Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Burnley
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Burnley restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 20 restaurants in Burnley and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Burnley restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Burnley Restaurants
1. Northcote
British, Modern restaurant in Langho
Northcote Rd - BB6
It’s something of a case of ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’ at this famous foodie boutique hotel in the Ribble Valley, just off the A59, where star chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen quit in early 2025, only almost immediately to announce her return after the property had been sold by The Stafford Collection to kitchen manufacturer magnates, Alf & Clare Ellis; and where – all the while – indefatigable MD Craig Bancroft continued to marshall operations (as well as the considerable wine list). Despite all the changes, reports and ratings in our annual diners’ poll – in which the hotel is a top-40 most commented-on destination outside London – consistently acknowledge it as a “beautiful venue that always delivers high quality food, with a welcome emphasis on local produce”; and with “Lisa Goodwin-Allen doing a magnificent job of maintaining high standards here”. There are a variety of dining options, with the à la carte offering supplemented by a variety of tasting and chef’s table menus. And “the friendliness and professionalism of all the staff led by Mr B is truly excellent”. “Their special events are truly special” too, with many foodies knowing of the hotel via their annual Obsession festival in January and February each year. (Big changes are envisaged in future under the new owners, including the completion of a new-build dining pavilion for Lisa; transformation of the existing dining room into a more relaxed brasserie; and a complete refurb thrown in.)
2. La Locanda
Italian restaurant in Gisburn
Main Street - BB7
“Full of original, rustic charm” – “Maurizio and Cinzia Bocchi will take you to the heart of Italian cuisine” at their converted cottage in the Ribble Valley: “A ‘little Italy’ in the heart of Lancashire” where “Maurizio’s cooking is authentic and unfussy” and “makes use of seasonal recipes that go back generations”. He’s also a ‘Taste Ambassador’ for Marketing Lancashire and local sourcing is a key feature, as is a list of lesser known Italian wines and craft beers.
3. Eight at Gazegill
British, Modern restaurant in Gisburn
Dancer Lane - BB7
“Set in an organic farm with tremendous views of Pendle Hill” – Doug Crampton’s “amazingly cool” venture on a long-established family farm (for nearly 500 years) is the absolute epitome of the trend to field-to-fork dining. “A timber-octagonal building” that makes the most of the “brilliant vistas all round”, it “takes a bit of finding as it’s not brilliantly signposted (in the end we asked a man working on his garden and he smiled and pointed us in the right direction)”. The open kitchen serves “very special” food that “lives up to the setting”: “hearty, tasty and crowd-pleasing, often featuring produce foraged on the farm, and in the local countryside”. Staff are “delightful and friendly” too. “It celebrated its first birthday last week (open in March 2024) and deserves to succeed – everything of a high standard… including the indoor and outdoor furniture!”
4. The Inn at Whitewell
British, Modern restaurant in Clitheroe
Forest of Bowland - BB7
“Everything you could wish for in a romantic weekend get-away” – this “special”, remote inn set in the Ribble Valley occupies a “memorable location”, “nestled alongside the River Hodder”, and itself “full of character” (if you stay, each of the “beautifully appointed rooms is decorated to a high standard, each with a peat fire for those colder winter visits”). The menu overseen by chef Jamie Cadman (who cooked for Queen Elizabeth II when she popped in to celebrate her 80th) is more that of a superior pub than of a restaurant, with dishes like Potted Duck Terrine and Shoulder of Burholme Lamb rubbing shoulders with Fish Pie, Fish ’n’ Chips and Steak. The wine list is excellent, as you’d expect for a site that also hosts a vintners. This year’s worst report? – “the cooking is very competently executed using the freshest of ingredients although the menu changes little”.
5. The Three Fishes
British, Traditional restaurant in Whalley
Mitton Rd - BB7
“Nigel Howarth is back to his best”, cooking “superb food” at this country inn (“don’t confuse it for a pub, it’s an excellent proper restaurant”) since coming out of retirement three years ago (he made his name as chef-patron for 30+ years at the nearby Ribble Valley culinary heavyweight, Northcote). He certainly hasn’t lost his touch, with one reporter saying he “preferred this to Northcote”; another asked “How has this not been awarded a Michelin star?”. Still a mover-and-shaker in gastronomic circles, Nigel hosted the week-long Fusion 2 festival of prominent chefs last autumn – one of whom was his son Kirk Howarth, of London’s vegan sensation Plates.
