There’s a good reason some of the very best restaurants are in the middle of nowhere; because they have to work harder to get you there. It usually also means that you’re closer to where the food came from (you know, fields ‘n’ that), which tends to mean you’re eating the best of that product much sooner after it became destined for your plate. All good things. And sometimes it’s just nice to drive somewhere far off and not get pissed. Sometimes.
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Book Now West Yorkshire
The Moorcock Inn
An astonishing arrival on the Northern culinary scene, The Moorcock Inn serves foraged and regional ingredients in thrilling configurations, catching the eye of national food critics and diners alike.
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Book Now Lancashire
The White Swan at Fence
Some folk in the village still refer to The White Swan at Fence as The Mucky Duck and you can still order a pint of Timothy Taylor’s at its very pubby bar. But over recent years The Swan has established itself as a destination fine-dining spot thanks to young chef Tom Parker from up the road in Burnley.
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Book Now Cumbria
The Samling
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.
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Book Now Lancashire
Moor Hall
Moor Hall delivers Michelin magic in a historic country house setting.
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Book Now Lancashire
Parker’s Arms
The Parker’s Arms is a homely pub, serving and baking extraordinary, modern European food.
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Book Now Lydgate
The White Hart at Lydgate
The White Hart at Lydgate is a rustic dining pub with an excellent reputation and wine list. Located 700 feet above sea level, where Saddleworth Moor starts, the restaurant is in an impressive former coaching house, and it’s a place for all: there’s a restaurant and brasserie with two AA rosettes, a pub, function areas and a boutique hotel.
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Book Now Cumbria
The Forest Side
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.
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Book Now Lancashire
Freemasons at Wiswell
Cooking goes from strength to strength at the Freemasons at Wiswell in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley. Roaring fires, cast-iron fireplaces and pictures of fantastically proportioned livestock lend a cosy vibe to the renovated cottages which make up what’s been described as the original gastropub.
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Book Now Lancashire
Northcote
Northcote is where chef-patron Nigel Haworth earned his stripes as an instigator of contemporary British fine dining. Today, Michelin star chef and one of BBC2’s Great British Menu winners, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, heads up the kitchen.
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Book Now Lancashire
The Cartford Inn
This historic coaching house serves adventurous British pub food in poetic configurations. Cooking is by mushroom forager and head chef, Chris Bury, whose CV includes the Fat Duck and Claridges, while award-winning suppliers include local wine merchants, D Byrne and Gornall’s dairy, near Preston. The interior, some of which dates back to the 1800s, is packed with wood panels and idiosyncratic artworks while the wider complex takes in glass-clad extensions, an al fresco terrace, and cool, eco-style cabins, integrated into the landscape. A place to get away from it all for a day, or a night – and enjoy some of the best food in the region at the same time.
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Book Now Derbyshire
Fischers Baslow Hall
Fischers Baslow Hall delivers fine Michelin-starred dining with local foraged aspects in homely, romantic surrounds. Using the fruits of the region when everyone else was importing from abroad, Fischers stuck to its guns and now does it arguably better than anyone else in Derbyshire.
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Birtle
Bird At Birtle
The big, first-floor window at the rear of Andrew Nutter’s Bird At Birtle frames the moors – and this gastropub, a sister to Nutters’ restaurant proper – is an ode of sorts to its impressive, rural location.