Cockermouth Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: “Good all round” – this vegetarian restaurant in a pretty townhouse next to Cockermouth castle offers diners the popular option of tasting everything on the menu. Louisa & Colin Le Voi, who have run it with minimal help for 32 years, have put the restaurant on the market but are in no rush to retire.

The “traditional pub food in generous portions” is just the ticket “for hungry walkers after a day on the fells” at this 400-year-old Lake District inn with “amazing views over Melbreak”. “We love the choice between the bar or more formal dining room”, and the beer brewed by its own Cumbrian Ales brewery also goes down well – especially the prizewinning Loweswater Gold.

“Capitalising on the stunning views down from Whinlatter Pass”, this converted coaching inn above Keswick (in the Whinlatter Forest) is the epitome of a beautifully located Lakeland property; and fans say it’s “a great place to stay and go walking, then come back for amazing meals”. Chef Sam Miller has lots of top Scandi names on his CV (including Noma and Faviken) and his eight-course tasting menu for £110 per person achieves some high ratings in our annual diners’ poll. Not everyone is wowed – a couple of reporters found it “disappointing given its reputation”, or with dishes that had “too much pickling and cooking techniques that were not to my taste”. But for the majority, it’s ‘mission accomplished’ – “we had high expectations and the food was excellent and service efficient and friendly”.

On the lower slopes of Skiddaw, England’s third highest mountain, a luxury mid-Victorian Lakes hotel that “never fails to impress”. The restaurant has been relocated over the years to amplify the “wonderful views”, and it continues to please with its “good variety of dishes” (from Sunday lunch to salads and Cumbrian rarebit) that are also “exceptional value for money”.

Food and fell-running trips combine at the multi-tasking adventure brand’s bistro, whose eclectic dishes race all over the place and are “better than pub fare” (though the venue does enjoy a “quality pub ambience”) plus “good value” to boot. Their growing local empire includes Airstream-set burrito joint the Fellshack, cocktail and burger bar The Round, set on hallowed fell-running territory in Keswick’s Market Square, and (most recently) small hotel The Hazeldene, located on The Heads, a few minutes’ walk from the bistro.

2022 Review: “Really excellent burgers with local craft beers” – the formula behind this “friendly restaurant in central Keswick”, in the shadow of Moot Hall. It’s part of the local Fellpack empire, which promotes sporting pursuits that start and finish in Keswick without needing a car… they also run the recently relocated Fellpack restaurant, and newbie The Darkroom, offering coffee, cakes, bagels and local art.