Best hotels in The Lake District for a lakeside retreat
Cosy up in a quirky country pub, spend the night in a stylish bed and breakfast or feast at a boutique hotel that's home to a destination restaurant with our guide to the Lake District’s best hotels
Looking for hotels in the Lake District? Want to know where to stay in Windermere? Read on for the best hotels in Cumbria and check out the best places to eat and drink in the area here. Next, discover the best UK spa hotels for food lovers, the best small towns in the UK for foodies and the best UK pubs with rooms. Rothay Manor, Ambleside Rooms from £260 including breakfast, check availability at rothaymanor.co.uk or booking.com In a nutshell A Grade II-listed Regency house with a quietly contemporary feel, set just outside Ambleside. Expect elegant rooms, a modern Pavilion extension, polished but relaxed service and thoughtful touches for walkers (and dogs), all rooted firmly in its Lake District surroundings. Why foodies stay here Dining centres on Rowan, the hotel’s modern British restaurant in the refined period dining room. The menu is confident and seasonal, balancing land and sea with dishes like cured trout with dill aïoli, beef fillet tartare and Ulverston crab custard to start, followed by halibut with mussels and butter sauce or day-boat fish — our John Dory was a standout main. Desserts include vibrant damson soufflé and comforting baked chocolate cheesecake. The bar menu is just as thoughtfully considered, with locally inspired cocktails like the Cumbrian Martini or Yorkshire Rose spritz, best enjoyed alongside indulgent small plates like smoked Torpenhow cheese croquettes. What are the rooms like? A sweeping driveway leads to the original house, built in 1823, alongside The Pavilion — a contemporary timber-and-glass extension designed to frame woodland views and maximise privacy. Pavilion suites are calm and understated rather than showy, decorated in earthy tones with boutique furnishings, mid-century ceramics and velvet sofas. Bathrooms are generous, with twin sinks, waterfall showers and roll-top tubs. Throughout, the feel is polished but unfussy. Breakfast Breakfast is reassuringly traditional and well executed, with options including overnight oats, house granola, smoked haddock, eggs hollandaise and other classics. It’s a comforting start to the day before heading into Ambleside, which is a short walk away, or straight out onto nearby trails. Where to eat and drink nearby In Ambleside, you’ll find iconic local restaurant, the Michelin-starred The Old Stamp House, where you can enjoy a three-hour tasting menu inspired by the Cumbrian surroundings, available via booking only. For a casual drink, try The Ambleside Tap, where Lakes Brew Co beer is poured alongside epic sandwiches from Toast. Rooms from £260 including breakfast, check availability at rothaymanor.co.uk or booking.com Farlam Hall, Brampton Doubles from £290 per night, check availability at farlamhall.com or booking.com In a nutshell Nestled in the heart of Cumbria, Farlam Hall is a tranquil retreat surrounded by ancient trees, serene ponds and stunning gardens that change with the seasons. Just a short drive from the North Pennines and Hadrian’s Wall, it’s perfect for nature lovers and those seeking relaxation. The elegant rooms offer comfort, while Cedar Tree Restaurant serves award-winning, locally sourced cuisine. A stay here promises peace, indulgence and the charm of the Lake District countryside. Why foodies stay here Chef Hrishikesh Desai has created a memorable dining experience at Cedar Tree Restaurant. The menu celebrates the finest locally sourced ingredients, including produce from the estate’s own kitchen gardens, resulting in seasonal dishes bursting with freshness and creativity. Each plate is thoughtfully crafted, balancing classic and Indian flavours with skill. The intimate atmosphere, immaculate service and beautifully curated wine list elevate the experience further. Whether indulging in a leisurely tasting menu or an à la carte dish or at the exclusive Hrishi’s table, dining at Farlam Hall is a celebration of Cumbria’s rich culinary heritage. What are the rooms like? As expected from a Michelin Key hotel and member of Relais & Châteaux, the rooms at Farlam Hall exude luxury. However, what truly sets them apart is the perfect blend of elegance and warmth, creating an inviting, homely atmosphere that encourages instant relaxation. Thoughtfully designed interiors, rich furnishings and lovely views of the hotel’s tranquil grounds enhance the peaceful ambiance. Whether unwinding in your room or admiring the picturesque surroundings, guests are enveloped in a sense of calm and comfort that makes Farlam Hall a beautiful getaway. Breakfast There’s a generous breakfast menu ranging from a full