What is it ? – According to TripAdvisor its the best Restaurant in the “WORLD” for the last 2 years running….Cant argue with that. Where is it ? – Town centre , Ambleside. Right in the heart of the Lake district National park (A World Heritage site) Whats Cooking ? – Fresh , Prime quality…
Tag: cumbria
The Black Swan – Top Shelf Pub Food.
What is it ? – A magical little 18th century country pub in a sleepy hideaway village in the middle of nowhere. The Black Swan is currently in the Top 50 Gastropubs. What`s Cooking ? – There`s nothing complex in Scotts food and you`ll only find 3 or 4 components to each dish….BUT , you can guarantee…
Forest Side – Michelin dining in Grasmere.
What is it ? – One of the finest country house hotels in the North of England. Luxurious 20 room accommodation with food of the highest standards in the UK. What`s Cooking ? – Well sourced ingredients from throughout the UK with strength from the Cumbria region. Who`s Cooking ? – Chef Paul Leonard previously of The Devonshire…
The Punch Bowl Inn, Crosthwaite.
What is it ? – A well established 17th century country pub serving up good quality locally sourced food. What`s Cooking ? – Country pub food using local and well sourced ingredients. We asked for a Tasting menu in advance and Chef was happy to cook for us. Who`s Cooking ? – Chef Alex Beard….
The House at Temple Sowerby.
What is it ? – A beautiful little country house and walled Garden (with lots of history) tucked away in a “Blink and you`ll miss it” Cumbrian village. Where is it ? – 5 Miles East of Penrith. Leave the M6 Motorway at junction 40. Who`s Cooking ? – Chef Jack Bradley (Ex Hipping Hall)…
The Ryebeck , Windermere.
What is it ? – A traditional English country house hotel / Restaurant. Where is it ? – Just outside Bowness on Windermere , a very busy tourist town right in the heart of the Lake district. Who`s Cooking ? – Nick Edgar spent 15 years working for Raymond Blanc at 2 Michelin starred Le…
Mizu – Pan Asian food in the Lakes.
What is it ?- A stunning £10 million Asian Restaurant and Spa extension to the existing Lodore falls hotel. Where is it ? – Borrowdale valley , near Keswick , right in the heart of the English Lake district. Head Chef – Kasun Jayasooriya from Sri Lanka spent 10 years working in Tokyo. He hopes…
The Pentonbridge Inn – Cumbria.
Pentonbridge sits on the very edge of the Scottish Borders about 20 minutes North of Carlisle. The inn, surrounded by 360 degrees of flat moorland is well off the beaten track and basically there`s a couple of houses and not a lot else. The closest town (Longtown) is several miles away and so The Pentonbridge…
Restaurant 1863 , Ullswater.
1863 Bistro and Bar sits in the Cumbrian village of Pooley Bridge on the fringes of Ullswater (it`s not a Lake) . The property was originally the village Blacksmiths shop , later becoming the Pooley Bridge post office. Only recently (2016) it was transformed into what it is today – 1863 Bistro and Bar with…
Rogan & Co , Cartmel Village.
I head back down to the delightful village of Cartmel for lunch at Chef Simon Rogan’s restaurant, Rogan & Co , little sister of the wonderful L`Enlcume (5 minutes’ walk away). Newly appointed Chef Tom Barnes joined the L`Enclume team in 2011 and went on to win the Roux Scholarship 2 years later in 2014….
Castle Dairy , Kendal – Tucked away cooking wonderful food.
I wouldn`t mind betting that virtually none of you have ever heard of Castle Dairy in Kendal , Cumbria`s South Lakes. I keep on repeating myself on here and so i`ll say it once again – “Yet another hidden Lake district gem appears on my radar” . Really good restaurants are popping up all over…
Gilpin Hotel – One word `Perfection`
Cumbria is firmly rooted in history as an important part of the World Spice trade. Gingerbread, Whitehaven Rum and spicy Cumberland Sausage all have intriguing connections stretching back to the 1600s. Gilpin Hotel (built as a family home in 1901) offers its diners unusual menus from two very different restaurants using the very best…
Lake Road Kitchen – Another Diamond for the Cumbrian collection.
At the time of writing Lake road kitchen has only been open for 20 weeks and finally i got around to eating dinner there last weekend. The tom tom drums were beating out the message within days of the restaurant opening but i held out for weeks waiting for them to settle in and…
Rogan & Co – Summer Tasting menu introduced.
