Morecambe, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This striking Art Deco building was brought back to its former glory in the late 2000s after falling into disrepair and today its dining room is “one of the loveliest places to enjoy a romantic dinner over tables facing out to the sea”. While most attention goes to the exemplary afternoon tea (comprising “perfect sandwiches, delicious scones and cakes”), there was also praise this year for some other “delicious” cooking.

“Craig Wilkinson continues to do what he does so well in his family-owned old pub, that lent its name to the hamlet and former railway station of Bay Horse” (on the West Coast Main Line). It’s been in his family for over two decades, and continues to provide “classically-inspired food” (e.g. Black pudding, Puy lentil cottage pie, Chocolate mousse) “that’s very good indeed”. “If you happen to visit on a warm, sunny day, dining al-fresco in the garden is a very pleasant experience”.

“I think the best meal I’ve ever eaten” – Simon Rogan’s converted blacksmith’s workshop in a beautiful village to the south of the Lakes nowadays carries the weight of anticipation brought about by the third Michelin star that it acquired in 2022, and on most accounts “the drive is well worth it” to sample such “ridiculously good” food that “lives up to all expectations”. At the heart of the experience is a fifteen-course tasting menu for £265 per person (at lunch there’s a shorter selection for £125 per person). It’s finely wrought cuisine, with an emphasis on ingredients from Simon’s ‘Our Farm’ project nearby, and “the intimate nooks and crannies to hide away in and the quiet efficiency of the unrushed service makes it a place where time freezes” (“add in a room for an overnight stay and you have the best romantic getaway”). Sommelier Jordan Sutton is “fantastic and the wine pairing really complements the meal beautifully”. Is there a catch? Perhaps. Although ratings are still enviably high, complaints about value are also steadily rising here. (“A real sense that I was paying over the odds for the three stars. For my partner and I to be offered a glass of Champagne on arrival to mark my 50th to then be charged a huge amount per glass was a low point.”)

“Exceptional all-round” – Simon Rogan’s development kitchen to fuel his Michelin three-star with new dishes is a super-intimate experience of just 6 covers, and by definition aims for diners whose enjoyment derives from interacting with the chefs; exploring the sourcing (much of it from Simon’s nearby ‘Our Farm’ smallholding; and dissecting new ideas that push culinary boundaries). By its very nature, it doesn’t inspire a huge volume of feedback, but all that we have says it lives up to the renown of one of Britain’s most highly regarded kitchens. At dinner, the price of a meal is £265 per person.

“Consistently brilliant!” – Behind the white-washed walls of this rural pub-with-rooms, Kevin & Nicola Tickle’s Lakeland venue has a high level of culinary ambition, especially in the evening when a set lunch (for £49 per person) gives way for a 10-course set dinner for £120 per person. “Surprising ingredient combinations, (sometimes VERY surprising!) are well presented and full of differing flavours and textures, all of them very local and fresh” and there are also “some off-piste wine choices”. “It’s a challenge to serve each course to every table, at the same time, but they manage in a very professional way without any delays” – diners “love the friendly, happy service” style. There’s also “a great dog friendly bar with excellent pies, snacks, and good local beer”.

A 17th-century hostelry in a “very attractive setting”, with a “popular bar” and “well-furnished restaurant” serving a “straightforward menu” which offers a British take on Mediterranean food. Long-serving landlords Andrew & Belinda Wilkinson retired in 2024 after 43 years running establishments in the Lune Valley, and thus far the standards they set have been maintained. Top Menu Tip – “excellent Boeuf Bourguignon”.

In an “unusual setting” on the banks of the River Wyre by a historic toll bridge (“right down by the water with a pleasant walk before the meal”), the Beaumes’ rambling riverside inn combines views of the Lake District and chic lodgings ranging from a penthouse suite to luxury cabins. “A quiet lack of fuss presides over the whole experience” while on the food front, it “continues to offer probably the best food on the Fylde (that sticky out bit of Lancashire between Preston and Lancaster)”. “The food varies between simple or classic dishes done very well and a few excursions into experimentation (which sometimes work, sometimes don’t), so – split the difference – and say it’s very good”. Top Tips – “bargain three-course lunch for £27 per person”; it’s “well worth popping into the on-site deli”, TOTI (‘Taste of the Inn’), where you can pick up “a really splendid choux bun”; “you’ll never go wrong with their superb French Onion Soup, followed by an oxtail suet pudding”.

In its current format since 1984 (and originally built in, er, 1688), this pub and restaurant won renewed interest and good all-round feedback in our annual diners’ poll, in part down to a favourable December 2023 visit from The Observer’s Jay Rayner: he praised a listed building that’s “deliciously seasoned with history” and “seriously impressive”, proper “cheek-slapping, belly-pleasing” food – notwithstanding being massively let down by its décor and “eye-achingly awful” website.