English to an omelette to fruit, granola and yogurt. As with the dinner menu, local and seasonal produce are at its heart. Where to eat and drink nearby Hidden River Cafe in Longtown, around 25 minutes by car, is a secluded restaurant in a stunning setting. It’s off the beaten track so a perfect spot to unwind. Doubles from £290 per night, check availability at farlamhall.com or booking.com Gilpin Hotel & Country House, Windermere Doubles from £335 per night, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk In a nutshell Luxurious bedrooms with lakeside views, individual spa suites and multiple dining options, including a Michelin-starred restaurant Why foodies stay here The main Gilpin hotel has two restaurant options – SOURCE and Spice. The Michelin-starred SOURCE offers a six or 10-course tasting menu with wine pairings that changes daily. Our menu included refined dishes like scallop, celeriac, truffle & white kelp, Sladesdown duck, beetroot, endive, kampot pepper & parfait, and white chocolate, caviar & hojicha. The more informal option is Gilpin Spice, a buzzy fusion restaurant with an open-plan kitchen. Here, menu highlights include Asian fried chicken, ox cheek rendang, Herdwick lamb rump boti, and sticky Jamaican sponge pudding with a coconut sorbet. There's also a solid afternoon tea offering at The Lake House. What are the rooms like? This Relais & Châteaux bolthole is set across the two sites, The Gilpin Hotel and The Gilpin Lake House – the former has bedrooms with lakeside views and cedarwood hot tubs, as well as five ‘spa lodges’ that have their own private ensuite spa. The Lake House is just over a mile away from the main hotel, and each of its six rooms have access to 100 acres of grounds, including a private lake, boat house, heated indoor pool and jetty spa. Breakfast Expect classic dishes like full English and eggs benedict, alongside buck rarebit with poached eggs. Guests not wanting to leave their cocoon-like bed can order breakfast to their rooms. Where to eat and drink nearby Try The Watermill Inn for a beef and home-brewed Collie Wobbles ale pie beside an open fire. Doubles from £335 per night, check availability at booking.com, expedia.co.uk, or thegilpin.co.uk The Samling, Windermere Doubles from £290 per night, check availability at booking.com In a nutshell A luxurious country house hotel (think al fresco hot tubs, fine-dining and ornamental water gardens) set in nearly 70 acres of woodland, gardens and fields. It sits right on the banks of Lake Windermere. Why foodies stay here The kitchen garden, surrounded by apple and nut orchards, is well worth exploring. Cucamelons and microgreens grow in the central greenhouse, and wildflower meadows buzz with bees (their honey is used to sweeten desserts and cocktails). At the restaurant, which is made entirely of glass to make the most of those lake views, executive head chef Robby Jenks is in charge of a modern menu that includes the likes of shellfish raviolo with citrus bisque, turbot with mussels and samphire, and rhubarb with vanilla, ginger and lemon. What are the rooms like? Most overlook a tree-lined Lake Windermere (only two have woodland and garden views instead), and all are decorated in plush neutrals, with sash windows, marble bathrooms and goose down pillows and duvets. For an extravagant stay, pick the Windermere Suite: it’s at the very top of the estate and benefits from its own private patio (with astonishing views) and a copper-clad freestanding bath. Breakfast It’s a short menu, but one which includes kedgeree, homemade granola with yogurt, and fresh fruit. Where to eat and drink nearby The Priest Hole restaurant and tea rooms, part of Kelsick Old Hall, is a 10-minute drive away, and is the ideal spot for a laidback lunch on the terrace. The classics are done well here – jumbo fish finger sandwiches with homemade tartare sauce, Cartmel-smoked salmon salads and Cumberland sausage chilli dogs. Doubles from £290 per night, check availability at booking.com or thesamlinghotel.co.uk The Pentonbridge Inn, Penton Check rates and availability at pentonbridgeinn.co.uk In a nutshell A once-tired coaching inn, The Pentonbridge Inn now prospers as a gourmet pub under the direction of chef Gary McDermott. The River Esk, that natural dividing line between England and Scotland, is about half a mile to the north. Why foodies stay here The pub’s owners, Gerald and Margo Smith, live at nearby Netherby Hall and have renovated their Victorian walled kitchen garden to supply the inn with fruit, veg, microgreens and herbs. Expect solid pub food at lunch and dinner, with an emphasis on locality; try the soup of the day with Cumbrian farmhouse cheese on toast, Cumbrian chicken and tarragon pie with garden broccoli, or warm treacle tart with clotted cream. There’s also a