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Your guide to recommended restaurants & gastropubs in the English Lake District.
The Lake District now has many restaurants which among the best anywhere in England, and you can choose from a huge range of styles and prices. We offer a selection of the ones we've especially enjoyed; and, as always, we'd be delighted to hear from you if own a restaurant you'd like included here, or you've visited a Lakes restaurant which is worthy of inclusion. The criteria for inclusion here aren't just about price - they're much more about quality and value for money, so feel free to submit any of your favourite restaurants, whatever and wherever they may be. We'll check them out in person before we list the review here. And if you want to see if a particular Lake District restaurant is your kind of place, why not check it out by phone or on the internet before you go? Finally - what is a "gastropub"? Well, our definition is this: a high class pub with a relaxed, pleasant environment that offers refined cooking more characteristic of a good (or even a great) restaurant than a traditional pub. If you've stayed or
dined at a hotel or restaurant and you think it should be included
in this guide, please send your comments to
info@lake-district-guides.co.uk
Please confirm all opening hours
before you visit the restaurants! South Lake District Restaurants and GastropubsUlverston - Rustique
Ulverston is a little market town on
the road from Newby Bridge to Barrow. It's not necessarily a place you'd
expect to find a restaurant of the quality of Rustique - but then,
restaurants of such outstanding quality appear to be spreading all over
England these days! Suffice it to say that Rustique is one of that modern
breed of restaurant that fuses all the elements of great cooking - skill,
flair, imagination, craftsmanship - with selection of excellent
ingredients, a wonderful ambience, and attentive but informal service.
Highly recommended. Crosthwaite, near Kendal - The Punch Bowl From the same stable as the Drunken Duck
(see below), this is an excellent modern gastropub serving all the
specialised and inventive dishes you'd expect. Highly recommended. near Hawkshead - The Drunken Duck Inn & Restaurant This pub is the epitome of the
gastropub, serving the highest quality cuisine in the most delightful
setting. There are even bedrooms upstairs to stagger back to when you've
sampled the pub's own home brewed beer and the fine food on offer in the
charming dining rooms. We've eaten there many times and never been
disappointed! You'll be able to try traditional food with a twist and
things you'd never find anywhere else (like the scrumptious pigeon with
liquorice). Vegetarians are well catered for with many delicious options
on the menu. However, the prices are a bit steep: £17.95 for 3 scallops
sitting on a little bean salad, however delicious, is a trifle ridiculous. Windermere - Jericho'sA restaurant run by people who care about
what they do. Unpretentious, but gaining uniformly excellent reviews,
Jericho's provides well-crafted, imaginative and high quality meals in a
delightful setting, including a great veggie option. Dinner only. It's
pricey, but well worth it. Windermere - The Magic Wok Outstanding Chinese restaurants are a bit
thin on the ground. This one comes recommended by its many regular
visitors.
Central Lake District Restaurants and Gastropubs
Rothay Manor is renowned for excellent food
and wine and has a reputation stretching back through 40 years' ownership by the Nixon family.
It continues to go from strength to strength and has been listed in the Good
Food Guide consistently for 38 years.
Rothay Manor Hotel and Restaurant, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0EH Ambleside - Lucy's On A Plate Lucy's On A Plate is a cafe by day
and restaurant by night. The environment is highly enjoyable, with
stripped pine, but the ambience is chiefly down to the joie-de-vivre of
its eponymous proprietor, who offers a degree of wit and charm that keeps
the atmosphere entertaining and welcoming. The menu has some witty
suggestions; at lunch time, the food is cafe-bistro type, with a
Mediterranean inspiration; evening dinners are more adventurous and
include influences from all round the world. Once again, though, the
produce is local, and being so, is high quality, fresh and delicious. The
Cumbrian lamb and Grisedale venison are delightful. Highly recommended. Ambleside - Zefferelli'sAlmost an Ambleside legend - it's been
there for 15 years, and over that time it's never lost its high standards
and its interesting approach to fresh food. And guess what? It's all
veggie, though you might never notice! Booking is advisable for the
evenings, because they do a great trade in combined cinema and dinner
reservations which eats up the tables in the early evening. Highly
recommended. Grasmere - Jumble Room A very jolly little place with a
tempting range of delicious dishes from around the world with a local
touch - try the Herdwick lamb kofta, for example! The proprietors make it
relaxed and welcoming, and they've succeeded in producing a fairly
sophisticated eating house with a varied menu, an extensive wine and beer
list, and a touch of the exotic. Northern Lake District Restaurants and GastropubsKeswick - Luca's An upmarket bistro, specialising in
pastas and pizzas
with some more sophisticated main courses such as monkfish wrapped in
pancetta and roast lamb on olive oil mash. To quote one customer: "A
fabulous restaurant. Highly recommended. We went there 2 evenings running
- on both occasions the service and food could not have been any better." Penrith - Costa's A Tapas bar and restaurant where you can enjoy charcoal
grills, both meat and fish. |
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Ambleside - Rothay Manor
