Wild game is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. It’s lean and full of nutrients like omega-3, vitamins and iron and – because it’s wild – it’s free from some of the more worrying things we associate with farmed, supermarket meat like antibiotics and hormones. There is a minimal carbon footprint involved in eating locally sourced game in season too.
If all this isn’t reason enough to get your game face on, it’s also delicious, versatile and seasonal. ‘Tis the season when grouse, partridge, pheasant, venison and their ilk appear on our restaurant menus so we have put together a list of twelve of our favourite places in the North to tuck into something a bit different.
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Book Now BaslowFischers Baslow Hall
More detailsFischers Baslow Hall delivers fine 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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ClitheroeFreemasons at Wiswell
More detailsCooking 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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Manchester City CentreJames Martin
More detailsA fine-dining restaurant inside a casino with a celeb chef name above the door? Alarm bells. Yes, James Martin has his name across the massive billboard outside, but this is not an ostentatious venue.
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AmblesideLake Road Kitchen
More detailsA 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.
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SalfordThe River Restaurant
More detailsThe River Restaurant at The Lowry Hotel is Manchester’s classic fine dining restaurant. Huge names that have run the kitchen include Marco Pierre White, while diners have included Jose Mourinho and Kylie.
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AmblesideOld Stamp House
More detailsHead to Ambleside’s Old Stamp House for regional cooking in a heritage space by one of Cumbria’s most promising chefs.
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Book Now LeedsOx Club
More detailsThe Ox Club offers sumptuous, grill-based cooked from the Belgrave gang.
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LanghoNorthcote
More detailsGreat British Menu winner Lisa Goodwin-Allen was at the helm at Northcote for a long time, until she announced her departure in March 2025. Simon Ulph has now taken over as head chef. He worked alongside Lisa and has extensive experience in several Michelin star establishments so a smooth transition is predicted.
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BurnleyThe White Swan at Fence
More detailsSome 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.