Sunday lunch menu, including local loin of pork with caramelised apple sauce and cider gravy. What are the rooms like? The nine rooms, all different shapes and sizes, are named after famous Border Reiver families – marauding raiders who rampaged around these parts between the 13th and 17th centuries. Style-wise, it’s all whitewashed walls, contemporary cream wooden furniture, vintage-style radiators, tweed chairs, and cheery tartan throws. The barn rooms are dog-friendly with wooden floors, soaring ceilings and rafters, but they don’t come with the views of the upstairs rooms. Breakfast Breakfast is served in the conservatory, overlooking the car park and hills beyond. Choose homemade granola topped with fresh berries, porridge with rhubarb and ginger compote, or bacon (thick and salty) with fried eggs and sliced avocado. Where to eat and drink nearby You can book afternoon tea at Netherby Hall on the last Wednesday of each month. It’s taken in the Great Oak Hall and might well include swirls of meringue, pastry cones, fruit tarts and mini chocolate eclairs. Check rates and availability at pentonbridgeinn.co.uk Askham Hall, Penrith Check rates and availability at askhamhall.co.uk In a nutshell The Lowther name is everywhere in this part of Cumbria – pubs, a ruined castle, even a village bears the name. Capitalising on its organic estate, the Lowther family turned to hotels with the opening of Askham Hall, home to Allium restaurant and 18 rooms. Why foodies stay here Richard Swale works in an environment most chefs dream of. His sunny, conservatory-style restaurant opens out onto acres of its own kitchen gardens and farmland. “Pick, cook and serve vegetables within the hour,” explains Richard, “and their freshness is amazing.” The kitchen is often busy pickling damsons or preserving edible flowers, either to deal with gluts or to extend the shelf life of ingredients. Meat used to be the centrepiece of Richard’s dishes, but now he gives equal prominence to creatively treated vegetables. He might, for instance, add fermented cabbage to salads, or serve scallops with smoky courgette flowers, flash-cooked in the wood-fired oven. You can choose either a la carte or a tasting menu; the latter may include native lobster with smoked bone marrow, home-reared goose with sour cherry sauce and chocolate tart with milk sorbet and candied walnuts. What are the rooms like? There are 18 spacious bedrooms to choose from, all with their own character. The Admiral’s Room (located in the 13th-century Pele tower, the oldest part of Askham Hall) benefits from a central four poster bed and River Lowther views. The Train Room (where the family used to keep their model railway set) has a duplex-style layout, with two extra beds upstairs for children. The Old Dressing Room combines original features, such as mullion windows, with modern luxuries, including an open-plan drench shower. Breakfast Start the day with fresh eggs, local smoked kippers, or apple pancakes. Where to eat and drink nearby Penrith’s Four and Twenty, with its rustic mix-and-match furniture and open kitchen, is loved by locals. It’s a converted former bank that serves modern British food, including carrot, ginger and honey soup, cheese soufflé and apple crumble fool. Check rates and availability at askhamhall.co.uk The Forest Side, Lancrigg Check rates and availability at theforestside.co.uk In a nutshell This imposing Victorian manor sits above the road, skirting the slate-strewn prettiness of Grasmere. It looks staid and traditional, but behind the old-fashioned façade is one of the most innovative restaurants in the Lakes. Why foodies stay here A ramble through The Forest Side’s personal fellside (home to roe deer, red squirrels and blankets of wood sorrel) will help you work up an appetite for fine dining at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Chefs draw on a one-acre vegetable and herb garden (everything is cooked on the days it’s picked), planted with over 100 varieties – try golden beetroot with cuckoo flower and smoked yow’s curd, or roast mooli with cherry bell radish, at a 6- or 10-course dinner. Pickling is big here (try the walnuts), as is foraging – sup a ‘Forager’ at the bar, made with pineapple weed-infused vodka and homemade ginger beer. What are the rooms like? Bedrooms are cosied up with plush wool carpets and locally built Westmorland beds, and some have panoramic views of The Lake District. Choose from Cosy (petite, but still stylish, with Zoffany fabrics), Superb or Master; the latter comes with astonishing Lake District views and Bramley bath products. Breakfast All the classics plus homemade granola, foraged wild mushrooms, Bannerigg Farm duck eggs, Slack’s Farm bacon and Cartmel Valley smoked salmon. Where to eat and drink nearby Expect spotty crockery and cow