As I mentioned in my Nathan Outlaw post, Mr M and I have been to Cornwall – Padstow specifically – quite a few times. But it’s a rare occurrence for us to go out for breakfast, usually we’re too busy cooking bacon and eggs at our tent to go out. But on our latest trip, we decided to mark our last morning before the journey home with breakfast out.
After a little wander around, we happened upon Cherry Trees. I’m still not sure how we’ve missed it on past trips since it’s right on the harbourside but hey, it definitely fits the bill of a ‘hidden gem’. It’s fairly small but when we went, was packed, with people queuing out the door – always a good sign.
The cakes in the display were enough to tempt you to sit down, along with the light airy interior. It’s not the biggest place in the world, but one where a friendly welcome, hustle and bustle of people, and little personal touches like the fresh flowers on the tables (which were being replenished as we sat down) make it feel like a place where you could happily spend a few hours.
I nearly succumbed to temptation and had cake for breakfast when I saw the huge, homemade, towers of tempting spongey goodness being brought out ready for the day. But luckily the breakfast menu itself was as tempting. From traditional cooked breakfasts to pancakes and omelettes, there were some other items that I’ve never seen, including ‘Dad’s mince on toast’ – described as farm shop mince bolognese, piled on thick grilled toast, topped with a poached egg and parmesan shavings.
I pondered over ‘salmon and spears’, house cured salmon with asparagus, a poached egg, and hollandaise, then mulled over trying ‘honey muesli trifle’, Cherry Trees’ own honey toasted muesli, with vanilla yoghurt, berries and banana. But eventually I settled on ‘Magic Mushrooms’ – wild mushrooms, tomato chutney, poached egg and hollandaise on a toasted muffin.
Be warned, if you want a small breakfast that doesn’t fill you up too much, don’t choose this. But if you want something tasty, rich, indulgent and delicious that also happens to look beautiful on a plate, then yes, go for it. The mixture of wild mushrooms were soft yet not overcooked and slimy, the tomato chutney was tangy and sweet, and a great contrast to a plate of food that was otherwise pretty rich. The hollandaise was smooth and rich, while the egg was perfectly poached. It was beautifully presented and managed to look rather delicate, despite being a challenge to finish – even for me.
Mr M went for a full Cornish breakfast, including bacon, chipolatas, eggs, beans, a field mushroom, potato rosti and toast. He was impressed by all of it, especially by the rosti, which you don’t often get on a breakfast menu.
I’m not going to ramble on – the pictures can do the talking. We had a lovely time at Cherry Trees before heading back to the Midlands. I managed to resist taking a piece of cake with me for the journey, mainly because I was so full, but I know I’ll be heading back there next time we’re down. They also do ice-cream as well as cream teas – more excuses to return.
It’s easy in Padstow to focus on the famous names like Rick Stein and Paul Ainsworth, but Cherry Trees reminded us that there are plenty of other places to try, it’s just a case of keeping your eyes open. If you go to Padstow yourself and need somewhere for breakfast or lunch, or just a treat, I can definitely recommend Cherry Trees.
We paid in full at Cherry Trees. They didn’t know I was a blogger.
