A little gem in the heart of Lynmouth
We caught up with Kathy & Aileen, owners of the wonderful Lynmouth Bay Cafe, to find out what inspired them to open this little gem in the heart of Lynmouth …
What inspired you to start running the Lynmouth Bay Café?
This is a great question and most people will say lifestyle, however, anyone who runs their own business will know it is dammed hard work; that said it is our hard work because it’s our business.
We didn’t set out to run a tearoom in Lynmouth, we’ve been friends for many years and we both wanted a complete change. We started to look and we found the Lynmouth Bay Café and here we are (albeit in lockdown).
What makes a visit to the Lynmouth Bay Café so special?
The café is in the heart of Lynmouth, tucked slightly back from the waterfront in a little shopping street that runs parallel to the harbour road. There are 18 seats inside and 18 seats in our pretty secluded garden and we are dog friendly, (we even make our own doggy liver cake). Customers can sit in or take away depending on how they feel.
It has always been, and still is, all about simple, home-cooked food; we are determined not to buy anything in and one of our pleasures is to bake. If we can’t make it ourselves we try to source locally, and that has introduced us to some amazing suppliers. We also have a good understanding of customer dietary needs and we do our best to reflect this on our menu.
What do you enjoy most about working at the Lynmouth Bay Café?
Our customers first and foremost and over the last four years many return two or three times a year and we have got to know them and really look forward to catching up with them.
Secondly, our wonderful suppliers!
Thirdly, baking; reputedly the best scones in Lynton & Lynmouth (but maybe we’re biased?), homemade cakes and savouries. We like to research new recipes and when we are on holiday we eat a lot in the name of ‘research’!
We will always have our customer favourites’ but we also like to try out new things on the specials board when we have time.
When you’re not busy baking delicious scones, what are your favourite things to do in Lynton & Lynmouth?
Lynton’s Cinema, it’s the smallest independent cinema in the UK and at £5.00 we think its great value for money. We try and go every week regardless of the film so we see films that we wouldn’t always choose (sometimes that doesn’t pan out too well) and the volunteers who run it are lovely.
When we can we like to eat out at one of the many fabulous eateries that are in and around Lynton & Lynmouth or go to some of the live music events held in many of our local pubs.
Exploring, we don’t get out much when we are busy but have a long list of recommendations from our customers, but we love the Valley of Rocks, the fabulous view as you go down into Lynmouth on the cliff railway and then a stroll around the Manor and beach- with an ice cream in the summer, of course!