murals at Grasmere’s Jumble Room, a fun village bistro that serves everything from Whitby crab crostini to local lamb rump rubbed in rose harissa. Check rates and availability at theforestside.co.uk L’Enclume, Cartmel Check rates and availability at lenclume.co.uk In a nutshell Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Cartmel, with a famously-innovative menu that capitalises on local produce and the team’s creativity. There are bedrooms, too, scattered around the village. Why foodies stay here L’Enclume feels low-key and local with its stone-flagged floor and slate walls. But from the fragrant pink rhubarb cordial (served in a long glass with a slice of sweet, dried rhubarb) to the bread (homemade sourdough with a jar of rendered pork fat and apple), the attention to detail is palpable. Every dish is exquisite and clever. You might try a broth of artichoke, Westcombe cheddar and hen of the woods, which teases diners: the cheese ball is cheese-free (instead, cheese-infused water is thickened and made into balls). Valley venison, charcoal oil, mustard and fennel is a house specialty: delicately diced venison from the Holker estate is peppered with tiny sugary balls of gin infused with fennel and sugar, which explode in the mouth. Whatever you try, the ingredients are guaranteed to be seasonal and local – Rogan operates under a strict farm-to-table ethos. What are the rooms like? Simple, elegant and modern, with a choice of double, superior or deluxe. They’re dotted around Cartmel (two suites are in a townhouse that overlook the town square), and some come with beamed ceilings, window seats and views of the River Eea. Breakfast Breakfast is taken in L’Enclume’s more informal sister restaurant, Rogan & Co (informal up to a point - it still has a Michelin star). The usual suspects – fruit salads, smoked haddock, eggs come beautifully presented. Where to eat and drink nearby At the Pig & Whistle, Rogan’s pub, you can try small plates of brawn and black pudding fritters, pigs in blankets with mustard mayo, and homemade scotch eggs. There’s also a nice selection of ales, including Hartleys XB, Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde and Hawkshead Lakeland Lager. Check rates and availability at lenclume.co.uk The Drunken Duck Inn, Ambleside Doubles from £182 per night, check availability at booking.com In a nutshell A quirky, country-style watering hole that makes its own beer, enjoys panoramic views of the Lake District, and serves polished food that’s free from pretension. Why foodies stay here This has been a pub for at least 300 years, and became one of the area’s first gastropubs when new owners took over in the 1970s. The cooking is more refined than traditional pub grub: cheddar and almond soufflé comes with onion soubise and crispy sage, pork collar with celeriac, celery, truffle and crackling. As well as an excellent menu, The Drunken Duck also has an on-site microbrewery – try a pint of the single-hopped, citrussy Cat Nap. What are the rooms like? There are 13 of them, all simple and clean in style, with some in the pub and the rest in a L-shaped extension (built to suit the Drunken Duck’s style) at the back – the latter is a good option if you’re travelling with children and would like to avoid background chatter come bed-time. Deluxe rooms have leather armchairs, wool cushions and feature baths. Breakfast Try fried mushrooms and wild garlic pesto on an English muffin, or homemade granola, smoothies, sourdough toast with grapefruit marmalade, and overnight oats. Where to eat and drink nearby The Old Stamp House is a fine-dining bistro that serves strictly Cumbrian produce, including roe deer tartar with rye crumbs, pickled mushrooms and nasturtiums; and Cumbrian gingerbread with ginger panna cotta. Top fact: the setting is the cellar of the building where Wordsworth once worked as a distributor of stamps. Doubles from £182 per night, check availability at booking.com drunkenduckinn.co.uk <h3">The Rum Doodle, Windermere Doubles from £76 per night, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk In a nutshell Just one mile from Lake Windermere, this stylish b&b is named after mountaineering spoof novel, The Ascent of Rum Doodle. It specialises in Cumbrian-sourced breakfasts and homemade cakes. Why foodies stay here Mainly for the excellent breakfasts, but also for the style of the place – the theme is quintessentially English, with everything from vintage typewriters and worn Edwardian suitcases to Queen Elizabeth II tea caddies dotted throughout. Plus the owners are keen bakers, so expect a complimentary slice of carrot cake or a stack of homemade shortbread when you arrive. What are the rooms like? All nine bedrooms – each named after a The Ascent of Rum Doodle character – are peppered with antique and retro