Nestled into the picturesque harbourfront in St Ives, with stunning views across the sea, Talay Thai is a chic, modern restaurant offering a range of authentic Thai food. As well as having an extremely popular restaurant, Talay Thai is also home to a dedicated cocktail bar, meaning they cater for all sorts of evenings out! Since opening in 2018, they’ve quickly become a firm favourite with locals and holidaymakers alike. Having heard of their great reputation, I’d been keen to visit for a while now. Finally, the stars aligned. Here’s my full review.
Location
St Ives is a fantastic town for dining out, there’s no doubt about it, but Talay Thai immediately stands out from the crowd of restaurants. With their modern décor, and the promise of a cuisine rarely found on West Cornwall’s food scene, they‘re a must-try whether you live locally or are visiting on holiday.
Talay Thai encompasses an upstairs restaurant and a downstairs cocktail bar. The building is fully glass-fronted to make the most of their harbourfront location by offering impressive views of the sea. Understandably, the window seats are like gold-dust; everyone wants to bag one of the tables with the best views.
Atmosphere
What struck me on arrival was the atmosphere. My husband and I visited on a Wednesday night, expecting it to be quiet. Boy, were we wrong! At 6:45pm, most of the tables were full; we were lucky to get one without waiting! I think this speaks volumes about a restaurant – for it to be so busy on a weekday is a great indication that the food and service won’t disappoint.
It’s handy to know that the restaurant doesn’t accept bookings: it’s walk-in only. I’ve visited once before – on a Saturday night in January – and can say that the first-come first-serve system is highly effective. On that occasion, the staff advised us there was about an hour wait for a table. We were happy to wait, so they took our contact details and said they’d call when our table was ready. This meant we could go elsewhere for a drink whilst we waited. We were curious to visit the Talay Thai cocktail bar, but it was just too full. We opted for a different local bar and vowed to go back another time for cocktails. I’m still yet to do this, but I’m determined to make it happen soon! We shortly had a call to inform us our table was ready sooner than expected which was a lovely surprise.
It’s an effective waiting system, but something worth bearing in mind, especially if you’re looking to go as a larger party. Perhaps in that case, it may be worth calling ahead or arriving earlier than you may want to eat, to allow for any potential wait time. This is especially worth bearing in mind if visiting in the summer holiday season when the town is even busier! Looking for more Cornish travel tips? Read my latest post to discover why visiting outside of the summer months could be the best decision you make!
Back to my recent visit, though. The restaurant was buzzing with diners throughout the evening. From couples to young families to groups of friends, everyone seemed to be relaxing, enjoying the food and drinks, and taking in the views. The restaurant had a great upbeat atmosphere which made our visit extra enjoyable.
Menu & Food
There’s a fantastic range of options on the Talay Thai menu. They offer a variety of main meals including a selection of curries and stir frys with noodles (many are available with a choice of meat or seafood). When everything on the menu sounds so delicious (as it does at Talay Thai), it can be difficult to choose what to eat. The restaurant has found a clever way around this customer conundrum by offering a whole host of small-plate options, which allows you to cover the table, tapas-style. I love that some of the curries are also available tapas-size. Offering main meals in smaller sizes makes life so much easier as you really can try a bit of everything.
Spicy, flavoursome, and well-balanced, all the food we had was delicious. It was served incredibly quickly and was piping hot, which is just what you want. On this recent visit, we ordered several tapas plates to share, which we enjoyed alongside our mains. We shared the Thai Fish Cakes, Moo Ping Chargrilled Pork Skewers and Thai Style Dumplings. Whilst I enjoyed each of these, my favourite by far was the pork skewers; the meat was tender and succulent, and the dipping sauce added a delicious punch of flavour.
For mains, I had the Prawn Pad Thai. I was keen to try this as I’d never had Pad Thai before. It was tasty – the noodles were delicious; topped with fresh lime for zing and a peanut garnish which added a great crunch. The prawns were also massive and meaty which is a big plus from me. I felt this dish in particular was great value for money. My husband had a Thai Duck Curry with a side of coconut rice. I just had to try a spoonful (for market research!) and it was so aromatic and delicious. On comparison, I’d say the curry had much more flavour than the Pad Thai. Next time (because I’ll definitely be going back), I’ll be having a curry for sure.
On our previous visit, we opted for a larger selection of the tapas-style plates, including Thai Green Curry, Jasmine Rice and Chicken Satay Skewers. On both visits, we’ve been impressed with the menu selection, tasty food and efficient service. With so much choice on the menu, and everything sounding and smelling so tasty, Talay Thai is one of those places where I feel I need to go a few times to try everything I want to!
Service
The service was friendly and welcoming, but the most standout thing was the speed. The food arrived so quickly after ordering: I’ve never experienced such efficient service in any other restaurant, especially not one so busy. It was very impressive. The whole service from sitting down to leaving was smooth and well organised. No complaints here!
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed our meal at Talay Thai in St Ives. With delicious food, cool décor, and a fantastic atmosphere, it was a great evening. It’s so refreshing to be able to go out in Cornwall and try a different cuisine. Many Cornish restaurants offer fairly generic bistro-style food, largely with a focus on seafood (the county is notorious for its great seafood). And although it’s lovely to have food authentic of the area you’re in, sometimes you want something different and exciting. And that is exactly what Talay Thai provides. They’re doing a fantastic job of livening up the Cornish food scene, not only providing variety, but doing it extremely well, too!
I definitely recommend visiting Talay Thai, whether you enjoy Thai food or are simply looking to try something new. Don’t just take my word for it: read other happy diners’ comments via their Tripadvisor page.
To find out more or browse the menu, visit the Talay Thai website. For foodie inspiration, browse their social media where they share stunning images of their dishes and cocktails: Instagram | Facebook.
Disclaimer: All opinions displayed are my own; this is in no way an affiliated or paid advertisement. I’m just a local girl enjoying a local restaurant and wanting to share the experience with others. All photos taken are my own.
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