Description: Having spent three nights in Penzance, my son, his partner and I wanted to go somewhere different on our final morning without travelling too far, as we all had journeys to make later in the day. We decided to go to Newlyn, which is about a mile to the west of Penzance. All I knew was that it was famous as a fishing port and for a school of painting. As it turned out, we loved the little town, which is relatively unspoilt.
We wanted to find somewhere to have lunch; we had had a wonderful dinner of fresh fish from Newlyn at the Navy Inn in Penzance the previous evening, so we weren’t really tempted by the pubs that were offered seafood menus. Something a little different was more likely to entice us. We had a quick look at Aunty May’s Pasty Company but decided that the menu seemed a little restricted. Then we noticed Duke Street Cafe, and that was the place that we settled on.
The cafe has two main seating areas, and the counter is situated in one of these. We found a large table in a corner of the other area and sat down to look at the menu. We also took turns to go back into the first area where the specials board was, and my son decided he would try the crab toastie with a separate bowl of chips. His partner couldn’t resist the sound of the Pirate Burger on the main menu. I had had chicken and fish over the last few days so I decided to see what vegetarian choices there were for a change. I like the sound of the red onion and goat’s cheese tart served with chips and salad. The mains were mostly priced around £8.
Two of us went to the counter to place our order. Although the cafe was busy, as this was a Saturday, we didn’t have to queue. We ordered coffee as well as our food, and the bill came to just under £34. The coffee was soon brought to our table by a waiter, and we were pleased to see that it was a Fair Trade organic variety. It tasted very good, and I am not easily pleased where coffee is concerned. We didn’t have to wait too long for our food, and when it came we were amazed at how big the portions were. My puff pastry tart wasn’t huge, but there were far more chips than I could have eaten. The salad was very fresh and consisted of mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes, radishes, celery and slices of onion with a dressing. My son and his partner both enjoyed their food as much as I did, but we realised that my son need not have ordered a separate bowl of chips but could have shared the ones that were served with the burger and my tart. He could barely eat all his toast, but the crab of course was too good to leave.
In a way it was a pity that our main courses were so filling, as we didn’t have room for dessert. The homemade cakes I saw at the counter looked extremely tempting, including a cream tea sponge cake, which had a generous filling of strawberries and cream. Had we been staying longer in the area I can imagine we might have gone back one day for coffee and cake.
Children are welcome at the cafe; they seemed to have just one high chair, and two women sitting near us were giving their toddler and little girl turns at sitting in it. There is outdoor seating, but it was raining at the time we were there so that was out of the question. I was glad, however, that we sat inside, as the cafe exhibits local art and pottery that is for sale. I didn’t buy anything, but it was a pleasure to sit and admire some of the work on the walls that depicted the landscape we had so much appreciated during our few days in south-west Cornwall.
Duke Street cafe has just one toilet, which is suitable for disabled people. I found it to be very clean and well appointed. It was of course on the ground floor, between the two seating areas.
Opening hours are 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Sunday. The cafe is closed on Mondays. Dogs are welcome, even inside.
If you are in Newlyn, or Penzance for that matter, I would not hesitate to recommend a visit to Duke Street Cafe. I don’t know how likely I am to be going back to the area any time soon, but if I do, I will definitely go and see if that cream tea sponge cake is still on offer.
Close