furnishings, and are decorated to match the personality of their namesakes; Shute, an expedition photographer, is all mirrored furniture and antique cameras while Burley, an extravagant individual, includes a freestanding pink bath and vintage wardrobes. Breakfast Blueberry pancakes, smoked haddock with poached eggs, or a mammoth Cumbrian breakfast, complete with peppery sausages and fresh eggs with rich yellow yolks. It’s taken in a room made wonderfully sunny with tall windows. Where to eat and drink nearby Five minutes’ away is The Wild Boar Inn, which benefits from its own micro-brewery and smokehouse. Try wild boar and damson scotch eggs, fillet steak with bone marrow gravy or rabbit and crayfish pie. Doubles from £76 per night, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk rumdoodlewindermere.com The Yan at Broadrayne, Grasmere Check rates and availability at theyan.co.uk In a nutshell This 1620s stone farmhouse, surrounded by grey-faced Lakeland Herdwick sheep, has been transformed into a boutique hotel halfway between Windermere and Keswick. There’s an on-site bistro that serves rustic Cumbrian food made from strictly local ingredients. Why foodies stay here The menu at The Yan Bistro covers every whim, from staples such as shepherd’s pie made with braised lamb and cheesy mash potato, to sharing platters of thyme and garlic beef brisket, baked potatoes filled with garlic cheese, corn on the cob, coleslaw and chargrilled flatbread. There are plenty of veggie options too (don’t miss mozzarella and roast tomatoes with saffron potatoes, roast figs, pesto and fresh basil), and a children’s menu. What are the rooms like? If you’re staying in the bistro bedrooms, you can choose between standard or deluxe. All seven bedrooms take inspiration from the surrounding fells, so expect plenty of wood and woollen cushions. Deluxe rooms can include a double sofa bed if there are four of you, and there are two pet-friendly rooms if you want to bring your dog. The Yan also has self-catering cottages, plus glamping pods. Expect more of the same natural materials and attention to detail, including sustainable cleaning products, expertly curated cooking kit, a cosy environment and terrace area for absorbing the incredible surrounding landscape. Breakfast A refreshingly original affair, including courgette, tomato and herb frittata with hash browns, tomato salsa and hollandaise sauce, or an epic plate of Cumberland sausage, middle back bacon, black pudding, homemade baked beans, hash browns, roasted tomatoes, fried field mushrooms, eggs and thick-cut buttered toast. There are lighter options, too, including homemade muesli with fruit and yogurt, and porridge topped with nuts and berries. Where to eat and drink nearby Lucia’s takeaway coffee shop, also in Grasmere, is perfect for on-the-go homemade sausage rolls, cinnamon buns, sourdough loaves and, of course, coffee. Just the thing when you’re planning a picnic. Check rates and availability at theyan.co.uk Words by Charlotte Morgan, Natalie Hardwick, Lucy Gillmore, Tony Naylor and Alan Spedding More hotel guides Best country house hotels in the UK Best health and wellness retreats Best hotels in London Best UK boutique hotels Best hotels in the Cotswolds Best Cornwall hotels Best London hotel bars to visit Best romantic hotels in the UK European hidden gems: hotels off the beaten track Best Paris hotels Best Spanish hotels Best Italian hotels Best restaurants with rooms in the UK Best Amsterdam hotels
A famously picturesque corner of Britain, popular with walkers and cyclists, the Dales also prides itself on its food – see the sights and tuck in
Looking for restaurants in the Yorkshire Dales? Check out the best places to eat in this picturesque corner of England, including cafés, bars and restaurants. Here's our local food and drink guide to the Yorkshire Dales… For more exciting restaurants and weekend ideas for food lovers, check out our best UK city breaks, Yorkshire foodie guide and the best restaurants in York. For more city guides, try our best restaurants in Birmingham, best restaurants in Glasgow, and the best restaurants in Manchester. Foodie experiences in the Yorkshire Dales The Black Bull, Sedbergh At the Dales’ western edge (next stop, the Lake District) this stylish inn excels with its chic rooms and chef Nina Matsunaga’s distinctive cooking. The Bull does the rural inn bit impressively (great roasts, Monday’s pie night) but Nina also cleverly channels global influences in dishes such as cured mackerel, ajo blanco, orange and daikon or Herdwick lamb with liver sauce and tomato salsa. For more tasty Sedbergh action, swing by The Meat Hook butcher, micropub The Thirsty Rambler and The Dalesman inn. theblackbullsedbergh.co.uk Black Swan Hotel, Ravenstonedale A destination since Victorian