Cumbria Restaurant Guide

“Tasty and varied ‘fellpots’” – as dishes from around the world are called on the menu here – are the “reward” for a day running or hiking across the nearby fells at this flagship bistro for John Butterworth’s fast-growing Keswick operations. Last year he acquired Lyzzick Hall hotel and restaurant, three miles out of town, to add to his cocktail and burger bar The Round and boutique hotel Fellpack House (fka The Hazeldene).

The pan-Asian restaurant at this “impressively refurbished hotel” overlooking Derwentwater offers “an accessible menu with lots of choice to suit all the family”, “reliably cooked and with professional, friendly service”. ‘Mizu’ means (appropriately) water in Japanese, and the kitchen leans towards “authentic Japanese food, with a good variety of sashimi and sushi”, especially in the “fabulous tasting menu”.

A short stroll from Grasmere, the Manley clan’s warm and welcoming bistro-with-beds (plus cottages and glamping pods) has a self-proclaimed ‘muddy boots attitude’ in tune with its location on a converted sheep farm, slap bang in the middle of the Lake District National Park. The “really very good food all round” makes “excellent use of local produce where possible” (including eggs from their own hens and ducks) and is strong on hearty and nostalgic “Cumbrian favourites”.

2024 Review: 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”.

“A truly magical Lake District setting” – “high in Whinlatter Forest with lovely views down the valley from the terrace and the dining room” – help inspire little but good vibes for Beth (GM) & Jack (Chef) Bond’s well-regarded coaching inn at 1000 ft (which they purchased in early 2024). The worst report this year said a meal was “good all round but didn’t wow”. All other accounts acknowledge it as an “exceptional” and “delightful” favourite thanks to its superb welcome and the “outstanding” cuisine, which at dinner provides seven courses for £120 per person (lunch is a somewhat pared down five courses for £75 per person). They alternate menus by the day, so that if you stay in one of their rooms, you have something new to go at!

Opened way back in the heyday of Britpop (1996), Chrissy & Andy Hill’s Grasmere stalwart started out serving homemade cakes, but its menu has expanded over the years to take in everything from handmade pastas to curries and ‘Jumble Room mainstays’ like Chrissy’s classic gingerbread with hot toffee sauce. There’s “always a buzz” in the eclectically decorated restaurant but, for one longtime fan, it is the “great food that keeps us going back”. PS – The owners also run bijou B&B the ‘Randy Pike’, on the outskirts of Ambleside.

‘The Dog and Gun Inn is not a ‘fine dining establishment’ confirms the website of Ben Queen-Fryer’s Lake District venue which goes on to note that it’s “a family-run business and families of all ages are welcome to book and dine with us” (including dogs in certain areas). Diner feedback confirms “there continues to be excellent food at this friendly, unpretentious Michelin-starred pub, where owner Ben is very much hands on and does most of the cooking”: “tasty and different dishes, in good sized portions”. Top Menu Tip – “Don’t miss his soufflés!”

“In the area, Zeffirelli‘s is rightly celebrated” – this Lakeland fixture (est. 1980) has been a feature of the town centre for nearly 45 years and is part of a quirky site incorporating a cinema and jazz bar. “Although it‘s a vegetarian restaurant, often people eat there without realising there’s no meat on the menu! The food’s well-presented and doesn‘t make a big fuss about being vegetarian”. “With lots of friendly staff, it’s deservedly popular”.

“As a certain tyre company might say, worth a journey!” – Ryan & Craig Blackburn’s “hidden gem” in the Lake District provides “award-winning dining in a former Post Office” (where a certain William Wordsworth was once the local stamp distributor) and their eight-course tasting menu for £105 per person is some of “the best value fine dining to be encountered in the UK with an unfussy, relaxed ambience” to match. Its six-course lunch menu for £65 helps also make it “a brilliant local” too. Top Menu Tip – “The rabbit cannelloni is good, the steamed halibut superb, the hogget full of flavour and the rhubarb dessert delicious”.

2022 Review: Below a cinema, this popular ‘Vegeterranean’ (vegetarian with a Mediterranean twist) has long been a feature of this Lakeland town. Prices are very reasonable.

“A stunning favourite” – James Cross consistently produces “absolutely faultless cooking” at his well-accoladed but “very friendly” destination in this Lakeland town, whose distinctive if sparse, wood-lined interior hints at the Nordic influences of his CV, which included a stint at Noma. The entry level option is five courses for £80 per person, but you can push the boat out with more elaborate eight-course and twelve-course selections (“so much food!”). “Each dish is carefully crafted with the best ingredients… don’t forget to mention the amazing bread that you get to take home!”