Cumbria is far from short of good places to eat – the lakes and dales here take in Michelin-starred restaurants, innovative vegetarian cooking and even a restaurant and cinema combination with ease. Here’s our guide to places to put on your map of the area.
On its 2nd Michelin star, Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume is an idyllic combination of location, exciting cooking, ingredients sourced mainly from the restaurant’s own six acre farm (whatever’s to hand dictates the menu and not the other way around) and, remarkably for such fine dining a very relaxed atmosphere with almost rustic charm. It is far from cheap but if innovative, theatrical food is your thing get saving. They also have 15 gorgeous rooms.
Sister venue to L’Enclume is Rogan & Company, also situated in Cartmel – a sleepy village straight out of an Enid Blyton book. Once inside the venue is much like the menu, modern and understated. As you’d expect from one of the most exciting chefs in Britain, Rogan & Company serves up exceptional food. It takes a special touch to take familiar ingredients and turn them into awe-inspiring dishes without resorting to gastro-molecular gimmicks.
In just a couple of years, Forest Side has become one of Cumbria’s most outstanding restaurants. Suitably, considering his surname, Kevin Tickle’s tasting menu brims over with sheer fun – full of lively colours and playful imagery that enhance the brilliance of each dish. This is more than matched by the front-of-house, who are some of the most engaging and entertaining waiting staff in the North of England.
The Gaddum Restaurant has its sense of self nailed down: classic British cooking, with a modern high-end twist, in a laid-back beautiful location. As you’d expect – this is the Lake District after all – the surroundings are stunning.
With the Deli, Café, Take Away and Hampers for delivery you really have all bases covered when it comes to sampling the fayre.
Boasting an array of hot and cold food including homemade cakes, The Yard Kitchen is a café with a distinctly quirky feel.
Quirky little coffee shop nestled on one of Kendal’s oldest streets, the cobbled New Shambles. Famous for charming décor and extra-friendly staff.
Charming tearoom in the Lake District stocked with everything you could wish for when it comes to daytime dining.
An artisan bakery
Eat where the locals go in this hidden-away treat.
Farm shop, cafe and butcher
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Cumbria is far from short of good places to eat – here’s our guide to restaurants to put on your map of the area.
When the sun goes down and you've had your fair share of Cumbria's great outdoors, head to the area's music venues to catch folk and jazz sessions, as well as regular performances by touring musicians.
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Take me there
Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.
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With these lighter, brighter days and warmer temperatures, it's really starting to feel like summer here in the North West!
Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring.
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