Short answer: Polperro Bakery on Little Green is the one place where a reviewer praises the hot chocolate. Clements & Hope is the best-rated cafe, the Plantation Tea Rooms has a stream-side garden, and Talland Bay Beach Cafe is a mile and a half along the coast path. Many cafes shorten their hours in winter.
If you want a hot chocolate in Polperro, start by deciding where you will drink it. The village sits at the bottom of a valley with a stream running through it, and the coast path climbs out of the harbour on both sides, so the best cup depends on whether you are warming up after the path, escaping rain or sitting beside the water. One cafe has a visitor naming its hot chocolate, and several others are good places to warm up and ask. We say which is which.
The one place where a reviewer names the hot chocolate. A walker on the South West Coast Path described "very good hot chocolate" and a chocolate brownie, a quiet, calming cafe, free wifi, and staff who charged their phone without fuss. That is one visitor's view, so treat it as a lead and not a guarantee. The bakery is rated 4.2 from 182 Google reviews, and others praise its large pasties and fluffy scones. It usually opens early, around 8:30am, so it is also a good first stop. A reviewer said the shop needs renovating, so it is a practical stop rather than a pretty one.
4.9 from 115 Google reviews, and one of the best-rated cafes in the village. Reviewers highlight the coffee, an iced blueberry matcha that one visitor returned for three or four times, and a warm scone with plenty of clotted cream. Nobody we read names hot chocolate, but it is a proper coffee shop with a calming interior, a mini arcade for children, Uno cards at the tables and a clean toilet. A 2026 local guide says it is open year-round with a reduced menu from November to March.
The Plantation Tea Rooms in The Coombes has a garden by the stream with parasols and wooden benches, and reviewers rate it highly (4.7 from 582 Google reviews). Cornish Horizons lists it as open from 10am, Tuesday to Saturday, and dog friendly inside and out. It is best on a mild day. Hot chocolate is not specifically mentioned by reviewers, but hot drinks, a warm cheese scone and breakfast are.
For a harbour-side seat, The House On The Props on Talland Street serves breakfast and lunch daily all year, according to local guides, and its reviewers rave about the chowder. A reviewer found it open on a Monday morning in the last week of February.
For indoor seating, the Harbour Green House on Fore Street (4.3 from 92 Google reviews) has a clean, modern rustic room, and a reviewer recommended its cream tea and decent coffee. A 2026 guide lists it for lunch and evening meals. Bean and Scone on The Coombe (4.3 from 166) has a milkshake that a child liked, a vegan scone and blueberry scones that reviewers rate highly, so it can handle a child who wants a cold drink instead. Cones and Scones is a later-morning cafe that reviewers praise for scones and iced lattes.
The pubs are the other answer. The Three Pilchards (4.7 from 1,877 Google reviews) and the Blue Peter Inn (4.7 from 1,655) are both on the quay, and the Ship Inn (4.5 from 732) is on Fore Street. No review names their hot chocolate, so ask. The Three Pilchards has a roof terrace, which a reviewer found closed for refurbishment on one visit, so do not count on it. For a longer wet-weather list, see Polperro on a rainy day.
Talland Bay Beach Cafe is roughly a mile and a half along the path towards Looe. It is rated 4.6 from 1,191 Google reviews, with beach huts and benches outside and very limited seating inside. Reviewers say everything is served in TG Green chinaware, and one mentions a portable sauna. The only toilets are portaloos, according to reviewers, and the lane down to the car park is narrow and steep, so walking in is easier than driving. No reviewer names its hot chocolate. The route is covered in our Looe to Polperro walk.
Some of it is. Polperro Bakery, Clements & Hope (reduced menu), the House on the Props and the pubs are the usual winter stops. Smaller cafes and gift shops shorten their days or close, so check before you go. The Heritage Museum runs from April to October and the Model Village closes after 1 November, and the tuk-tuk is seasonal, so in winter you walk down from the Crumplehorn car park (cash only, with visitors reporting about £7 for three hours). Our Polperro in winter guide has the full list, and the Polperro guide has more. Looe's version is hot chocolate in Looe.
Earlier or later than lunch. Polperro Bakery opens first, around 8:30am, and Clements & Hope and the Plantation Tea Rooms open around 10am. The village fills at midday in the holidays, and a reviewer of the Plantation Tea Rooms expected it to get very busy in season, so a mid-afternoon cup may be easier. On the way back to the car park, remember the climb, and that the car park machine takes cash only. The 73 bus from Looe station stops at Crumplehorn and is another way to avoid the parking charge. See the Polperro parking guide for the full rules.
Pair it with fudge from Roly's Fudge Pantry (a reviewer praised the maple and pecan and the honeycomb), or a scone from Cones and Scones, where reviewers name the apple crumble scones. See also five Polperro tearooms compared.
Polperro Bakery on Little Green is the one place where a reviewer names a very good hot chocolate. Clements & Hope is the best-rated cafe overall (4.9 from 115 Google reviews).
Yes. The Plantation Tea Rooms has a garden by the stream, and Cornish Horizons lists it as dog friendly inside and out.
Talland Bay Beach Cafe is roughly a mile and a half along the path towards Looe, with beach huts and outdoor benches. Reviewers say the toilets there are portaloos.
Polperro Bakery, Clements & Hope (reduced menu November to March), the House on the Props and the pubs are the usual choices. Check days before you go.
Yes for the Crumplehorn car park, which visitors report is cash only. Carry a few coins for toilets too, though payment arrangements there may be changing.
Times, prices and dates are the businesses' and organisers' to change, so check before you travel. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
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