Coffee and Cake. St Mary's, Scilly Isles

October 2021

If there's one thing that the Scilly Isles aren't short of, other than incredible views, endless white sand beaches and an abundance of turquoise sea, it's homemade cakes.  St Mary's is dotted with cafes, commandeering beautiful coastal views and hidden along woodland paths, and one could be forgiven for thinking there's a inter-cafe cake competition going on.  

Having spent a very strenuous week sampling many of them, I can conclude that Longstone Cafe wins it for me.  Vegan lime and homegrown courgette sits alongside an ingenious banoffee cake - think banoffee pie but with a banana bread base, and the absolute star of the show, the simple but absolutely perfect Victoria Sponge - an enormous wedge of the lightest, fluffiest sponge, filled with strawberry jam and oozing a generous layer of whipped cream.


Redruth roasted Cornish Coffee beans are used in the espresso based beverages, with milk steamed well to make a delicious flat white.  In the drinks line up, there's also a bountiful selection of Scilly Isles produced alcoholic drinks - St Agnes gin, Ales of Scilly beer and St Martin's SC Dogs Distillery rum.  Food wise there are Scilly crab sandwiches, toasties and daily changing specials which generally feature locally caught fish such as homemade mackerel pate or lobster sandwiches.






Find Longstone Cafe just past the Careg Dhu Gardens and then wander down to Watermill Cove afterwards, the most picture perfect, secluded beach.  Check their social media for current opening times.  

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