This was my second trip to Rogan & Co in the village of Cartmel , Cumbria. Chef Kevin Tickle has now settled into place and after much staff discussion a new Tasting menu has been introduced. This consists of 8 courses for £65 ( plus a few little extra taster courses) and will be changing…
The Cottage in the Wood – A perfect lovers escape.
It`s really hard to believe that there`s an amazing secret little hideaway hotel sat virtually on my doorstep and during all the years that i`ve been into food, i still haven`t managed to eat at The Cottage in the Wood. I`ve travelled all over the world to search for and to eat amazing food and yet a 25 minute drive in the…
Fab Friday lunches in town.
My day to day job generates no complaints at all as my hours are based over a four and a half day week. Fair enough , getting out of bed at 5.30am every morning has its downsides but finishing for the weekend on a friday lunchtime makes up for the sleepy starts . Recently,…
Making the very best of Natures seasonal bounty.
I forage for it , i cook it , i style it , i photograph it and then finally i can eat it .If the truth be known then the latter is probably my favourite part of the exercise. The whole process can be a pain in the butt and takes a full day of…
Tarantella…… and Tarantula bites ???
It seems only right that i should be mentioning nice eating places that are on my own doorstep so let me introduce our local Italian restaurant, Tarantella to all the Cumbrians out there who haven`t yet experienced it. Formerly known as Cheers wine bar it now goes under Tarantella on the high street of Cockermouth…
The George and Dragon with The Lowthers , Penrith.
The George and Dragon is another one of those little ” tucked away diamonds ” i keep going on about. A comforting weekend escape on the verges of the Lake District within a ten minute drive from the M6 motorway .Once you`re through the door then you`ll be shutting yourselves away from the outside world…
The Waterfront – Whitehaven and my home town Gem.
The picturesque and sleepy little Georgian fishing port of Whitehaven nestles cosily against the western fringes of the English Lake district national park on the Cumbrian coastline…. Hey , i would definitely get a job with the tourist board wouldn`t i ? Ok….ok….so it`s an ex mining town , an historical slave trading port and has strong association…
The Langdale hotel , Cumbria, another undiscovered secret hideaway.
In all of my years living in the English Lakes i found it really strange that i`d never actually been to the Langdale valley before. I`d been to places nearby but never ventured the 10 minutes from the main road and seen one of Englands most beautiful sights.
Cumbrian Hidden Treasures.
When driving through the Cumbrian lake District there`s normally somewhere to eat at every turn.It might be a corner chippy, a village pie shop , a cosy country pub or a fine dining Michelin starred restaurant. I was rather amazed at just how many country houses there were around the Windermere area during my drive through there last weekend.There…
ROGANIC – Simon Rogan and Ben Spalding take on London.
Just by a stroke of luck i happened to be in London on the weekend that Simon Rogans new `pop up` restaurant “Roganic” was opening on a two week`ramp up` soft start.Even luckier for me that i was searching around for somewhere to do lunch on Roganics first day and happened to discover that i could book…
Gilpin Lodge – A Country house Sunday lunch in the English Lake District.
According to my Sat Nav the journey through the lakes from Whitehaven to Windermere should have only taken me just over an hour, but thanks to the assortment of various `sunday` and `pointing at mountain` 20 mph road users it took me almost 2 head banging hours to reach my destination.The wonderful Gilpin Lodge country…
Finally….Our town gets a Fish shop.
I live in a small town called Whitehaven .It sits on the west coast of Cumbria on the fringes of the English lake district. It has one of those picturesque little fishing ports straight off a holiday postcard with a small fleet of fishing boats and bigger trawlers that operate out of the port. The…
The Good Food Guide celebration dinner.
The Good food guide celebration dinner with Simon Rogan and Jason Atherton at Lenclume , Cartmel. Opportunities like this don`t tend to crop up every week up here in Sunny Cumbria, so as soon as this special Good food guide celebration dinner came up on my radar i grabbed the chance to sample what two of the…
L`enclume – Michelin Star food on my doorstep
“A gastro-laboratory in the middle of nowhere that redefines the notion of food? Is this yet another paean to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli in northeastern Spain? Actually, no. This is a paean to Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume in the village of Cartmel at the southern end of England’s Lake District. When El Bulli closes for two…
Cumbriafoodie 