HarbourQ in Charlestown & a Hidden ‘Jurassic’ Cove

HarbourQ officially delivered the ‘dirtiest’ dirty fries I’ve ever had! Our visit to Charlestown was well worth it…

Ever since Niki visited Charlestown harbour (on the edge of St. Austell) a couple of weeks ago, shouting about the incredible food she’d had from HarbourQ, I’ve not stopped thinking about it! Luckily, she was keen to revisit with me a couple of weekends ago and we enjoyed a delicious feast by the sea together.

Charlestown should definitely be a must on any Cornwall visitor’s list. There’s something very magical and historic about the cobble stone streets and its 18th century harbour filled with old tall ships – giving it a very nautical, pirate-like feel!

There are a few great places to eat here, including The Longstore – of which a new branch has recently opened up in Truro and quickly became our new fave restaurant in the area! And funnily enough, we hadn’t even realised until we got there the other day, but apparently HarbourQ is also owned by The Longstore too!

This BBQ surf-shack-style restaurant is based down on the harbour wall, with all outdoor seating, and offers comfort food classics like seafood, rolls/burgers, BBQ dishes and dirty fries. Niki pre-warned me that the portion sizes are ENORMOUS so I ordered myself some dirty fries and that was it… and I’m glad I only ordered that!

These fries were HUGE and absolutely delicious, but even between us we could barely finish them. The meat was nice and smoky and definitely was just what I was after on this slightly grey day. Niki meanwhile got the fish tacos, and we both got a glass of Pimms to kick off our Saturday right!

Once we were done with lunch, we wandered around Charlestown for a bit and then decided to go on adventure down the coast, seeing as we are rarely up in this area of Cornwall (St. Austell locals will probably laugh that I refer to it as ‘up’, as it’s still technically mid/South Cornwall 🙈). Niki remembered seeing this epic hidden cove on an Instagram post, although we weren’t totally sure where it was – all we knew was it was around Mevagissey somewhere!

So we drove down to that area and spent about 20 minutes trying to find somewhere to park (classic), and then went in search of this beach.

And wow! When we stumbled upon it, we were very glad we came – it was stunning!

As we walked to the edge of the staircase down to the beach, it definitely felt like we were looking at something from Jurassic park, or even a Bali Pinterest photo (Nusa Penida anyone?).

We walked down the steps (glad we didn’t bring the dogs in the end, as Maizy’s legs probably would have struggled), and onto the beach. It was a grey day and a bit drizzly, but warm and humid and Niki decided to go in for a dip – even though neither of us had swim stuff. But that won’t stop this girl!

I loved our little adventure! If you want to try HarbourQ for yourself, head over to their Instagram page (they don’t take bookings – you just turn up).