Blue Tomato Cafe

A gorgeous little beach front café overlooking the beach, camel estuary and Padstow across the water.
Serves superb Lavazza coffee and amazing cakes, tarts and puddings. The treacle Tart is really good and came with a huge dollop of clotted cream. Perfect Sunday afternoon.

You’re pretty limited for options in Chelsea-​on-​Sea (or Rock, as it’s marked on the map), and the Blue Tomato Café is one of two options that face the sea.
It’s a nicely put together place with seating inside, a terrace area and a closed terrace to protect you from the wind.
Staff are pretty young things and are generally rushed off their feet as it seems to be a ration of one server to fifteen punters.
The food, when it turns up, is of good quality and nicely presented. The drinks menu too is reasonable.
The price though. Ouch! The price is ludicrous. Absolutely-​even-​for-​Rock-​eye-​wateringly-​ridiculous. You know how rich folks like to pay over the odds for everything so that they can act nonchalant about paying so much for everything? Well, the Blue Tomato is their mecca. They can come in and be ripped off at all hours of the day, all the while waiting hours for the harried waitresses, having smoke from the puffers on the terrace waft through the restaurant (must be breaking the law there) and amusing themselves by joining the queue for the one toilet. Then go home and casually mention that a tea, coffee, two kids apple juices and a couple of cakes came to over twenty quid.
Ouch!

We’ve been going to the Ferry Point café in Rock for years, it’s got a great view. Sadly, they’ve become so expensive over the last few years that we won’t go back.