Kendal Restaurant Guide

This modern Lakeland dining room – an Asian dining alternative in this luxuriously updated small hotel – is nowadays presided over by Aakash Ohol, who – prior to the departure of Hrishkesh Desai in December 2022 – was sous chef of Hrishi (since relaunched as Source, see also). Notwithstanding the odd disappointment registered this year, feedback suggests its diverse dishes (inspired by countries along the Spice Route) can be a useful relief to the native fare generally prevalent in this neck of the woods; even if “sometimes it’s difficult to choose and the dishes come as and when they’re ready”.

“Never failing with the quality of food and service” – ex-Fat Duck chef Ollie Bridgwater did well to hang onto the Michelin star at the Cunliffe family’s Lakeland hotel, where he succeeded Hrishikesh Desai (who previously ran the dining room as Hrishi) just a matter of weeks before it was due to be re-rated. Despite the constant updating of the property, it is a relatively traditional space. There’s a three-course à la carte for £90, or a six-course tasting option for £120 (£200 if you go for the accompanying wine-tasting accompaniment). There is also a less informal option of the Knipe Grill at Gilpin Lake House, which is a waterside building elsewhere on the estate. And see also Gilpin Spice.

The “outstanding” if “lesser-known and more relaxed cousin of the Lake District’s most famous culinary destination” – L’Enclume in nearby Cartmell – “Henrock is a fabulous option for those struggling to save up for (or not quick enough to book)” at the former. You still get real “Simon Rogan excellence”, “overlooking Lake Windermere” in the “lovely Linthwaite Hotel”, complete with “brilliant artwork, great views, delicious and innovative food, and delightful staff and service”.

2023 Review: This “tiny restaurant in Windermere specialises in expertly cooked fish and seafood”. Established in 2010, it changed hands three years ago and now shares ownership with Bowness-on-Windermere’s Urban Food House. On the debit side, it can be “a bit lacking in atmosphere” (one reporter discerned a “retail shop feel”) and a couple of reports diagnose service issues relating to “post-Brexit and pandemic staff shortages”.

This “old pub is now a high-class restaurant with a lot of character”, opened in summer 2021 by locally born couple Kevin & Nicola Tickle – Kevin spent 10 years in the kitchen of the exalted L’Enclume and was also head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere. There are “lots of options for eating, from the full gastronomic evening tasting menu to tasty snacks and pies in the dog-friendly bar” along with a “good wine list and great draft beers from Lakes Brew in Kendal”. One or two reporters feel the performance here is no better than good all-round, but most would go further and feel it’s “a great experience that anyone would happily repeat”.

2022 Review: Ratings weakened this year at this luxurious Lakeland hotel, whose wood-panelled, traditional dining room provides a splendid vantage-point for gazing over Lake Windermere. One reporter felt that the “competent, but potentially excellent, cooking was not value for money, due to willing but overstretched service” – perhaps signposting that the blip was due to the tribulations of the times?

2023 Review: Set in 27 acres, this country house hotel is one of the better-known luxury destinations in the Lakes and boasts a dining room whose floor-to-ceiling windows provide magnificent views of Windermere and the surrounding peaks, where chef Robby Jenks presides over the kitchen. It inspired very upbeat (but relatively little) feedback again this year, with nominations as an ideal romantic choice or for its impressive afternoon teas. For a full meal in the dining room, lunch is a four-course affair for £60 per person, and in the evening the sole option is a seven-course tasting menu at £115 per person.

Chef James Cross returned to the Lake District after doing time at acclaimed eateries Noma, Per Se and Simpsons to set up this new Nordic restaurant with suitably Scandi styling (wooden plank walls, sheepskin throws on the chairs). The dinner-only dining room turns out eight- or twelve-course tasting menus, and wins raves for the “absolutely faultless cooking, amazing service and atmosphere”.

Ryan Blackburn and general manager brother Craig’s decade-old venture – the poet Wordsworth’s office when he was the local stamp distributor – is a truly “first-class” affair; the “cellar-type interior gives a cosy atmosphere”, while the “unique” tasting menu of locally sourced food (acclaimed by the tyre men since 2019) is abetted by staff who take “evident pleasure” in their work. Is it cheap? Well, “a full-blown evening tasting menu at £95 per person seems really quite reasonable” to one reporter… “anyway, it raised the bar for cooking in Cumbria for me”.

2022 Review: Below a cinema, this popular ‘Vegeterranean’ (vegetarian with a Mediterranean twist) has long been a feature of this Lakeland town. Prices are very reasonable.

“Such a pleasant place to eat with lots of customers who don’t even realise they’re in a vegetarian restaurant” – this Lakeland fixture of four decades’ standing is part of a town-centre complex incorporating a cinema and jazz bar. Pizza and pasta are staples of the vegetarian Italian menu, and for £28.95 you can book a complete evening out including a two-course dinner and reserved cinema seat.

2022 Review: This “delightful tea shop, delicatessen and tea merchants on the main route into Grange” is “every bit as good as Betty’s” – say fans of its “home-made breads, pastries and cakes to die for”. “Large windows give great views across the ornamental gardens”, and “there’s a real buzz from the coming and going of locals, visitors and efficient, knowledgeable staff”.

Also home to the Barngates Brewery – whose brews are on tap – this rural pub is a popular destination on the Lakeland tourist trail. It didn’t generate much attention in our annual diners’ poll this year, but such as we received was ‘all good‘ (although some feedback suggested “mains aren’t as good as the starters and puds”).

“Very slick and professional, and more relaxed than L’Enclume” – this spin-off from Simon Rogan’s mothership around the corner affords a more buzzy and approachable (and bookable!) alternative to his main operation (and there is also the option to stay the night). “Super tasty and joyful” dishes are “impeccably served” from a three-course menu for £79 per person. “Stayed with them too and the breakfast was spectacular!”

“Wonderful! Have been coming here since 2005 and this was the best food I’ve had, fully deserving its third star!” – Simon Rogan’s converted blacksmith’s workshop was, in 2022, the first restaurant in the North to achieve a third Michelin gong, and it’s impressive that – despite its remote Lakeland location – it is nowadays the second most commented-on destination in our annual diners’ poll outside of London. Head chef Paul Burgalieres marshalls the finest local produce – much of it from Simon’s ‘Our Farm’ on the surrounding hillsides – to provide “a symphony of beautifully orchestrated food” in a 17-course meal offering “a completely faultless experience that’s luxurious in its ingredients, cooking, time and space”. Another positive is the “smooth and welcoming service” with “immensely impressive teamwork from the staff from start to finish”. Of course, the cost is “exorbitant”, but for most diners it delivers “everything that was hoped for”: “was it worth the journey? Absolutely!” – “100% we would go back”. (“Second visit in less than twelve months… was able to really enjoy the food without being overawed which you do get on the first visit as everything is so exquisite. Cannot fault. If I could afford the outlay I’d be going more often!”)