Bakewell Restaurant Guide

“Great-value French cuisine” has drawn guests for more than 25 years to this family-run venture from Eric & Christiana Piedaniel – both career chefs. It makes a “lovely quiet environment for lunch” just 10 minutes’ drive from historic Chatsworth House.

This “old manor house” handy for Chatsworth (and “not to be confused with the Peacock Inn in nearby Bakewell”), may “feel old-fashioned”, but its “great food and interesting menu” (from tasting menus to more “relaxed” options, both taken in the “fine dining room”) make it “a pleasure” by all accounts. Local ingredients (beef and lamb, say) are sourced from the Haddon Estate on which it sits.

2022 Review: This “lovely gastropub” on the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth estate gets mostly positive feedback for its “good food and real ales”. There’s sometimes a perception, though, that “it falls short” of its potential: “the cooking was fair, but it could be so nice here”.

This swish country house hotel, in one of the Peak District’s most picturesque villages, is transforming before visitors’ eyes as part of an ongoing, £1.1 million makeover. As we went to press, the more casual ‘Garden Room’ had already been reborn, with chef Adam Harper (ex-of the acclaimed nearby Fischer’s) overseeing a new menu with impeccable local sourcing such as Chatsworth beef; this, the more formal fine diner, will follow suit, but meanwhile won praise this year – well “on its way to a Michelin star” by some accounts. All reports acclaim the “brilliant food and ambience in all areas” and it’s also tipped for afternoon tea.

The future of this well-known Edwardian manor house seemed in doubt when it went onto the market in mid-2023, but instead longtime guardians Max & Susan Fischer (latterly handing the reins to son Neil) have leased two of their pubs – the Prince of Wales in Baslow, and Bulls Head at Foolow – to Nick & Jemma Beagrie of the Bakewell bakery, and refocused their interest on Fischer’s, so far kept afloat thanks to lucrative new deals with the likes of luxury giants LVMH, who will oversee a new summer champagne bar (part of their wider expansion plans). Given such exciting events, there was the odd blip this year, but the general tenor of reports was still upbeat (“never had a bad meal here”; “best meal of the year”).

2022 Review: A collaboration between Sheffield cook Richard Smith, his restaurateur wife Victoria and the award-winning craft brewers Thornbridge; “creative fish dishes” feature alongside meats – all well-singed on the fancy Bertha indoor charcoal oven – and the “great location” (skirting the Peak District) makes it particularly “good for outdoor eating”.

2023 Review: “The days when this was a pub have long gone: it is an unashamedly ambitious restaurant which charges a full price for some very good cooking” – so say fans of this Peak District gastropub near the Dove Valley, who say “the chef knows what he is doing, and as long as you can afford it this is one of the best places to eat in the Peak District”. William Sitwell of The Telegraph paid it a visit in September 2022 and gave a similar but more nuanced view: the “cooking really is excellent and delicate with clever flavours” and “there is talent and charm by the bucket-load”, but he felt the dishes on the menu were presented and served in tiny portions, and he was encouraged to think of them as tapas. He declared, they “are the most un-tapassy things I’ve ever seen”.

2022 Review: “Excellent Thai food full of flavour” (including wallet-friendly set lunches) are the order of the day at this Peak District outfit decorated with traditional carvings and sculptures, and hosting twice-monthly jazz and cocktail nights.

This “long-established and well-loved Sheffield classic, in a perhaps surprisingly suburban location” (of Nether Green) serves “imaginative three- and four-course menus and tasting menus” – with “great food” and “superb service”, it “always feels like a special experience”. A “small venue (26 seats) with over-table lights, creating a more intimate space in the evening”, it is approached up “steep stairs, which may be an issue for some”. Co-owner chef Tom Lawson left after 10 years in summer 2024, so it is now wholly owned by co-founder sommelier Alistair Myers, with Dan Conlon as head chef. Top Tip – the midweek tasting menu is £65 per person (much cheaper than at the weekend when there’s only a £110 per person option, or the ‘Kitchen Bench’ at £135 per person).

2021 Review: Maurizio Mori’s long-established Italian (est. 1996) has earned its local popularity with “good food that’s consistently authentic” and “staff and an atmosphere that help improve your day”.

This “brilliant inn on the fringe of the Peak District” was praised this year for its “well above average and varied fresh fare”, from a menu that skips happily from Chinese-style bao buns to Thai fish dishes and Indian-spiced cauliflower. “Dan, the owner, ensures a great atmosphere – as does a surprisingly large crowd of regulars” (plus their furry friends, this being a venue that is “very dog-friendly, which we really appreciated for our puppy’s first meal out!”). Directly next door is the owners’ more casual sister pub, The Paper Mill Inn, for pizzas, pies and regular pop-ups.

2022 Review: “The best freshly ground and tasty coffee in the whole of South Yorkshire, can’t beat it” – insist fans of this Kiwi-style spot in the Cultural Industries Quarter – now in its 12th year, so a veteran in the fast-moving world of artisan coffee. It has an all-day menu of brunch-ish eats, and serves cocktails as early as 11am. The industrial-style interior is replicated at its second site, at Sellers Wheel.