Harden's says
Chef Kevin Tickle and his wife Nicola have restored this historic 17th century inn to open a restaurant with rooms after a successful crowdfund.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Consistently brilliant!” – Behind the white-washed walls of this rural pub-with-rooms, Kevin & Nicola Tickle’s Lakeland venue has a high level of culinary ambition, especially in the evening when a set lunch (for £49 per person) gives way for a 10-course set dinner for £120 per person. “Surprising ingredient combinations, (sometimes VERY surprising!) are well presented and full of differing flavours and textures, all of them very local and fresh” and there are also “some off-piste wine choices”. “It’s a challenge to serve each course to every table, at the same time, but they manage in a very professional way without any delays” – diners “love the friendly, happy service” style. There’s also “a great dog friendly bar with excellent pies, snacks, and good local beer”.
Summary
“A dog-friendly bar with good beer… an outstanding restaurant… and just up the road from my house!” – so says one delighted Lake District local about Kevin & Nicola Tickle’s “staggeringly good” pub, where a simpler lunchtime menu gives way at night to a ten-course offering for £120 per head. Ratings went from strength to strength here this year as a couple of diners nominated it as their best meal of the year. Kevin spent 10 years at nearby L’Enclume and was also head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere.
Summary
This “old pub is now a high-class restaurant with a lot of character”, opened in summer 2021 by locally born couple Kevin & Nicola Tickle – Kevin spent 10 years in the kitchen of the exalted L’Enclume and was also head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere. There are “lots of options for eating, from the full gastronomic evening tasting menu to tasty snacks and pies in the dog-friendly bar” along with a “good wine list and great draft beers from Lakes Brew in Kendal”. One or two reporters feel the performance here is no better than good all-round, but most would go further and feel it’s “a great experience that anyone would happily repeat”.
Summary
“Exceptional food created by chef Kevin Tickle” (formerly of Forest Side Hotel) underpinned all reports on his July 2021 newcomer, opened with wife Nicola after a successful crowdfund in a “lovely” and historic-looking 17th century inn. As with Sunday Times critic Marina O’Loughlin’s early critique, however, there’s the odd caveat in reports concerning the tasting-only formula (although lunches are much simpler). For the odd reporter it seems “tasty but with value verging on daylight robbery”. For Marina, “godlike” but with umami tastes “blared through a loudspeaker… a bit of light and shade wouldn’t go amiss”.
For 34 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 Heft?
Newton in Cartmel, LA11 6JH
Restaurant details
Heft Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Surprising ingredient combinations, well presented and full of differing flavours and textures . friendly, happy service - loved it!"
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
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| Lunch | £49.00 |  |
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| Dinner | £120.00 | |
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| Drinks |
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| Wine per bottle | £0.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £6.00 |
| Extras |
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| Bread | £30.00 |
| Service | 12.50% |
Newton in Cartmel, LA11 6JH
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | CLOSED |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑10 pm |
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