The best restaurants in Windermere

With its own 67-acre estate overlooking Windermere, The Samling boasts a long-standing reputation as one of the Lake District's most picturesque old hotels. The food offering is pretty special too - there's an a la carte that sticks to tried and tested British classics, but go for the tasting menu if you're ready for a new Nordic culinary odyssey, combined with ingredients foraged and grown on-site.

The menu at Forest Side takes inspiration from the incredible landscape and larder of the Lake District, combining wild ingredients, local produce and vegetables grown in the kitchen garden to incredible effect. There are vegetarian menus on offer too, which offer some genuinely thoughtful, contemporary cooking, like spring peas with chamomile, and barbecue Roscoff onion with whey and ramson. 

Surrounded by immaculate gardens and boasting stunning views over Lake Windermere, Linthwaite House hotel is the perfect setting for Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan and his farm-to-fork cooking. Henrock’s focus is on hyper-seasonal small plates, but dishes like saikyo miso glazed aubergine with furikake, black garlic and smoked dashi, and cured mackerel in jalapeno cream with buttermilk-fried oyster take clear inspiration from Rogan's travels, as well as from his restaurants in Hong Kong.

A reliable, renowned gastropub in the heart of the Lake District, The Drunken Duck provides several roaring fires to go alongside stunning views and delicious gastropub grub like crab, chive and apple crumpets with Parmesan, venison bourguignon suet pudding with sticky red cabbage, and chocolate tart, cherry sorbet and cinder toffee.

The space may look modest and a little IKEA-chic, but that belies the complexity of what's going on in the kitchen. Lake Road Kitchen serves a tasting menu of sorts, though the restaurant prefers to think of it as a dining experience - diners are given a choice between eight or 12 servings, with optional wine pairings available for each. Expect to be led on a wild culinary ride -Lake Road Kitchen chef James Cross used to work at world-beating Noma in Copenhagen before deciding to shake up touristy Ambleside with his radical cuisine.

This relaxed, friendly restaurant serves an a la carte menu of classic bistro dishes as well as daily specials, which focus on fish and seafood. There's a surprisingly hefty wine list too, as well as speciality ales from all over the Lake District. Head there for mid-week dinner, but be prepared to book or wait for a table. 

Idyllic hotel Langdale Chase boasts breathtaking views of Lake Windermere and a modern British restaurant to match. Choose to eat in the dining room, bar area or sunlit conservatory and enjoy some smart British cooking, with a focus on local sourcing. If you're in the area looking for well-executed, classic flavours, Langdale Chase is the place to go - try the chicken, coconut and lemongrass ballotine, or pork fillet, cheek and belly with pomme Anna, cauliflower and pear. 

Five minutes from the shores of Lake Windermere, surrounded by rolling fells, Porto has an envious location in Bowness. The restaurant is a calming combination of grey, blue and green, with natural oak tables and comfy upholstered chairs. Best of all, the food matches up to the whole experience - elevated British cooking is really well-executed, as evidenced by how busy the restaurant is on most evenings.

Popular Windermere bistro Hooked specialises in fish and seafood, surprise surprise, with a menu that shows off the best local produce with classic British and Mediterranean cooking. Sustainable fish and seafood is sourced from Hartlepool docks each day, so you know what you're eating is as fresh as it gets. 

Fabulous surroundings and stunning views abound at Holbeck Ghyll, which sits proudly overlooking Lake Windermere. The restaurant doesn't venture into quite the same modern territory as the likes of Henrock and The Samling, but here you get well-executed modern European cooking, available via a la carte and tasting menus. A terrace overlooking the lake is ideal for summer alfresco dining and afternoon teas. 

William Wordsworth fans in the Lakes might be interested to visit The Old Stamp House, as the famed romantic poet once used the building as his study. If you're here for the food though, you'll be just as impressed - menus of course fluctuate with the seasons, but you can expect a Cumbrian spin on contemporary British dishes, such as hand dived scallop, cauliflower and spiced mead velouté, and trout, asparagus and shrimps with brown butter sabayon.

Inside this swanky Edwardian retreat high above Lake Windermere you'll find HRiSHi - the flagship, Michelin-starred restaurant of Hrishikesh Desai, who has long established his reputation as a legendary Lake District chef. HRiSHi trends a little on the more old-fashioned side of fine dining by comparison with Simon Rogan's modish restaurants, but the food is still some of the best in all of Cumbria, with dishes like scallop with peach carpaccio and carrot puree, and halibut fillet with crispy okra stuffed with white crab meat. 

Nestled down winding, country roads on the outskirts of Windermere, SOURCE at The Gilpin Hotel boasts luxury in all aspects from the sophisticated plates of food to the lavish restaurant. Ollie Bridgwater’s expertly crafted cuisine brought the restaurant its first Michelin star in 2023.