Where to eat in Bude.

Right on Summerleaze Beach, this relaxed café-bar serves exactly what you want after a morning in the Atlantic: proper fish finger sandwiches, bowls of Cornish chowder, and coffee that doesn't taste like an afterthought. The sun terrace overlooks the sea pool and the waves beyond; on a bright September afternoon it's one of the best seats in north Cornwall. Portions are generous, prices are fair, and the staff have the easy competence of people who've been doing this for years.

Perched above Summerleaze, Life's a Beach is Bude's most ambitious restaurant: a seasonal operation with a terrace view that justifies the slightly elevated prices. The cooking centres on local seafood — Bude crab thermidor, turbot when the boats have been out — supported by well-sourced meat from Cornish farms. Service is polished for the town. The restaurant closes entirely in winter; when it reopens in spring, the queue for weekend bookings forms quickly.

The oldest coaching inn in Bude, now a hotel with a dining room that serves the most reliable cream tea in town. Scones arrive warm, the clotted cream is local, and the setting — oak-panelled, unhurried — suits the ritual properly. The bar food is straightforward but competently done; the Sunday carvery draws a loyal local following. It won't appear on any list of Cornwall's most exciting restaurants, but dependability at this level is its own virtue.