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Your guide to the best of the Lake District's Cafes and BarsThis is a guide to the cafes and bars that
offer something a little special
or unusual in the Lake District. We've included all kinds of places, all
kinds of choices, and all of price ranges. The one thing that all these places
have in common is that they offer tasty eating, a pleasant environment,
and value for money.
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Kendal / Kirkby Lonsdale - The HideAway Coffee House A recent development on the South Lakes scene, but also convenient for the West of Yorkshire, this coffee house serves delicious snacks and light meals, together with a whole host of goodies and sweet treats - and of course excellent coffee! But the delightful food is not the only attraction: the views are great, and the canal runs just a few yards away from the restaurant. This great place serves local food, lovingly prepared and attractively presented. Highly recommended. To find the Hideaway, travel from Junction 36 of the M6 along the A65 towards Kirkby Lonsdale. Go straight over Crooklands roundabout and the cafe is approximately 500 yards up the on the right hand side, less than one minute from the motorway. Phone: 015395 67434 Web: www.hideawaycoffeehouse.co.uk |
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Kendal - The New Moon
A super little bistro/restaurant, serving local food
with a sharp contemporary edge. Good for vegetarians and fish lovers. It's
got something of a reputation as the local "foodies" choice! Highly
recommended.
The New Moon Restaurant, 129 Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4EN
Phone: 01539 729254 Web:
www.newmoonrestaurant.co.uk
Kendal - 1657 Chocolate House
For all those chocoholics among you, the myriad of chocolate drinks and
gateaux on sale here will keep you going for a fair while!
1657 Chocolate House, 54 Branthwaite Brow, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4TX
Phone: 01539 740702 Web:
www.chocolatehouse1657.co.uk
Kendal - Farrer's Coffee House
A very long established and charming tea
rooms associated with the tea and coffee merchants who've been in Kendal
for a long, long time. And anyone who knows Kendal well probably knows
Farrar's. In case you don't, suffice it to say that it's charming, with
wooden floors and beamed ceilings (ancient ones!), an old-fashioned place
where you get table service with a wide choice of teas and coffees,
breads, home-made soup, salads, pies and snacks. Busy, so be prepared to
wait or go early to avoid the lunchtime rush.
13 Stricklandgate, Kendal town centre.
Phone: 01539 731707 Web:
www.farrers.net
Sizergh, near Kendal - Low Sizergh Barn
Worth a visit for the farm shop selling
organic and local produce - one of the biggest and best ranges you'll find
in the North of England. But it also has a tea room, where you can get
cakes, quiches, soups and salads, all of which are delicious. You can also
see the cows being milked every day from 3.45pm. Very high
quality fresh cakes, scones, soups, quiches, salads etc.
Southbound side of A591 dual carriageway, 4 miles
from Kendal.
Phone: 015395 60426 Web:
www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk
Staveley - Wilf's Café
A jolly cafe in a courtyard setting in
the charming village of Staveley. Highly recommended for its charm as well
as its food! Has specialist nights (Mexican, Greek, Italian, and so on),
and specialist themed evenings such as information on canoeing See:
www.wilfs-cafe.co.uk
Staveley Mill Yard, Staveley village centre, 5
miles from Windermere off the A591 towards Kendal.
Phone: 01539 822329 Web:
www.wilfs-cafe.co.uk
Ulverston - World Peace Café
Very good, vegetarian meals and snacks
including falafels, sushi, kebabs, hummus, all kinds of
salads, sandwiches and fresh cakes, and all at great prices! There's a
Buddhist meditation centre upstairs, and you're made very welcome n the
cafe.
Cavendish Street, centre of Ulverston
Phone: 01229 587793 Web:
www.worldpeacecafe.org
Brantwood, Coniston - Jumping Jenny Coffee House
This is a really
pleasant little spot, attached to Brantwood (but you can get in without
visiting the house). You can enjoy delicious food, snacks and light meals
while savouring the fantastic view over Coniston.
Eastern side of Coniston Water, 2 miles from
Coniston, off B5285 towards Hawkshead.
Phone: 015394 41715
Coniston - The Bluebird Café
For snacks, sandwiches and other tasty
treats in a lovely spot by the lake. You can also learn more about
Bluebird and the ill-fated water speed record attempt by Donald Campbell
as you eat your delicious food, perhaps dreaming of ascending the Old Man
of Coniston in the distance.
Lake Road, Coniston, 0.5 mile south of town off
the A593.
Phone: 015394 41649 Web:
www.thebluebirdcafe.co.uk
Bowness - Booth's Supermarket Café
Super modern café serving snacky type
meals: you can get a great breakfast before you go off to the fells!
Behind Windermere Railway Station on A591.
Phone: 015394 46114
Windermere - Brockhole Lake District National Park Visitor Centre, Café and Gardens
On the terrace of this very special
building, situated in one of the most desirable spots in the Lakes, the cafe serves coffees, cakes, lunches and more. The gardens
are well worth a stroll, and the visitor centre itself gives an insight
into the history and culture of the Lake District. Closed November to
March.
