Kirkby Lonsdale, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: An “interesting, imaginative menu” giving a modern British twist to Mediterranean cooking “caters for all tastes” at this pub, which features an attractive contemporary interior. “Desserts are especially delicious.”

Run by the Reynolds family for over two decades, this “lovely hotel” in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is imminently “suitable as a touring base” for the gorgeous countryside in these parts. Despite its considerable ambitions in the cooking stakes (a ten-course tasting menu is amongst the offer, which has received a coveted 3 ‘AA’ Rosettes), it remains a “friendly and relaxed” sort of place.

This “old pub is now a high-class restaurant with a lot of character”, opened in summer 2021 by locally born couple Kevin & Nicola Tickle – Kevin spent 10 years in the kitchen of the exalted L’Enclume and was also head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere. There are “lots of options for eating, from the full gastronomic evening tasting menu to tasty snacks and pies in the dog-friendly bar” along with a “good wine list and great draft beers from Lakes Brew in Kendal”. One or two reporters feel the performance here is no better than good all-round, but most would go further and feel it’s “a great experience that anyone would happily repeat”.

“Wonderful! Have been coming here since 2005 and this was the best food I’ve had, fully deserving its third star!” – Simon Rogan’s converted blacksmith’s workshop was, in 2022, the first restaurant in the North to achieve a third Michelin gong, and it’s impressive that – despite its remote Lakeland location – it is nowadays the second most commented-on destination in our annual diners’ poll outside of London. Head chef Paul Burgalieres marshalls the finest local produce – much of it from Simon’s ‘Our Farm’ on the surrounding hillsides – to provide “a symphony of beautifully orchestrated food” in a 17-course meal offering “a completely faultless experience that’s luxurious in its ingredients, cooking, time and space”. Another positive is the “smooth and welcoming service” with “immensely impressive teamwork from the staff from start to finish”. Of course, the cost is “exorbitant”, but for most diners it delivers “everything that was hoped for”: “was it worth the journey? Absolutely!” – “100% we would go back”. (“Second visit in less than twelve months… was able to really enjoy the food without being overawed which you do get on the first visit as everything is so exquisite. Cannot fault. If I could afford the outlay I’d be going more often!”)

“As we booked for 3 people, we ended up with the place to ourselves. This was our second visit to Aulis and this was every bit as good as the first and in some ways better as we had the full private dining experience!” – Simon Rogan’s ‘development kitchen in the Lakes’ sits next door to L’Enclume and its six seats aim to provide guests with a ‘behind the scenes’ culinary adventure, with insight into the experimental, creative process and partnership with ‘Our Farm’ behind this Lakeland phenomenon. All feedback acclaims it as a “fantastic dining experience”.

The “best afternoon tea ever” – arguably the main event at this “Art Deco masterpiece” of a hotel, in a “stunning location” overlooking Morecambe Bay. The food in the dining room – the ‘Sun Terrace’ – is “always enjoyable”, too; although the odd cynic says “you’re paying for the views”.