A Proper Pasty: St Mawes Bakery in Cornwall

Most people have their own favourite place to go for a proper Cornish pasty and now I've found mine.  If you don't already have a favourite, let me help you, and if you already have a favourite that's not St Mawes Bakery I can only assume it's because you've never been there.

Today the pasties at St Mawes Bakery, along with the delightful staff who served them, were our heroes. On a wet, misty, grey day holidaying in Cornwall in October, we'd spent the morning doing a quite lovely but rather exhausting walk, in drippier conditions than we'd have preferred, recovering from a raging cold, with a rather heavy 6 month old little man in a sling and all of us getting hungrier by the second.

By about 11.00, with no snacks with us except a couple of rosy red Cox's from Curgurell Farm shop, we felt it was lunch time. We eventually made it back to the car (never before have I been so glad to see it) and decided that no, we were not going back to the holiday cottage for a sensible sandwich we needed a hot pasty and we needed it now.

We thought St Mawes would be the best bet, being large enough to meet the criteria of somewhere to eat a pasty indoors. So we started chugging in that direction as it was only fifteen minutes away and as Andy drove I Googled pasties. The general consensus online was that you'd be a fool not to go to the bakery at St Mawes and as we knew no better we did not hesitate.

Wheeling our boy through the quiet, wet streets to find the bakery, we reached it pretty quickly and dived in. A low little building just on the harbour edge, its windows filled with towering loaves and plump buns, a few tables and shelter from the rain, it was just exactly what we needed. I don't think I would have enjoyed it so much on a sunny day somehow although the pasties would taste just as good come rain or shine. My Dad is a connoisseur of pasties these days. In recent years he's been walking the South West Coast Path in day-long sections and on each visit he's procured a pasty to power his legs. He's worked out his top 5  favourites but I don't think any of them could beat this one. 

It was piping hot, huge and rugged. Beautifully golden, crisp and crunchy in places, soft and almost chewy in others, with a slightly caramelised base that tasted a little salty and almost cheesy. The beef inside was generous and chunky, and tasted like the yummiest beef stew, with soft little slivers of potato and onion that were wonderfully moist. I broke mine up into bits so it could cool enough for the boy to have his first taste, and we sat devouring it between us. A few minutes and a good mug of tea later it had all gone and we were warm, nourished and cheery.

To help it go down we stood and admired the cakes, buns, scones and doughnuts and chatted to the two lovely ladies at the counter. Micky and Ruth truly enhanced our visit, especially as we happened to have the place to ourselves on a quiet October day. We chatted for some time recommending games, Jem giving lots of grins and trying to grab everything in sight.

We left with lots of smiles, full tummies and paper bags containing the most beautiful doughnut and scones I've ever seen. Andy's doughnut was gone before we'd even crossed the road! 

The only thing I could say that is slightly negative, and I can't really blame them, is that it's too far to come very often! Perhaps we should buy a load of pasties in bulk and fill up the freezer!!! St Mawes, we WILL be back.