Not a big fan of the celeb chef culture but this place is the best hands down, it needs to be given what you pay, but we won’t dwell on this. it is a stark reminder to all other restaurants, particularly a certain Scottish chef, that having a famous face is not enough to be regarded as the best restaurant there is. I’m a professional chef and have been for 12 years so feel i know a thing or 2 about the industry. in most case i would recommend going to a restaurant that’s recommend to you by friends rather than a famous face, Rick seems to be the exception to the rule. i attended a catered event by Kudos Delivered 2 weeks ago and it was the best catering I have ever tasted, and all without a TV chef to be spied. please bear this in mind when choosing where you want to go. . . unless u are rich and in Cornwall!

Very disappointed by Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant. Meal started off well, but main courses (which were pricey, £35 each) were poor - one of them was inedible first time out the kitchen, we sent it back and it wasn't much improved the second time round. The chef agreed it had been "badly cooked", but apart from suggesting that he keep everyone else's food on a hot plate whilst we chose something else, didn't do anything to make up for the poor meal (e.g. free pudding, or glass of wine on the house). We won't be going back. They obviously rely on enough passing trade that they don't have to impress people into going more than once.

Third time at eating at Rick Stein The Seafood Restaurant Padstow in the last 12 moinths- still hoping for the excellent dining experience sadly dissapointd, an average restaurant, the St Petroc is beter for value and service. Have had far better service and food in Gasto pubs in Worcestershire. Seafood restaurant some dishes good, others poor - rubbery Thai fishcakes, cold fish, Good mussels. service indifferent, drop and run approach. Seats too close to each other - pack them in approach. Needs a review by senior mangement if charging top prices, it needs top service and food, please stop living off the name and deliver a top quality product for the sake of the customers. Would I recommend it - simply NO! Rick Stein - your image is being tarnished by lack of quality control front and back of house.

It was my 25th Birhtday, and my partner took me down to Padstow for a long weekend, As he knows i've always dreamed of visting Rick Steins restaurant and Bistro!!! Rick stein is a huge inspriation to me'and has been for a number of years. And having had the opportunity to visit his restaurant's was absoulety amazing. The bistro was excellent food and service and enjoyed every minute of it .We had the 3 course lunch meal at the seafood restaurant ' and from the moment we walked through the door the service was outstanding. We were greeted buy a gentlemen called jack who was the porter who made us feel so welcome.I kept on thinking that rick stein might just walk through the door' when my partner snuck off and spoke to the front desk and managed to arrange a private visit to the kitchen to have a photo with rick steins chef's . It was a dream come true ' and can't wait to come back in the summer a re live the experience again . 27th feb 2011 danielle norton ...

For such an expensive restaurant I expected better. There were four of us (evening of 4th January 2011).
One of our starters did not arrive until I summoned a waiter to find out where it was. The texture of my fish soup was dubious, but otherwise the starters were quite good.
Quality of Baguettes was very poor (dry and tasteless) but other breads were good.
Main courses were OK - but only OK, not fabulous: large portions of turbot (perhaps even too large?) and very good vegetables.
My dessert was a totally inedible meringue (really sticky and tough) and was returned to the chef (but not replaced(!). No real apology from the waitress (and certainly no visit from the manager to find out what was wrong!)and to my utter amazement was charged for!!!!
Wine (Rick Stein's own Semmillon Chardonnay) was very good.
But overall I would say at £70 per head it is a bit of a clip joint.
Robert Mansell, London

As a proclaimed Rick Stein fan, we have just returned from a very disappointing visit to his restaurant. I thought the food was overpriced and pretentious. The tables were placed too close together; we felt as if we were sharing the experience with the people on the next table. Definitely will not be re-visiting nor recommending this eatery - may even switch off when he's on tv in protest!

We were really looking forward to this as the first night meal on our honeymoon. I won't say it was terrible, far from it, but I've eaten good quality seafood in nicer restaurants at half the price.

Front-of-house staff were friendly, if a little hit-and-miss in the quality of service they provided. Starters we're pleasant, nothing more. I had the Linguine with Palourde Clams and Fresh English Ceps; perfectly OK. My wife had the Falmouth Bay shrimps, also quite nice. The mains were really lovely; I had the sole and my wife the brill.

The big problem was that both the experience and the food did not live up to the price. The two mains alone came to about £65; not cheap and eating similar quality seafood for much less money elsewhere highlighted the premium paid for the Stein name. Indeed, one identical dish at another seafood restaurant at the Lizard was not far off the Stein quality and around 1/3 the price.

