Best Cornish Pasty in Cornwall: How to Spot a Proper One

Short answer: Look for a crimp along the side rather than on top, chunked beef rather than mince, and swede in with the potato and onion. Buy before midday in peak season — the better fillings sell out by early afternoon.

Everyone sells a pasty in Cornwall. Far fewer sell a good one. Here is how to tell the difference before you hand over the money, and where to go in each town.

The three things that tell you it is a proper one

• The crimp runs along the side, not across the top. A top crimp is the Devon way, and in Cornwall it usually means bought in rather than made on site.
• Chunked beef, not mince. Mince is cheaper and quicker, and it is the single clearest sign of a mass-produced pasty.
• Swede is in there. Beef, potato, swede and onion, seasoned, in raw. If it tastes like a beef pie, it is not a Cornish pasty.

The protected status — Cornish Pasty PGI — requires it to be made in Cornwall to that shape and filling, but plenty of shops sell perfectly legal pasties that are still not very good. The crimp and the filling tell you more than a label.

Timing matters more than people expect

Cornish bakeries make a set number each morning. In peak season the popular fillings go by early afternoon, and what is left at four o'clock has usually been sitting a while. Before midday is the reliable window.

Where to go, town by town

We have walked and eaten our way through this in each town rather than generalising, because the answer genuinely differs. The town guides cover who bakes on site, who is better value away from the harbour front, and where to eat it once you have it.

The vegetarian question

Most Cornish bakeries now make a vegetarian version, but they are frequently kept behind the counter rather than displayed. Worth asking rather than scanning and assuming.

Gluten-free

Harder, and worth ringing ahead. Several bakeries do a gluten-free pasty in small numbers, which means they sell out first.

Where to eat it

Outdoors, and with your back to something solid. Cornish gulls are genuinely bold and a pasty is exactly what they are looking for — this is not a joke in Padstow or St Ives.