6. White Swan at Fence
British, Modern restaurant in Fence
300 Wheatley Lane Rd - BB12
“The best… a real pub, with good ales and wine and unbelievable food!” – Gareth & Laura Ostick’s “fabulous” boozer looks just like a normal pub but chef Tom Parker’s cuisine is anything but and “incredible value”. “Glorious seasonal fare is served by a young and enthusiastic team and washed down with interesting wines” either from a four-course menu for £65 per person; or a five-course selection for £85 per person. Some dishes – Herdwick Lamb with olive oil mash – are founded in tradition, but the vegetarian option in particular is a far cry from it, with dishes such as Pickled Cucumber with Wasabi, Buttermilk and Dill.
7. Freemasons at Wiswell
British, Modern restaurant in Wiswell
8 Vicarage Fold Clitheroe - BB7
Opinions are somewhat divided this year on this famous pub with rooms in the Ribble Valley, where chef Steve Smith departed in mid 2024 for the bright lights of Manchester. Fans say its production of “Michelin-starred service, wines and food, all without the aspirations and fuss”, continues unabated and feel “you don’t get much better than this for quality and value”. But it also inspired a couple of disappointments this year, including amongst former fans, who perceive “a lack of heart or passion” to recent meals, or who have found some dishes “uninspired and poorly prepared”. Hopefully teething problems?
8. Breda Murphy Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Whalley
41 Station Rd - BB7
2023 Review: “Simplicity” combines with “top quality” at Carlow-born Breda Murphy’s deli-restaurant, a popular destination in the Ribble Valley since 2006 for her Anglo-Irish home-style cooking. “At first it feels overly conservative, but every dish is perfectly cooked, often with a small and interesting twist such as thick-cut lime and soy-cured salmon.”
9. Eagle & Child
British, Modern restaurant in Ramsbottom
3 Whalley Road - BL0
2022 Review: “Great food and also a sense that they are putting back into the community” inspires support for this pub-with-rooms on the village green. Run as a youth-focused social enterprise, supporting young people to access training and paid work experience, it has won a string of awards over its almost ten years in operation. In summer, its ‘Incredible Edible Beer Garden’ comes into its own: almost an acre in size and with lots of interest as well as outside seating.
10. The Higher Buck
British, Modern restaurant in Waddington
The Square - BB7
Even in the foodie hotspot that is the Ribble Valley, chef-patron Michael Heathcote’s well-known destination stands out for its “relaxing pub atmosphere, great real ale and copious pub fare at fair prices”.
11. YU
Chinese restaurant in Copster Green
500 Longsight Rd - BB1
Victor Yu’s enjoyably flash Cantonese pub conversion in the Ribble Valley guarantees a “perfect night out with good food” – and is “just as brilliant as ever” after 22 years. He opened a spin-off in Manchester last year, Choi Wan in the new House of Social food hall, inspired by Hong Kong-style street food.
12. Shajan
Indian restaurant in Mellor
Longsight Rd, Clayton-le-Dale - BB1
This award-winning curry house from Mohammad Ali continues to punch above its weight (geddit), having expanded three times over the years to its current 205-seater size; the Ribble Valley spot offers a “really nice atmosphere and lovely food” to match, with one fan who has “been going for over 25 years, so rigorous testing” (indeed) claiming that they have “yet to find one to beat” its Lamb Madras.
13. The Parkers Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Newton-in-Bowland
Hall Gate Hill - BB7
“Deservedly regarded as one of the country’s best gastropubs” – this nowadays legendary pub in the Forest of Bowland is one of our top-40 most commented-on venues outside of London in our annual diners’ poll, and has risen to fame by acting like “a real pub serving locally sourced fare prepared and presented with love and respect. No foams. No smoke. Just great dishes. And arriving here on a journey north from London is like coming home to a big, warm Lancashire hug”. Chef Stosie Madi’s food is “quite simply exceptional. She can do classics (say a terrine of local game, a simple Dover sole, a pie – well anything with pastry! – and the best chips in the North West, or a rum baba) perfectly. She has an unerring and utterly enviable encyclopaedic understanding of how to cook seemingly anything so that it impresses”. Meanwhile “front of house supremo, the indefatigable AJ’s welcome is never less than the warmest and his dog treats are always available for four-legged guests”. One visitor after several years found “everything raised a notch… a bit less rustic but still a pub with a good food vibe that still feels like good value”. “The rise of Ribble Valley dining continues!”. Top Menu Tips – “there are pies… and then there are the Parkers Arms pies”… “the neighbouring table swooned over a chicken and wild garlic version”. “Sweet unctuous ox heart with red wine and excellent chips, half lobster in bisque reduction and carrot puree, Sea bass with sea herbs are all hits”. “Anything with a Lebanese or African influence is worth making a beeline for on the menu, and indeed one of the most memorable meals at Parkers is a Lebanese feast menu. But then the annual Good Friday ‘Fish Fest’ is a highlight of the eating year”.