times, this attractive Westmorlandvillage inn has in recent years emerged as an award-winning stand-out. In summer, diners spread out into the courtyard and a riverside beer garden. Nifty pub classics (fish pie, double cheeseburger with gouda and bacon jam) are served alongside cheffier dishes such as scallops with preserved lemon and pancetta or a popular cheese soufflé made with goat’s cheese from local farm Piper Hole. blackswanhotel.com The Sun Inn, Kirkby Lonsdale The geography of the Yorkshire Dales National Park is such that several market towns – Kirkby Lonsdale a particularly charming example – fall just outside its official border but attract many Dales visitors. Spruce pub with rooms, The Sun Inn, is a good Kirkby base. Its dishes run from lunch salads and sandwiches to sophisticated mains such as braised beef with creamed potato, celeriac and pancetta sauce. Also in town check out excellent butcher Dales, the Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery tap The Royal Barn, and The Milking Parlour, home of cow to cone gelato-style ice creams made on the nearby dairy farm. sun-inn.info The Sandpiper Inn, Leyburn Jonathan Harrison, a 90s Roux Scholarship winner, is part of that generation of pioneering modern British chefs whose dedication to skilful scratch cooking revolutionised UK food. That approach has for more than 25 years made this gorgeous inn an essential for dishes as diverse as crab tagliatelle or crispy duck leg, mango salad, sauté potatoes and Asian dressing. Breads and ice creams are, of course, made in-house. thesandpiperinn.com Two Dales Bakery, Reeth Two Dales is a real bread advocate creating A1 sourdoughs, buttermilk-enriched sandwich loaves, patisserie and lush bakes. In the modish café you can brunch and lunch on french toast, serious sausage rolls, homemade soups and jazzy egg dishes, with smoked salmon or halloumi and pesto. Thursday’s takeaway pizzas are a hit with locals and holidaymakers. twodalesbakery.co.uk The Blue Lion, East Witton A handsome rural retreat that impresses, whether eating Isle of Mull cheddar rarebit at lunch in the bar (flagged floors, beams, local ales) or lingering over three courses in the restaurant. The menu is a classy crowd-pleaser in dishes such as homemade tagliatelle carbonara with guanciale (from ace charcuterie maker Cobbled Lane) or glazed pork belly with boudin noir, apple, charred Hispi and pickled mustard seeds. thebluelion.co.uk Hansom, Bedale Restaurant geeks have long tagged Ruth Hansom as one to watch and at her intimate restaurant, launched last year, this talented chef is cooking up something special in plates of, say, cured sea trout, kohlrabi, cucumber and smoked hollandaise or a Wensleydale cheese bread ’n’ butter pudding that is pressed, sliced and pan-fried in butter. Hansom’s centrepiece seven-course tasting menu changes constantly in reaction to peak seasonal, regional produce. hansomrestaurant.co.uk Grassington House, Grassington This restaurant with rooms is a go-to for numerous reasons: from afternoon tea to a summer G&T on its terrace, on pretty Grassington’s cobbled village square. In the kitchen chef-owner John Rudden, an experienced hand, ensures quality. The high-flying restaurant menu ranges from, for example, king scallop with chicken and wild mushroom tortellini, celeriac, chicken jus and seaweed velouté, to beef mignon with rag pudding, carrot purée, cabbage faggot an dred wine jus. grassingtonhouse.co.uk Rind, Austwick A satellite of London’s Cheese Bar, Rind shares a site with The Courtyard Dairy, where it creates beautiful wood-fired pizzas using British and Irish cheeses. The margherita is dressed with Old Winchester and UK mozzarella, while an eggs florentine inspired pizza has a sheep’s curd base and uses County Tipperary’s Cáis Na Tíre cheese. A funky canteen-style space with amazing views of the verdant Dales. thecheesebar.com The Angel at Hetton, near Skipton A legendary restaurant with rooms, this 15th century inn has experienced a chic, modern makeover under chef Michael Wignall, both in its interior styling and food. Michelin-starred tasting menus make intelligent, original use of the finest ingredients. Dishes might include the likes of marinated Isle of Mull scallop, blood orange, English wasabi and fennel or cod, kombu, cuttlefish and smoked pike roe. angelhetton.co.uk Foodie experiences Black Sheep Brewery, Masham On Nidderdale’s northern edge, Black Sheep’s visitor centre is a boon for beer fans. Drop in to sample classic Black Sheep cask ales at source or for greater insight into the brewery’s 30-plus years of history and the details of the brewing process itself – from the base mashing of malted barley upwards – take the brewery tour, available Thursday to Sunday. blacksheepbrewery.com Elsworth at the Mill, Skipton