If our bill at Steins had been 1/3 less then the whole experience would have been more palatable. Overall, far from bad, but not great for the money. All just personal views but I hope they're helpful.

There were four of us who celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary at Rick Steins seafood restaurant.
We booked the day before and that was a simple process and I received a confirmation SMS informing me of our booking and time - very good.
On our arrival we were greeted very pleasantly and quickly escorted to our table.
Olives and fresh bread wer put on the table (the walnut bread is superb!!)
We opted for the £35 lunch menu and each selected our choice of starter and mains and enjoyed a bottle of white wine.
The food throughout each course wss excellent and well proportioned.
The service was very friendly and attentive throughout our meal, with more bread being supplied with no charge.
The dessert was wonderful and fresh and the coffees and chocolates were the perfect ending to a great experience.
The waitresses must be complimented for their kindness and making us feel special, even taking photos for us in celebration of our shared day.
Rolled up menus were supplied as a keepsake and meeting the Masterchef winner was a real bonus who took time to talk to us and shook our hands.
I'm surprised by some reviews I have read on here because our experience was one we will always remember as being a perfect experience which complimented our anniversary.
Well done to the staff who managed every part of our expectation of Rick's restaurant and hold such strong brand value!

Most delicious food, cooked simply and full of flavour. My partner (a chef)described his lobster salad started as the best thing he had ever eaten. My lobster thermador was FANTASTIC!! The staff are friendly and attentive yet do not harras you. It is very pricey, but you get what you pay for and the food was 5 star! Would most certainly visit this restaurant and Padstow again.

We booked in for a late lunch on a trip to Cornwall-family of three. The first thing to point out is that the restaurant has a first class view of the pay and display car park. Seaview it isn't. But we've had some cracking meals in Birmingham overlooking carparks as well so it's about the food not necessarily the location. ( Weve had equally dire experiences on mountain top 5 star restaurants). We chose from the standard menu at £35 per head. The front of house staff were friendly and helpful. However(sharp intake of breath) the food was well below average. The soup was under seasoned and the Ray Wing was over seasoned with pepper (to the point of inedible) . Hers was ok, but nothing special, and juniors was ok but again not up to the mark. Maybe we expected too much and had built up a preconceived idea of what to expect. Padstow has many eateries that are more reasonably priced so I imagine any locals eat at those. For the "outsiders" like us, the detour is not worth it to Mr Steins. If you do find yourself in beautiful Padstow ( because it is) we would suggest finding an alternative.

We went for lunch in August having booked a few days in advance. We were simply intrigued to experience Rick Stein's cuisine because of our enjoyment of his TV personality and attitude to seafood cooking. The location of the restaurant was OK but I expected Rick to have chosen a more "upmarket" location for his flagship restaurant at this picturesque part of the country. The decor is pleasant but could be improved for those "facing the wall" when seated by using mirrors in a judicious fashion. Staff were cordial, pleasant and efficient. We opted for the standard lunch (3 course) menu for£35. It was good by French, Italian and Spanish standards for similar cuisine but, as expected, more expensive. However, by UK standards, reasonable. Some pretentious London restaurants will cost more and provide less quality and quantity. Cheapest wine was £20 and once again expensive but typical of this class of restaurant. I suspect most people go to this restaurant because of Rick Stein's fame. We did and the experience was pleasant. I suspect that some connoisseur's might opt for the more expensive a la carte menu options and be disappointed. I have had far more interesting food abroad but no restaurant has the monopoly on the best food in the world (apart from Tour d' Argent in Paris).

The only thing that let the meal down was the over sized and nasty tasting starter.....I chose mussels in a giner sauce with spring onions; it was nasty and sickly. The portion needs to be be reduced by 50% becuase everyone was waisting over half of the serving. However, the lobster Thermidor 20 out of 10. It was wounderful

Staff were lovely, just attentive enough - I had the huge stack of Singapore crab and my napkin was expertly, unobtrusively, replaced as and when necessary (and it was sooooooooo necessary). All in all an expensive but a great night out. The room was lovely too! Iron and ironing board in the wardrobe!

Good fresh food treated with respect.

I would certainly go there again even with friends who aren't particularly into fish. The menue has something for everyone.

There's a fine line between good service and being plain annoying. This restaurant has got evering spot on.

Very overpriced. Forget it...better food, better prices and better staff in the local pubs. No, I'm not a Philistine, have eaten in the best in europe, Steins is a complete rip off.