14. Engine Social Dining
International restaurant in Sowerby Bridge
72 Wharf Street - HX6
“Gosh, that was good!!” – Mark Kemp’s “relaxed small plates restaurant in Sowerby Bridge” (a converted boozer) excites nothing but full-on raves from reporters for its “welcoming environment” and “refreshing”, “unfailingly impressive” food at “incredible value prices”. One brave Lancastrian who “put his armour on and risked a trip to Yorkshire to sneak in a Wednesday lunch” only wishes his own county had somewhere like this – an unusual outfit which offers “randomly eclectic, tapas-y food taking in Spain, Yorkshire and Southeast Asia”. “Service is just how you want it” too – “never intrusive but at your elbow when you do”. Top Menu Tip – “Cauliflower and manchego croquetas were merely a foil to an eye-opening Worcestershire sauce caramel; Bahn me prawn toasts are a really superb dish; Moroccan spiced lamb is pulled and comes with pillowy maneesh bread, a rather heavy hummus, dee-licous giant couscous, lightly pickled onions and other stuff. Best posh kebab I’ve had in a long time”.
15. Dough Pizzeria
Pizza restaurant in Clitheroe
9 Market Place - BB7
This year-old pizzeria from the team behind Shawbridge Cicchetti and Parlour cocktail bar has made an early impression on locals for its good-value offering.
16. The Rum Fox
restaurant in Grindleton
Sawley Road - BB7
“Interesting up-and-coming new arrival” in a “converted Ribble Valley pub” (previously the Buck Inn, in a village near Clitheroe), “still with a small bar for locals but more a restaurant for a frocked-up clientele”. “Personable” chef-patron Bob Geldeard talks guests through “a very ambitious and well-executed seven-course tasting menu for £70 per person” (set, seasonal and Sunday menus are also available), while his partner Kiaja heads “well-drilled staff”.
17. Kitchen 91
restaurant in Hebden Bridge
35 Market Street - HX7
“Great Yorkshire-Italian cuisine” from York-born Poppy Cartwright: a former fashion designer who was inspired to cook by her Sicilian grandmother and launched a home-based supper club with her husband, Matthew Shelton. Now in a former Victorian butchers shop, they serve a set five-course meal (with vegetarian options) on Friday and Saturday nights, using their own hand-made bowls and plates (they also host cooking and art classes on the premises).
18. COIN Hebden
restaurant in Hebden Bridge
Albert Street - HX7
2024 Review: A “great fit-out” of a former bank has resulted in this very cool destination, run by two alumni of the Moorcock Inn at Sowerby Bridge. It’s “a lovely place to while away a couple of hours” (in the company of your canine if you like), where the concise menu revolves around punchy and “great small plates, including charcuterie and cheese” and there’s “a dependable wine list too”.
19. Coach And Horses
British, Modern restaurant in Bolton By Bowland
Main Street - BB7
“Called in for Sunday lunch after a muddy walk. Found a warm welcome and fabulous food” – this “lovely” pub, microbrewery and inn on the green of a village bordering the Forest of Bowland continues to inspire good feedback for its variety of menus: from a lunchtime sandwich and pub-grub menu to a more ambitious à la carte and tasting selection in the evening. “Not so much dog-friendly… they adore dogs!” Top Menu Tip – “brilliant goats’ cheese panna cotta”.
20. The Martlet Kitchen
restaurant in Rochdale
Town Hall, The Esplanade - OL16
On the ground floor of the city’s stunning, Gothic Revival Town Hall, this all-day restaurant (breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea, dinner) offers a menu of hearty, traditional Lancashire dishes listed as ‘Rochdale Town Hall Classics’ (e.g. Black pudding scotch egg, Braised steak and ale pie). No reports as yet, but in his November 2024 review The Observer’s Jay Rayner was left “slack-jawed” by the architecture and impressed by a civic amenity delivered with a combination of professionalism, good sense, taste and skill (“every town should have one”). Reports please!
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