Best restaurants in the Lake District

This intimate 28-cover restaurant opened its doors in 2014 to offer guests a taste of Cumbrian food and heritage. It gained a Michelin star in 2019 for its dedicated to quality ingredients, carefully chosen wines and dishes that remain true to its ethos. 

This multi-awarding winning Ambleside restaurant only serves two tasting menus (eight- or 12-courses) with chef James Cross at the fore of the kitchen. Stop by for hyper-seasonal, climatically local cooking from a chef at the top of his game. 

The name of this Keswick gem might not be overly inventive, but the cooking at Michelin-starred The Cottage in the Wood is sure to be like nothing you’ve experienced before. Surrounded by a tranquil woodland setting, the kitchen team turn out perfectly-formed dishes using the best seasonal produce.  

Enjoy stunning views of Lake Windermere while you dine at this Victorian country house hotel, which offers both fine dining and more casual menus. Take a seat in the old-school dining room for classic dishes such as lemon sole with fregola, caper, parsley and brown butter.  

Askham Hall has a history dating back over a thousand years, and houses one of the Lake District's most celebrated restaurants in Allium. Staunchly old-school, personal and luxurious, Allium specialises in celebratory and special occasions, with outstanding, precise cooking backed up by a superb wine list.

The Schelly is a more casual sibling to the highly regarded Old Stamp House, where chef Ryan Blackburn already has a Michelin star. You'll find the former right next door, where the menu pays similar homage to outstanding Cumbrian produce, in a more approachable a la carte.

Nowhere is a restaurant’s commitment to nature and ingredients better demonstrated than at Forest Side, where guests can actually see chefs foraging in the grounds, nabbing ingredients from the kitchen garden or wild surroundings. Such freshness shines through on every plate for a true taste of the English countryside.  

We urge you to spend a weekend at The Samling, a luxury country house hotel which describes itself as ‘easy to get to, difficult to leave’. The restaurant offers pitch-perfect fine dining made with local ingredients, but it’s that lakeside view that really makes dining here memorable.  

Simon Rogan's outpost at Linthwaite House has flown seriously under the radar, but Henrock boasts a rather elegant spot to indulge in staunchly British dishes, this time with a gentle east-Asian twist. Choose from tasting menus, or set dinners, with beautifully plated cuisine that uses locally sourced produce from Rogan's own farm.

After leaving The Gilpin, Hrishikesh Desai has shown once again why he is one of the country's most respected chefs, turning the restaurant at Farlam Hall into a Michelin-starred masterpiece. Desai's cooking is rooted in French technique but with clever use of Indian spicing, making Cedar Tree a unique experience.

This Grade II Listed Ambleside retreat is worth visiting for the picturesque scenery, but Rothay Manor's restaurant is a destination in its own right, serving classic British cooking in a beautiful, airy dining room. An excellent afternoon tea is also available in the same dining room. 

Simon Rogan’s neighbourhood eatery in Carmel boasts one Michelin star and exemplifies the skill, style and techniques the chef has become known for. Local Lake District produce is given the best chance possible in the hands of the kitchen team. 

The jewel in Simon Rogan’s crown has got to be three Michelin-starred L’Enclume, known for its sustainable approach, hyper-seasonal produce and, of course, its mind-bogglingly innovative menu. Dishes include the likes of seaweed custard, beef broth, bone marrow, Porlock oysters and its own blend of caviar. 

This smart, stylish pan-Asian restaurant at The Gilpin is definitively the second restaurant at the hotel (a smaller sibling to flagship Michelin-starred SOURCE) but it provides an excellent counterpoint to the elevated British cooking at the latter. The menu flits between Indo-Chinese dishes, all of which are thoroughly enjoyable without any stuffiness. 

The Pentonbridge Inn sits right on the edge of the Lake District so it's a bit out of the way for most, but it's more than worth the trip. Head chef Chris Archer weaves Cumbrian seasonal produce into a beautiful tasting menu, exploring the bounty of the local landscape. 

Nestled within the Lake District National Park, Heft is a gastropub that’s been beautifully restored to offer a traditional British inn feel. Serving tasting menus for lunch and dinner, each dish has been inspired by the surrounding area and head chef Kevin Tickle’s love of the English countryside.

Chef owner Ben Queen-Fryer has made The Dog and Gun Inn into a gastropub of national repute, serving immaculate, hearty British cooking in a proper, old-school pub dining room, complete with raw wood floors and fireplaces. A tasting menu and a la carte are both available - bring your appetite!

The flagship restaurant at the award-winning Gilpin Hotel, SOURCE is a masterful display of what can be achieved with Cumbrian produce. Exec chef Ollie Bridgwater brings smart technique honed at The Fat Duck, and he channels that into a precise, delicious tasting menu that flows with the seasons.