Cornwall


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-top-50-gastropubs-2025">Top 50 gastropubs 2025</h2>



<p>Pull up a pew: it’s that lip-licking time of year when they release the results of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.top50gastropubs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The&nbsp;Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards</a>&nbsp;and, as ever, there’s plenty of reason to ditch the diet and Dry Jan, both here in Cornwall and up over the border into Devon.</p>



<p>The judges (the UK’s top foodies and&nbsp;pub pros) have scoffed and quaffed between closures to bring you the best of the best – and, we&#8217;re delighted to say that Cornwall has one pub in the top fifty, and one in the top one hundred, which is a mighty achievement.</p>



<p>The Top 50 Gastropub&nbsp;shortlist&nbsp;<em>really</em>&nbsp;matters in the foodie&nbsp;pub&nbsp;world, as it celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of the great British pub that serves awesome grub. This year the top spot was once again taken by <a href="https://suffolkcambs.muddystilettos.co.uk/best-places-to-live/suffolk/woodbridge/">Woodbridge</a>’s The Unruly Pig, but if you’re not visiting Suffolk any time soon, here’s where you should be booking in asap before they get booked up.</p>



<p>Have you tried them yet? Let me know your thoughts.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-mariners-rock-cornwall-5"><a href="https://www.paul-ainsworth.co.uk/the-mariners/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Mariners</a>, Rock, Cornwall (5)</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/11/The-Mariners-interiors-2.jpg" alt="Top 50 gastropubs 2025 The Mariners interiors" class="wp-image-16752" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/11/The-Mariners-interiors-2.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/11/The-Mariners-interiors-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/11/The-Mariners-interiors-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/11/The-Mariners-interiors-2-720x480.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Still in the top five for husband-and-wife team Paul and Emma Ainsworth (in 2021 they were 5th, then down to 9th and 11th, and up to a mega 3 last year in 2024) making The Mariners the highest placed pub in Cornwall. The Mariners is the pair&#8217;s fifth site in North Cornwall&nbsp;with views over the Camel Estuary &#8211; and a firm favourite with locals and holiday makers alike. My friend reckons they make the best burgers in this part of Cornwall, and my kids love their takes on pub classics. <a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/eat-out/mariners-rock-near-wadebridge/">Check out our Muddy review here</a> which I wrote when the pub first opened. It&#8217;s now even easier to stay over, with the Ainsworth&#8217;s taking over the local St Enodoc Hotel earlier this month.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-gurnard-s-head-zennor-81"><a href="http://www.gurnardshead.co.uk/">The Gurnard&#8217;s Head</a>, Zennor (81)</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="664" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2020-03-09-at-11.25.20-e1583753156765.png" alt="Top 50 gastropubs 2025 gurnards head bar" class="wp-image-18559" /></figure>



<p>The Gurnard&#8217;s Head was back at place 61 for 2024 and slips down to 81 for 2025. If you&#8217;ve not been before, it&#8217;s not really St Ives &#8211; it&#8217;s a real Muddy favourite destination pub on the West Penwith peninsula, about as far away from anywhere as it feels you can possibly be. Serving excellent food for both lunch and dinner, with plenty of outdoor space for a quiet drink while you watch the cows march past the front door on their way to be milked, seafood and locally foraged ingredients are on the ever-changing seasonal menu &#8211; and there&#8217;s also rooms if you fancy making a proper night of it (look out for a new review soon!)</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson.jpg" alt="British chef and restaurateur Adam Handling" class="wp-image-30145" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/03/Adam-Handling-Credit-Hazel-Thompson-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Also congrats to chef <a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/life/people/adam-handling-ugly-butterfly-carbis-bay-cornwall/">Adam Handling</a>, at Muddy fave Ugly Butterfly, whose Berkshire pub The Loch &amp; Tyne by Adam Handling is up to position 23 (from position 42 in 2024, when they also won sustainable pub of the year too). We chatted to him about &#8216;what&#8217;s cooking&#8217; last year, <a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/life/people/adam-handling-ugly-butterfly-carbis-bay-cornwall/">which you can read here</a>. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-top-50-gastropubs-2025-here-s-what-s-cooking-over-the-border-in-devon">Top 50 Gastropubs 2025:<strong> here&#8217;s what&#8217;s cooking over the border in Devon</strong></h2>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cornish-arms-tavistock-9"><a href="https://www.thecornisharmstavistock.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Cornish Arms</a>, Tavistock (9)</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/01/cornisharms-interior.jpg" alt="Top 50 gastropubs 2025 The Cornish Arms Tavistock Devon" class="wp-image-52284" /></figure>



<p>It’s still a place in the top 10 on the list for thriving 17th century gastro pub in the heart of Tavistock, so called as it was the last Coaching Inn before Cornwall. Dishes are unpretentious and great value (it also has a Bib Gourmand), and this is their well-deserved twelfth consecutive year in the top 50. Part of the St Austell Brewery chain, and, should you want to you make a night of it, there are seven rather gorgeously decorated rooms so you can stay on and explore the Western gateway town of Tavistock (one of&nbsp;<a href="https://devon.muddystilettos.co.uk/best-places-to-live/devon/tavistock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Muddy’s Best Places to Live 2023</a>) or the wilds of Dartmoor itself. It was a good night for The Cornish Arms as chef owner John Hooker also took home a special award for Chef of the Year 2025.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-masons-arms-knowstone-no-63"><a href="https://www.masonsarmsdevon.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Masons Arms</a>, Knowstone (No.63)</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/01/knowstone-venison.jpg" alt="venison dish from The Knowstone Armss Devon, top 100 Gastropub 2025" class="wp-image-73106" /></figure>



<p>Having announced their retirement in 2024, they’re still here! A Michelin-star holder for an awesome 20 years, and one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://devon.muddystilettos.co.uk/eat-out/top-100-devon-restaurants/">UK’s Top 100 restaurants&nbsp;</a>according to Hardens and SquareMeal, The Masons Arms nabbed its place in the top 100 yet again thanks to owner-chef Mark Dodson’s laser-eyed focus on local ingredients and creative presentation and co-owner Sarah Dodson’s attention to service and ambience. What a pretty spot it’s in too – a thatched 13th century inn on the edge of Exmoor, but with easy access from the Atlantic Highway.</p>


Top 50 gastropubs 2025 revealed but which pubs in Cornwall made the list?

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