Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Ashford In The Water
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Ashford In The Water restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 7 restaurants in Ashford In The Water and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Ashford In The Water restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Ashford In The Water Restaurants
1. Fischer’s at Baslow Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Baslow
Calver Rd - DE45
A substantial, grade II listed Edwardian manor house, clad in ivy, this well-established destination is the epitome of a cosy country retreat, and sits in the Peak District near Baslow. Max & Susan Fischer have owned it since 1988 – running it now with the aid of son Neil – and despite an effort to sell in 2023, Max remains executive head chef, with an emphasis in recent times of sourcing from the property’s garden. The entry level option at dinner is a three-course meal for £80 per person, with other options ranging up to ten courses for £135 per person. One former fan relayed a more downbeat report this year finding their experience “disappointing” and “overpriced”, but most feedback is very upbeat, and of “beautifully prepared food, attentive staff and warm, gracious surroundings”.
2. The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow
British, Modern restaurant in Baslow
Church Lane, Bakewell - DE45
“A real gem near Chatsworth” – the stately pile of the Devonshire family (who also own this establishment), which sits but a half-hour walk away – this “charming” and expensively made-over boutique hotel is lined with works by art stars like Elizabeth Peyton, Jeremy Deller and Phyllida Barlow, sourced from the clan’s own collection. Originally The Peacock Inn, it was apparently won by the 6th Duke of Devonshire in the 1830s, and was given its modern makeover supervised by Laura, the current duchess-in-waiting. Chef Adam Harper (ex-of the famed Fischer’s, nearby) champions sustainable produce from the estate and local cuisine in the more casual, brunch-friendly ‘Garden Room’, and also in this — the old-fashioned, eau de nil-coloured, formal restaurant, which makes a “go-to place for a special meal”, particularly if you opt for the “fabulous tasting menu” (which also comes at a “very reasonable price”). The slap-up afternoon tea is also worthy of attention.
3. Piedaniels
French restaurant in Bakewell
Bath St - DE45
2024 Review: “Great-value French cuisine” has drawn guests for more than 25 years to this family-run venture from Eric & Christiana Piedaniel – both career chefs. It makes a “lovely quiet environment for lunch” just 10 minutes’ drive from historic Chatsworth House.
4. The Peacock at Rowsley
British, Modern restaurant in Rowsley
Bakewell Rd - DE4
2024 Review: This “old manor house” handy for Chatsworth (and “not to be confused with the Peacock Inn in nearby Bakewell”), may “feel old-fashioned”, but its “great food and interesting menu” (from tasting menus to more “relaxed” options, both taken in the “fine dining room”) make it “a pleasure” by all accounts. Local ingredients (beef and lamb, say) are sourced from the Haddon Estate on which it sits.
5. The Beeley Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Beeley
Devonshire Square - DE4
2022 Review: This “lovely gastropub” on the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth estate gets mostly positive feedback for its “good food and real ales”. There’s sometimes a perception, though, that “it falls short” of its potential: “the cooking was fair, but it could be so nice here”.
6. Rafters at Riverside House
British, Modern restaurant in Ashford-in-the-Water
Riverside House Hotel, Fennel Street - DE45
This “superb country-house restaurant-with-rooms is a real delight”, with a “small-but-perfectly formed à la carte menu”, “professional and friendly staff”, and wines selected by sommelier-owner Alistair Myers – set in a “peaceful village in the Peak District”, it is an “offshoot of the venerable Rafters in Sheffield”. Last year Myers acquired the Old Eyre Arms in Hassop, an ivy-clad pub he passed regularly on the road between the two Rafters.
7. Restaurant Lovage by Lee Smith
British, Modern restaurant in Bakewell
Bath Street - DE45
The “unbeatable” combination of “delicious food, good menu options and excellent service” “never disappoints” at this modern British outfit in the Peak District. Chef-patron Lee Smith grew up in nearby Mansfield and made his name cooking at Jersey restaurant Samphire before crowd-funding his debut here in 2020.
View full listings of 7 Ashford In The Water Restaurants
Popular Ashford In The Water Restaurant Searches
Ashford In The Water Restaurant News