chorizo! Sadly, it was very uninspiring, so thanking her for her kindness we decided to move on. We walked around and looked at a few menus on doors (why establishments don’t mention that they can cater is beyond me?) and the one place that took our fancy (and said they could cater) was The Riverside Hotel.
Places to eat in Tintagel and Boscastle
To see our review either click on the map or the link below. All reviews are based on our own experience at the time of visiting.