Husband and wife team Rebecca and chef Bruce Elsworth have worked in top-end Dales restaurants for years. Now, in an attractive event space at Skipton’s High Corn Mill, they run a busy programme of cooking demo with lunch sessions, personalised cooking classes and supper clubs, ranging from explorations of regional Italian cooking to collabs with artisan producers that celebrate the area’s vibrant food ecology. elsworthatthemill.co.uk Wensleydale Creamery, Hawes Originating in a 12th century Cistercian monastery, crumbly Wensleydale cheese endures as the Dales’ most famous food export. Visitors to the creamery can, as part of the ticketed ‘cheese experience’, watch a cheese-making demo and enjoy a guided tasting, as well as delving into that history. The chance to get a photo with Wensleydale fans Wallace & Gromit (here, life-size recreations woven in wool) is a fun bonus. wensleydale.co.uk Foodie town spotlight Settle This historic market town and the villages of surrounding Ribblesdale and Malhamdale are cultivating quite the food scene. In Settle, foodies are buzzing about the hip, crisply executed small plates at chef Iain Graham’s The Nettle restaurant. Elsewhere, refresh at High Street Coffee, micropub Millers @ Bar 13 or the Talbot Arms freehouse. For food shopping visit butcher and expert pie maker, Drake & Macefield, homewares store (and cute café) Car and Kitchen, Tuesday’s town market and Settle Artisan Market (second Sunday, monthly). Heading into the surrounding countryside, Lay of the Land is a small garden centre whose café, led by chef Jimmie Lay, is much-loved by discerning locals. As is Town End Farm Shop, a crucial outlet for regional artisan foods, including owner Chris Wildman’s charcuterie. Just a few miles from Settle, Austwick is home to the well-regarded hotel restaurant The Traddock and nationally significant food hub The Courtyard Dairy. The dairy retails up to 50 carefully matured cheeses from small farmhouse producers, houses a cheese museum and hosts events and cheese-making courses. It also shares its Crows Nest Barn location with pizzeria Rind, natural wine shop Buon Vino and artisan bakery Ambry. More UK restaurant guides Best restaurants in York Best restaurants in the Lake District Best restaurants in Manchester Best restaurants in Liverpool Best restaurants in Deal Best restaurants in Birmingham Best restaurants in St Albans Best restaurants in Bristol Best restaurants in Edinburgh Best restaurants in Whitstable Best restaurants in Oxford Best restaurants in Cambridge Best restaurants in Margate
25 small towns across the UK that every foodie should visit
From Welsh market towns with creative culinary gatherings to Yorkshire boroughs that are home to artisan roasters and gin distilleries, these are 10 of the best foodie towns across the UK for a staycation
Looking for UK staycations? Want to know the best towns for foodies? Check out our guide for the must-visit UK towns that every foodie should visit. Filled with must-try restaurants, bakeries and bars, there is something for everyone in 0ur gourmet picks – from an island getaway in Jersey to picturesque Bruton in Somerset's green rolling hills. For more travel inspiration, find out the best unique UK holiday cottages for foodies and check out our best gastropubs with rooms. Feeling active? See our picks of 10 unique walking holidays for foodies. If you're planning a summer holiday, check out our UK summer travel ideas. Totnes, Devon The market town of Totnes in Devon has some of the most progressive organic restaurants in the country. The Bull Inn is driving the charge with its ecological and social impact pledges, including commitments to “field grown, not flown”, mindful meat, seasonality and supplier-led organic food. Its inventive menu includes such dishes as roasted courgettes, whipped tahini, preserved lemon, pumpkin seed picada and basque cheesecake with plums. Eversfield organic farm shop & café has a menu of all-day brunch classics such as toasted banana bread with seasonal compote and Turkish eggs with warm chilli butter. The Totnes Sunday food market is the biggest in Devon offering up fine produce from local producers. For a taste of fine-dining, head to Gather which showcases locally sourced and wild foraged ingredients from Devon’s fields, shoreline, rivers and hedgerows. Where to stay: not just a restaurant, you can also stay at The Bull Inn. There are nine chic, minimally-designed rooms to choose from plus a four-bed self catering apartment (with it's own private terrace) that is ideal for larger groups. Doubles from £165, check availability at booking.com Alnwick, Northumberland The market town of Alnwick, famous for its historic castle, is quietly becoming something of a culinary hotspot. New fine-dining restaurant Sonnet serves