Harden's survey result
Summary
“In the area, Zeffirelli‘s is rightly celebrated” – this Lakeland fixture (est. 1980) has been a feature of the town centre for nearly 45 years and is part of a quirky site incorporating a cinema and jazz bar. “Although it‘s a vegetarian restaurant, often people eat there without realising there’s no meat on the menu! The food’s well-presented and doesn‘t make a big fuss about being vegetarian”. “With lots of friendly staff, it’s deservedly popular”.
Summary
“Such a pleasant place to eat with lots of customers who don’t even realise they’re in a vegetarian restaurant” – this Lakeland fixture of four decades’ standing is part of a town-centre complex incorporating a cinema and jazz bar. Pizza and pasta are staples of the vegetarian Italian menu, and for £28.95 you can book a complete evening out including a two-course dinner and reserved cinema seat.
Summary
“I love the ethos – vegetarian which doesn’t shout about it” – of the kitchen at this veteran indie “which is part of a complex that also includes a cinema and a jazz bar”. It serves a “great range” of “enjoyable”, “mainly Italian” meat-free dishes. But given that “Ambleside is rammed with visitors”, “service can afford to be a bit take-it-or-leave-it” and some diners judged the food as “pretty ordinary” this year.
Summary
This cinema/jazz bar/restaurant is a “really slick operation”, and has delivered “consistently excellent” Italian vegetarian dishes – mostly pasta and pizza – for more than 40 years. The dining room is also much more stylish than you might expect of a venue attached to a cinema, with first-class service. There is also a twin cinema/restaurant nearby – Fellini’s.
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 Zeffirelli’s?
Compston Rd, Ambleside, LA22 9AD
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £24.95 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.20 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
Compston Rd, Ambleside, LA22 9AD
Opening hours
| Monday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Tuesday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Wednesday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Thursday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Friday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 9 am‑10 pm |
| Sunday | 9 am‑10 pm |
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