The Rum And Crab Shack

We planned to visit St Ives for the day last week, with hope to eat at The Rum Crab Shack having had the most wonderful experience a few years ago. With the dog in tow we wanted to check whether this would be feasible as their website gives no mention of dogs, however with knowledge of wooden floors, the bar area and how rare it is to not find a dog friendly restaurant on the Cornish coast, attempted to ring and check this out. Attempting to call twice on the Wednesday mid-afternoon and once on the Thursday early afternoon was fruitless as the phone rang out for a significant amount of time on all occasions. Taking our chances, I visited on the Thursday mid-afternoon to ask the question and be told that there are two dog friendly tables, one of which was occupied and the other was due to be occupied shortly. When asked whether we could sit and eat in the bar, I was advised that food isn’t served in the bar which seems strange given that one of these tables is a matter of 3 steps away from the first food serving dog friendly table! The host was nothing short of inhospitable, unwilling to offer any sort of solution or compromise, along with a lack of reason or apology for the inability to answer telephone calls. Having been turned away, 30 minutes later my husband visited to query whether one of the dog friendly tables could be reserved following one of the current occupiers leaving (the large family group of which were finishing their meal at the time), with view to us having a couple of drinks in the bar area in the meantime. Unfortunately, he was faced with the same thoughtlessness and lack of creativity as was told that they don’t provide reservations. I’m sure that The Rum and Crab Shack won’t have suffered from our lack of business last Thursday, however hope that this feedback can be considered to improve experiences for future dog owners wanting their dose of rum crab by the sea, without such an unhelpful and inconsiderate host. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that we’ll be back to try and recreate our first fabulous experience in years to come.

Turned up for a table (advised no bookings on their website and tried to call five times over the past two days with no answer So we turned up to check and were asked if we’d booked?! Then told without a booking we couldn’t get a table for over an hour. Being told to wait in a first come first serve setting is fine but this takes the biscuit. If we’d have just been told there was a wait fine but why have bookings (of small tables too!!! when your site says no?

I am a huge fan of Dead Man’s Finger rum so naturally going to the Rum and Crab Shack has been on the top of my bucket list for a long time. The food was honestly amazing, we had the Rum Ribs and Burger, so tasty! We had a few rounds of cocktails, they went down an absolute treat. Followed by the Stargazy Affogato. Highly recommend visiting here if you’re going to St Ives

Great restaurant,amazing food and drink at a good price, I had the crab Mac n cheese and it was delicious

We have been once before for drinks but were keen to try the food on our second visit and we weren't disappointed. *Eating* We were super impressed that they bake all their bread in house fresh, daily! This did mean that the bread board wasn't available but we were super happy to sub for the cheesy garlic bread which was delicious, we also shared the popcorn shrimp which were fantastic whatever sauce the serve it with was divine. For mains we had the crab linguine and burger. My husband has had many burgers and he was impressed with this one, adding pulled pork to round it off. My linguine was well seasoned and packed with chill delicious. The food came out promptly despite them being very busy. *Drinking* The rum selection here is unrivalled and we definitely want to come back to sample some, the non alcoholic cocktail selection was fab I had a mojito and pina colada, I didn't know the pina colada was frozen and that came pretty rock solid but when it had thawed it was delicious, the mojito was also excellent. Hubby had a cider which he enjoyed. *Atmosphere* As with all buildings in St Ives, Rum and Crab Shack is set in a lovely old building, lovely old beams and beautiful windows overlooking the harbour. due to it's age, it does have a fairly steep stone staircase to get into the building so if you have mobility issues this one won't be for you. We loved the atmosphere super chilled and lovely decor, no frills just good service and great portions. They don't take bookings and it gets BUSY so get there early to avoid missing out.