Join Harden's Platinum Club for Member's Benefits - save 60% with our soft launch offer!
RestaurantsCumbriaCliftonCA10

Breaking news

March 2023: the George & Dragon will re-open this summer: bookings for rooms and tables are now open.
Clifton, CA10 2ER

survey result

Summary

£65
  £££
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Just a couple of miles from its stablemate, Askham Hall, which provides much of the produce for its kitchens – Charles Lowther’s charming Cumbrian pub (with 10 bedrooms) near the M6 reopened in mid-2023 following a year’s closure after a fire in June 2022. Previously one of the more commented-on destinations in this neck of the woods, fans have been “awaiting its return”.

Summary

£64
  £££
2
Average
2
Average
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

A fire in June 2022 closed this “very relaxed and charming” pub, just off the M6 (a “good staging post when travelling between North and South”) and it remains ‘Temporarily Closed’ as of October 2022. One of the most commented-on destinations in Cumbria, it received a more mixed billing this year with the typical upbeat accounts counterbalanced by a few reports finding it “good but not as good as previously”.

Summary

£61
  £££
4
Very Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Just off the M6, a “charming” and “dog-friendly” pub where “great seafood dishes” are a feature of the “diverse local menu” (with much produce from their farm and garden); should the “peaceful yet vibrant” atmosphere lull you into a state of bliss, their rooms and breakfast are well-regarded too.

Summary

£52
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

This “cosy and relaxed gastropub” near Penrith serves “reliably good” food “using produce from their own farm and garden”. With its “simple rooms and reasonable breakfast”, it makes “a great overnight stopping-point just off the M6” – and dogs are welcome, too.

For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at George & Dragon?

Owner's description

The George and Dragon is a stylish country inn with a cosy bar, and eleven comfortable bedrooms, individually designed and decorated. The elegant bathrooms have roll top baths or contemporary walk-in showers. Ideally situated on the edge of the Lake District, in a lesser known part of Cumbria. 

Enjoy fresh, seasonal food, local ales and fine wines in our relaxing and welcoming restaurant. We grow and rear much of our own produce in our kitchen gardens and fields at Askham Hall, just a couple of miles away. We also source produce from local suppliers and farmers, many of whom live and farm on the family estate. 

2011 & 2013 Cumbria Tourism Taste award winner. 2014 Cumbria Life Dining Pub of the Year, 2015 and 2016 finalist. 2016 Cumbria Life ‘Dining Pu of the Year’ finalist & Cumbria Tourism ‘Taste: Dining Experience’ highly commended.

Check-in times for rooms is from 16.00, check-out is 11.00. Food serving times are from 12.00 until 14.30 and from 18.00 until 21.00. Bar snacks available all day. 

Walkers, cyclists, families and well-behaved dogs and group bookings are all welcome.

Private fishing, shooting and stalking on the owners family estate, can be arranged. Great base for walkers, cyclists as has great accessibility to the lakes, rivers and mountains of the Lake District.

What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Guardian

“Part pub, part living history.”

Grace Dent was in Cumbria, and is already planning a return trip to The George and Dragon , in Clifton just outside Penrith; it’s “a country estate pub, and part of the Askham Collection” which runs Askham Hall and restaurant Allium just up the road.

It’s a “very old pub” that was “tastefully restored in 2008, but decidedly unspoiled” – the “quaint” décor is mostly “its own delightful collection of paintings and artefacts from Tudor and Stuart times, plus three wood fires and lots of cosy spots in which to settle”.

The “open kitchen in the large, informal dining room” serves up snack and bites, but “if chef Gareth Webster and his team are going to the trouble of making pies fresh every day, it would be a huge shame not to taste them”.

“You will not leave here hungry.”

Grace Dent - 2023-10-15

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£12.00 £15.00 £9.00 £6.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £25.00
Filter Coffee £3.00
Extras  
Service 12.50%

Restaurant details

Entertainments,Highchair,Menu
Yes
No dress code
100

The chef

Our new Head Chef is Gareth Webster, whose previous experience includes The Pig and Whistle in Cartmel and the Chester Grosvenor’s Michelin starred restaurant.

Gareth has worked at notable establishments throughout his career, including the Chester Grosvenor Hotel, where he progressed to become Sous Chef before moving to Cumbria twelve years ago.  He has also been Head Chef at several other Lake District properties, including The Pig and Whistle at Cartmel and The Wheatsheaf in Brigsteer.

Gareth’s appointment in 2018 came at a time when The George and Dragon’s sister property, Askham Hall, has further developed its kitchen garden and is now providing a significant supply of fresh produce straight from the land. This is in addition to the rare breed pigs and shorthorn beef cattle that owner Charles Lowther rears for the chefs at both properties.

Commenting on his appointment, Gareth says, “This is a wonderful opportunity to join an already very successful team, and I am extremely honoured and excited to get started at The George & Dragon. I’m looking forward to playing my part in providing a great all-round dining experience and making the most of the abundant produce and resources from the Lowther family estate.“

General Manager of The George and Dragon, Chris Curry, says, “We are delighted to welcome Gareth as our new Head Chef and we are all looking forward to working with him. He is a well-respected chef who is familiar with the seasonal demands of a Cumbrian restaurant and we’re sure that he will bring an enormous amount of knowledge and experience.”

Gareth hales originally from Horwich near Bolton and now lives in Kendal with his wife Andrea and their two daughters Ellie and Megan.

George & Dragon Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of George & Dragon Restaurant in CA10, Clifton by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of George & Dragon restaurant.
Susan P
It was by pure chance that our holiday hous...
Reviewed 3 months, 3 days ago

"It was by pure chance that our holiday house was across the road from this fine establishment. How fortunate we were. We enjoyed a fabulous Sunday lunch, veg was particularly good. Not often you see a turnip and a kallette. Wish this was my local "

Report this comment
Have you eaten at George & Dragon?
Post your own review of George & Dragon and contribute to our annual restaurant review guide.
Post your own review
Clifton, CA10 2ER
Opening hours
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Restaurant news

View more ›

NEWS
Harden's Insider: the Sustainable Restaurant Association's healthy menu guide

NEWS
Harden's Insider: New tipping law delayed

NEWS
Harden's Insider: Markus Thesleff interview

The 2024 Harden's Guide

2024 Hardens London Restaurant Guide

"User friendly in price, size and outlook"

Financial Times