Keswick Restaurant Guide

Food and fell-running trips combine at the multi-tasking adventure brand’s bistro, whose eclectic dishes race all over the place and are “better than pub fare” (though the venue does enjoy a “quality pub ambience”) plus “good value” to boot. Their growing local empire includes Airstream-set burrito joint the Fellshack, cocktail and burger bar The Round, set on hallowed fell-running territory in Keswick’s Market Square, and (most recently) small hotel The Hazeldene, located on The Heads, a few minutes’ walk from the bistro.

On the lower slopes of Skiddaw, England’s third highest mountain, a luxury mid-Victorian Lakes hotel that “never fails to impress”. The restaurant has been relocated over the years to amplify the “wonderful views”, and it continues to please with its “good variety of dishes” (from Sunday lunch to salads and Cumbrian rarebit) that are also “exceptional value for money”.

“Capitalising on the stunning views down from Whinlatter Pass”, this converted coaching inn above Keswick (in the Whinlatter Forest) is the epitome of a beautifully located Lakeland property; and fans say it’s “a great place to stay and go walking, then come back for amazing meals”. Chef Sam Miller has lots of top Scandi names on his CV (including Noma and Faviken) and his eight-course tasting menu for £110 per person achieves some high ratings in our annual diners’ poll. Not everyone is wowed – a couple of reporters found it “disappointing given its reputation”, or with dishes that had “too much pickling and cooking techniques that were not to my taste”. But for the majority, it’s ‘mission accomplished’ – “we had high expectations and the food was excellent and service efficient and friendly”.

The “traditional pub food in generous portions” is just the ticket “for hungry walkers after a day on the fells” at this 400-year-old Lake District inn with “amazing views over Melbreak”. “We love the choice between the bar or more formal dining room”, and the beer brewed by its own Cumbrian Ales brewery also goes down well – especially the prizewinning Loweswater Gold.

2023 Review: “Well-cooked food”, most notably the Grasmere Herdwick lamb that appears in various guises – the signature shepherds’ pie, a slider in a brioche bun, a Greek-style roast shoulder – is par for the course at this family-run restaurant-with-rooms. Breakfast is a particular hit, too.

2022 Review: “Good all round” – this vegetarian restaurant in a pretty townhouse next to Cockermouth castle offers diners the popular option of tasting everything on the menu. Louisa & Colin Le Voi, who have run it with minimal help for 32 years, have put the restaurant on the market but are in no rush to retire.

Chrissy & Andy Hill’s vibrant Lake District veteran has been turning out “fantastic food” of a relaxed but appealing bent in a “lovely atmosphere” for over two decades now.

“Another ex-boozer I remember from adolescence, with patterned carpets and glowering locals now replaced by worshippers of the Michelin divinity” – and by all accounts Ben Queen-Fryer’s gentrified rural gastroboozer (est. 2017) “merits the star” it has held since 2022. “The food never disappoints with quality, quantity and interest” – all the more impressive given that this is a one-man band.

“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.

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.

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”.

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”).

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.

2022 Review: “Really excellent burgers with local craft beers” – the formula behind this “friendly restaurant in central Keswick”, in the shadow of Moot Hall. It’s part of the local Fellpack empire, which promotes sporting pursuits that start and finish in Keswick without needing a car… they also run the recently relocated Fellpack restaurant, and newbie The Darkroom, offering coffee, cakes, bagels and local art.