Good eats at Crib Café
Open since January 2025, Crib has carved a solid path on the Perranporth pavement café scene. Crib was dreamed up, built and established by Daisy and Kai, and it’s got their heart and soul running all the way through it.
I assumed they’d chosen the name purely for the connotations of bedtime cosiness, maybe even the Shakespearean origins of using the word to mean ‘dwelling’. But ‘Crib’ is actually a Cornish word meaning ‘mid-morning snack’ – a popular term used by miners.
Toasty delights
If you want to fill right up for less than a tenner, Crib has you covered. Their sourdough toasties, warmed there behind the counter for you, are generously packed and, trust me, one will see you through until dinnertime.
On offer are cheddar and kimchi (their Cornish take on the Korean fermented cabbage), ham (from Chapman’s Family Butchers over the road) and Emmental, and the classic Reuben.
No contest: I went for the Reuben at £9.50. I had my first ever taste of this famous pastrami/sauerkraut/cheese combo at Ess-a-Bagel in New York, so this toastie had some living up to do. But live up it did, and I could happily tackle one every day.
They’ve added gherkins and a generous smear of mustard mayo, which the cheese melts into so there’s not a dry bite in sight.
On the side, Daisy mixed up their current special for me – an iced Mont Blanc. This seasonal batch brew is mixed with orange whip and nutmeg and let me tell you, it’s a banger. Unfortunately, it’ll have been replaced by the time you pick up this issue, but I’m sure it’ll make its way back at some point. It’s too good not to.
Caffeine club
They really take their coffee seriously at Crib, following many years’ experience in hospitality, plus in-depth training when they chose to partner the café with 20-year-strong Origin Coffee. Your Crib baristas are sticklers for timing, judging each pour to the very second to extract max flavour with no bitterness.
Expanding the menu
Focaccia sandwiches have now joined the Crib lineup at the weekends – something a little softer for those who find that blistered crispiness of sourdough crust a little tough going. They range from £6.50 to £8.50, so still comfortably under budget.
Their ham and cheese croissant is another softer savoury temptation and there are plenty – and I mean plenty – of sweet treats to choose from, too.
Their bakery rack is groaning with freshly baked cacao-nib banana bread, pain au chocolat, almond croissants, vanilla cruffins and more but, despite their vast quantities, I wouldn’t mind betting they’re all gone by closing time each day.
Crib is open 8am to 3.30pm every day, bar Tuesdays. Follow them on Instagram for gloriously well-curated content: @crib.perranporth