The best restaurants in the Lake District

Allium at Askham Hall has a dedication to seasonality that is rare, for all the term is bandied about these days. The restaurant is almost entirely self-sufficient, relying on the produce grown in the kitchen gardens. The estate also farms rare breeds and local native breeds which are raised for their flavour not commercial profitability – the proof is on the plate.

The Lake District has its fair share of places to make a food pilgrimage and The Cottage In The Wood is one of them. It has a Michelin Star, is officially one of the UK’s Top 100 restaurants, and has a great reputation.

Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel The Forest Side, owned by Lakes hotelier Andrew Wildsmith, is built on the foundations of the cooking of former L’Enclume forager, Kevin Tickle.

Awarded with a Michelin star in 2023, Heft is the brainchild of chef, Kevin Tickle and his wife, Nicola.

Opened in 2019, Henrock is part of Simon Rogan’s family of fine dining restaurants – set within Linthwaite House Hotel in the fells above Windermere. Here you’ll find seasonal ingredients, inspired by flavours and techniques discovered on the team’s travels around the world.

Situated in the hills above Windermere, Holbeck Ghyll could easily claim a place in a list of the most romantic restaurants in the world.

A wild-maned toddler of a restaurant, bound for great things, Lake Road Kitchen is an exciting place to eat. Now the holder of Michelin Star, it’s the baby of former Samling chef James Cross and is one of the leading lights in the Lakes foraging trend.

L’Enclume is Simon Rogan’s three Michelin-starred restaurant located in the Lake District village of Cartmel, which is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading dining destinations. The restaurant is situated in a former 13th-century blacksmith’s workshop.

Head to Ambleside’s Old Stamp House for regional cooking in a heritage space by one of Cumbria’s most promising chefs.

Pentonbridge Inn is a former coaching inn in the unspoilt wilds of North Cumbria, near the Scottish Borders. If that sounds a bit remote for dinner, it is the perfect place for a countryside getaway with snug and stylish rooms to stay over.

Situated in an atmospheric 14th-century building beside the pretty River Eea in Cartmel, Rogan & Co is the home of Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred neighbourhood restaurant.

The Samling is a delightful lodge and fine-dining restaurant oozing exclusivity. A favourite of Hollywood celebs (like Tom Cruise), it’s easy to see why this charming collection of restored farm cottages is thriving.

Source (previously known as HRiSHi) is a Michelin Star restaurant located at The Gilpin Hotel near Windermere in the Lake District.