Atlantic Coast Express

The next adventure on our foodie travels around Cornwall is a trip to Padstow, by bike along the Camel Trail.

Padstow, shown in my photo above, is a compact, picturesque and very popular little fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall.

The Camel Trail follows a disused railway line along the bank of the River Camel estuary all the way from Wadebridge.

This coffee stop along the route is housed in a refurbished railway carriage. It takes its name from the train service that used to travel this line back in the day: the Atlantic Coast Express. You place your order, then collect it when the toot-toot of the old steam whistle sounds.

There’s a relaxed vibe, with people chatting, checking the map, or just enjoying the views across the estuary.

It’s a good place for a spot of bird watching.

The cakes at Atlantic Coast Express are all locally sourced and look great. We shared a peanut butter chocolate brownie, giving us the energy boost we needed to complete the 5 mile ride into Padstow.

Padstow has been rather thrust into the foodie scene since celebrity chef, Rick Stein, set up his seafood restaurant here. It’s proven such a success that he’s followed it up with a cafe, deli and cookery school. Other restaurants and outlets have followed,  meaning the town now boasts a varied and quality food offering, whether sit-in or takeaway, to suit every taste and budget.

We bought these fillets of Cornish hake from the wet fish counter in his deli.

Arriving that evening at our next motorhome stopover, I cooked them in a foil parcel on the Cadac (my gas bbq). Ten minutes was all that was required, then a squeeze of fresh lemon and a few twists of black pepper. We served them up with Cornish new potatoes and broccoli.

A bottle of Cornish IPA was a perfect accompaniment to the meal, also biked back to the van in my pannier, from the Padstow craft brewery.

We had live music at our campsite last night, and this timeless classic is one of the tracks the band performed. It could be a motivational song when it comes to cycling, considering all the hills here in Cornwall! This is Jackie Wilson with (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.