Ambleside Road, 1 mile from Windermere on A591. Phone: 015394 46601.
Web:
Lake District Visitor Centre At Brockhole
Windermere - Daryl's cafe
A reader emails: "Hi, Daryl's Cafe, at the foot of Orrest Head in Windermere has been run by Darryl for over 20 years,
and
is the earliest opening cafe in the area at 8 am (and he'll even open
earlier for you on request! - how's that for service?) so you can get a
big early breakfast before tackling the big mountains, and it is the
only place that offers a left luggage service. The cafe is only 100 metres from Windermere
railway station."
Here's an entry I found on a blog: "While looking for a place to
have some dinner I found Daryl's, which is, in my opinion, the best cafe
in the Lake District. It's just over the road and down the hill from
Windermere train station on the opposite side of the A591 to the
Windermere Hotel. It's a greasy spoon cafe that's cheap and cheerful
with a menu consisting mainly of fried food, chips and soup.
It's like time stopped a few decades ago and inflation
seems to have passed over it as well. It cost me just over £2 to have a triple decker bacon and egg sandwich with
tea. The cafe's well worth a visit, and conveniently it's open from 8 until 6 every
day except on Sundays."
Central Lake District Cafes and Bars
Skelwith Bridge, Langdale - Chesters Café
Aha! My favourite Lake District cafe! We
discovered it a few years ago after a cold, wintry walk around Loughrigg
Tarn on New Year's eve, and it's never let us down since. The cakes are
superb, the meals delicious, and the setting fantastic. Highly
recommended.
Skelwith Bridge, 2 miles from Ambleside on A593.
Phone: 015394
32553 Email:
info@chesters-cafebytheriver.co.uk Web:
www.chesters-cafebytheriver.co.uk
Ambleside - Lucy's-on-a-Plate Café
A special little place, run by the
eponymous Lucy: delicatessen, cafe and evening restaurant. All of them are
justly famous for their food and atmosphere, with stripped pine decor,
lots of ready wit and a jovial approach to their jobs from all the staff.
Phone: 015394 31191 Web:
www.lucysofambleside.co.uk
Ambleside - Zefferelli's
With cinema, pizzeria, and cafe, this is
a complete entertainment centre! The cafe is famous for its inventive
veggie food - and everyone, including devoted meat eaters, will find
something to tickle their tastebuds, for there's lots of choice to satisfy even the heartiest
appetite. Highly recommended.
Compston Road, Ambleside (on left of one-way
street coming into town centre from Windermere).
Phone: 015394 33845
Web:
www.zeffirellis.com
Ambleside - The Apple Pie Eating House & Bakery
Very pleasant place - part bakery, with
an enormous choice of pies, pastries, bread and so on, and part cafe,
serving good, simple food. A great place to refuel after a walk.
Rydal Road, Ambleside (on left of main road
leaving town centre towards Grasmere).
Phone: 015394 33679
Grasmere - Miller Howe Cafe
This is an especial favourite of ours,
which we discovered a few years ago while staying at Lancrigg, the
vegetarian hotel just up the road. We'd been walking all day and then came
across Miller Howe, recently opened, on the edge of the Green in the
centre of Grasmere, and enjoyed an unexpected and delightful lunch. We've
been back many times since, and it always delights. They have a range of
inventive and tempting main courses as well as snacks.
Phone: 015394 35234
Grasmere - Baldry's Café
A tiny room, decked out in jolly
Provencal colours, serving baguettes, scones, tarts, sandwiches and
homemade cakes. All of which are absolutely delicious! Highly
recommended.
Red Lion Square, centre of Grasmere Village, 3
miles from Ambleside, off A591.
Phone: 015394 35301
Eastern Lake District - towards Ullswater - Cafes and Bars
Glenridding - Fellbites Cafe
This stylish cafe, located in the car
park in the centre of the village, serves breakfast from 9.00 then lunches
and dinners, using locally sourced meats and fish. Highly recommended.
Phone: 017684 82664
Glenridding - Greystones Coffee House & Gallery
One of the most welcome sights of my life
was the warmly lit windows of Greystones in the distance as we came down
off Helvellyn one winter's afternoon, frozen and wet. Hot chocolate and
cake served to thaw us out and get us ready for the walk home! It's now
been refurbished and improved, and served delicious snacks as well as more
substantial food and excellent coffee and tea. Highly recommended.
Phone: 017684 82392 Web:
www.greystonesgallery.co.uk
North Lake District Cafes and Bars
Keswick - Cafe Bar 26
The contemporary cafe bar has reached
Keswick, with this colourful and stylish cafe which serves lunch and
dinner. It's a short menu but a reasonably wide ranging one, and the food
is well-executed. Recommended.
26 Lake Road Phone: 017687 80863 Web:
www.cafebar26.co.uk
Keswick - Loose Box Pizzeria
Pizza and pasta. Spaghetti. Simple, rustic
food in a pleasant environment, for a filling, tasty meal and a pleasant
evening out. Recommended.
King's Arms Courtyard, Main Street. Phone: 017687 72083 Web:
Loose Box Pizzeria
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