Lancashire, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

“Expanding again to highlight how popular it is” – “this already vast Britalian restaurant on the outskirts of Preston has just added an enormous extension (primarily a bar) into which you could probably fit The Ritz’s dining room” – and “the whole operation is remarkable given its size”. It’s the “very good and reasonably priced food” that draws the crowds (“your favourite pizzas and pastas”) “but it’s the specials menu where the most interest lies”, plus “stuff they don't cook” – ie oysters and “Italian charcuterie imported direct from the owning Bragagnini family’s homeland in Friuli, as is much of the wine”.

This “lovely gastropub in the pretty village of Downham, under the shadow of Pendle Hill” is part of Jocelyn Neve’s Seafood Pub Company – the interior has been “completely renovated”, but retains a proper atmosphere with its “roaring fires”. Views on its performance diverged a little last year: most reports suggest the “excellent fish and seafood is definitely worth going for”, but a couple of mixed reports (“good but not as good as it was”; “trying hard but no organisation”) sound a warning note.

“A gastropub favourite” – this 250-year-old inn, part of the regional Seafood Pub Company group, is “a top choice for fish in north Lancashire/southeast Cumbria”, “even if you just want fish ’n’ chips superbly cooked and presented”. “The meat is not bad too”, while its “excellent rooms” make it a perfect stop en route to the Lake District.