A Foodie Guide to Autumn in Cornwall 

The best seasonal food to eat and restaurants to visit in Cornwall this autumn

Autumn is the perfect season to work up an appetite in the bracing sea air and treat your tastebuds to the abundant foods available at harvest time in Cornwall. Whether sourcing rich and colourful ingredients from a farm shop to prepare in your coastal holiday home or sampling dishes prepared by the region’s best chefs, autumn is a fantastic season to visit Cornwall for a foodie holiday.

Follow this guide to Cornwall’s autumn bounty, from oysters to apples, and discover where to feast on these lip-smacking seasonal ingredients and support local producers with every delicious mouthful. Tuck in!

Foraged Sea Vegetables

Cornwall’s coastline is a treasure trove of edible sea vegetables which thrive in the nutrient-rich waters. Best picked in the cooler autumn months, you can often spot expert foragers scouring the rocky shores for seaweed to add to soups and stews, and samphire to add a salty tang to autumn seafood dishes. 

Where to Try it: 

• Seafood Restaurant, Padstow
  Book a table at this chic restaurant close to the Padstow harbour, where a seafood-based menu uses seaweed, sea vegetables and samphire to tickle its fish and shellfish with flavour. 
• Stein’s Deli, Padstow
  If you prefer to cook in the comfort of your holiday cottage, Stein’s Deli stocks fresh, locally sourced sea vegetables to add to hearty, home-cooked dishes. 
• The Hidden Hut, Roseland Peninsula
  This beach café isn’t just famous for its sell-out feast nights; it’s also one of our favourite spots for a pit stop on an autumn coastal walk. Hearty soups, stews, fritters and salads feature ocean veg such as seaweed and samphire. 

Autumn Shellfish

Cornwall’s coastal waters are teeming with a variety of shellfish, including oysters, crabs and mussels. Autumn is the prime time for these to be harvested by local fishermen, who use traditional methods to ensure the finest, freshest shellfish lands on your plate. October’s Falmouth Oyster Festival – an annual celebration devoted to Cornwall’s mighty molluscs – has been postponed until 2025, but there are plenty of places where you can savour native seafood with a seasonal twist. 

Where to Try it:

• Prawn on the Lawn, Padstow
  In the heart of Padstow, this cosy restaurant is big on local shellfish. Porthilly mussels and oysters are always on the menu; it’s up to you whether you want the latter with a dash of lemon, or deep-fried with garlic creme fraiche. 
• Porthilly Shellfish, Rock, Cornwall
  This family-run shellfish farm harvests mussels, clams, oysters and samphire fresh from Rock on the Camel Estuary, and delivers it direct to the door of your holiday cottage.
• Verdant Seafood Bar, Falmouth
  If you have to queue for this cool no-booking tapas bar, believe us, it’s well worth the wait for the likes of oysters, crab, and scallops sourced directly from local fishermen. Not forgetting the beer on tap from Verdant‘s brewery, which is based up the road in Penryn.

Autumn Fruits

Cornwall’s mild climate is ideal for growing a variety of fruits, including berries and apples that are bursting from the trees and hedgerows in autumn, ready to make delicious desserts and drinks, as well as jams, jellies and preserves. Pick blackberries on your coastal walks to whip into crumbles and cakes, and take a day trip to Healey’s Cyder Farm to see how the season’s apples are made into delicious food and drink. 

Where to Try Them:

• Trelissick, Truro
  This beautiful woodland garden hemming the River Fal hosts an annual apple weekend in October, with an array of activities including apple identification, picking and pruning advice in the orchard, and an apple display. The café serves seasonal treats including local ciders and apple-themed cakes and bakes. 
• Polgoon Vineyard
  Located near Penzance, this vineyard produces a range of award-winning ciders made from Cornish apples.
• Woods Cafe, Cardinham Woods
  On a blustery autumn day, there’s nowhere better to take a woodland stroll or hit the mountain biking trails than Cardinham Woods, then take a seat beside the fire in this cosy café where you can guarantee the just-baked cakes make the most of the season’s plump and juicy berries. 

Autumn Root Vegetables

Autumn is the season we all associate with steaming soups and stews, and Cornwall’s fertile soil produces a variety of root vegetables and squashes that are perfect for these hearty dishes. From pumpkins, parsnip and the famous Cornish Blue potatoes, to heritage carrots and hardy greens, these vegetables can be sourced from farm shops and farmer’s markets, or feasted on in the finest restaurants.

Where to Try Them:

• Padstow Kitchen Garden
  If you’re staying near the Padstow estuary and fancy the finest local veg delivered to your door, then order your just-picked produce from this Padstow Kitchen Garden, overlooking the Camel estuary.
• The Pig, Harlyn
  The Pig’s autumn menu not only brings together delicious dishes created from ingredients mostly sourced within a 25-mile radius of Harlyn, but much of the rich and hearty veg comes from its own walled garden and greenhouse, including cauliflowers used in autumn soup, carrots paired with walnuts, Crown Prince squash and Cornish potatoes.
• Trevaskis Farm, nr Hayle
  October is the month of Halloween, so there’s no better way to celebrate than heading to Trevaskis Farm and picking your own pumpkin to carve into a spooky spectacle. You’ll find plenty more autumn vegetables and produce in their farm shop, as well as seasonal bakes in the café.
• Crocadon, St Mellion
  Set on a 120-acre farm in southeast Cornwall, Crocadon is the zenith of farm-to-fork dining. Set up by a former winner of the Roux Scholarship, this self-sufficient farm-cum-restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star within a year of serving up a hyper-seasonal menu led by what’s grown and reared on the land. 

Book your Coastal Cottage for an Autumn Foodie Break in Cornwall

If you fancy feasting on this season’s produce, book a stay in Padstow or the nearby beaches and villages for a stunning autumn break in Cornwall. Autumn’s bounty isn’t the only reason to visit Cornwall once summer’s over. Check out our favourite things to do in Cornwall in Autumn and half term activities in October, and look forward to a fun-filled seasonal holiday.