Brampton, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

“Chef Hrishikesh Desai is so clever with tastes” at this fine dining room set – just seven miles from Hadrian’s Wall – in a remote northerly corner of Cumbria. A Relais & Château property with origins dating back to the fifteenth century, the “grandeur of the dining room” is considered by some diners as “a little excessive compared to the rest of the experience… perhaps that’s the original architect’s fault!”. Service, meanwhile, is “excellent”. There is a simpler ‘Escape’ menu for £100 per person early in the week, with the ‘Journey’ menu always available at £130 per person – “maybe the food feels a little more Michelinny-sanitised than it needs to be but it’s highly accomplished”. Want something simpler? – head to ‘Bistro Enkel’.