up a tasting menu inspired by ingredients from small local farmers, producers of rare-breed meats and British fine food makers. Alnwick Brewery Co & Taproom has been producing traditional brown ales and IPAs since the 1860s, and is a lively hangout that regularly hosts food trucks from local establishments like Caribbean Ren’s Kitchen. The Bistro at The Cookie Jar is a relaxing restaurant serving up local produce in dishes such as tempura cod cheeks with spicy pea purée and chorizo crisps, and homemade ice creams and sorbets. And Jasper’s Bistro, in nearby Amble, is an intimate seafood restaurant with just six tables, specialising in locally landed lobster, crab and langoustines, with an excellent wine list. Check out our full guide to the best restaurants in Northumberland for more. Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth in Cornwall is famous for its scenic natural harbour and stunning views, and is now also something of a culinary hotspot. Perched on the rocks overlooking Swanpool beach is new seafood restaurant Beach House Falmouth, which is centred around a menu of fresh, local and sustainably sourced seafood. It serves delicious dishes like whole grilled Falmouth Bay crab with garlic butter, shell-on wild prawns with ’nduja, and fried oysters with aïoli. Harbour House, just over the bay in Flushing, is a waterside pub with a focus on seasonal dishes and local drinks. Its menu includes Fowey scallops from the grill, beef short rib cottage pie, and kedgeree scotch eggs with curry mayonnaise. Located between Mylor and Flushing, Food Barn is a weekly market with more than 20 stalls that champion local, sustainable food from traders like Allet Dairy, Penny’s Pies, Loveday distillery and Ruby June’s Indian Kitchen. Sabzi’s Deli serves up Cornish and British produce cooked into Middle Eastern-inspired dishes, like local roasted Savoys with sumac, butter beans and fresh herb chutney, and spiced roasted carrots with whipped tahini. Settle, Yorkshire Dales This historic market town and the villages of surrounding Ribblesdale and Malhamdale are cultivating quite the food scene. In Settle, foodies are buzzing about the hip, crisply executed small plates at chef Iain Graham’s The Nettle restaurant. Elsewhere, refresh at High Street Coffee, micropub Millers @ Bar 13 or the Talbot Arms freehouse. For food shopping visit butcher and expert pie maker, Drake & Macefield, homewares store (and cute café) Car and Kitchen, Tuesday’s town market and Settle Artisan Market (second Sunday, monthly). Heading into the surrounding countryside, Lay of the Land is a small garden centre whose café, led by chef Jimmie Lay, is much-loved by discerning locals. As is Town End Farm Shop, a crucial outlet for regional artisan foods, including owner Chris Wildman’s charcuterie. Just a few miles from Settle, Austwick is home to the well-regarded hotel restaurant The Traddock and nationally significant food hub The Courtyard Dairy. The dairy retails up to 50 carefully matured cheeses from small farmhouse producers, houses a cheese museum and hosts events and cheese-making courses. It also shares its Crows Nest Barn location with pizzeria Rind, natural wine shop Buon Vino and artisan bakery Ambry. Folkestone, Kent The coastal town of Folkestone in Kent offers a unique blend of creativity, seaside charm, and hidden foodie hotspots which are lesser known than some of its trendy seaside neighbours such as Margate and Rye. The Folkestone Harbour Arm is home to an outdoor array of shipping containers which have been converted into independent food businesses, offering everything from fresh oysters and champagne to global street food, all set against the backdrop of stunning sea views. Highlights include poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes), and inventive cocktails. For a relaxed family meal, head to Rocksalt, where local produce takes centre stage in dishes like Romney Marsh lamb and Folkestone-caught mackerel. Folkestone's Creative Quarter, brims with live music, tapas, cafés and Kentish beers and wine. In the evening, discover strong and perfectly-formed cocktails at The Potting Shed which will transfer you back-in-time to the vibrant 1920s. Where to stay: Shoreline Holiday rentals are the ideal base for exploring Folkestone. Each property is thoughtfully styled, offering luxurious yet cozy interiors, well-equipped kitchens, and private balconies with sweeping views of the English Channel. Perfect for families and couples alike, there’s two and four-bedroom beach houses on offer, all within walking distance of beaches, galleries, and restaurants. Jersey, Channel Islands A short hop from the UK (or France), Jersey, famous for its prized potatoes, oysters and rich custard-yellow cream – is having a gourmet revival. Restaurant pêtchi, from island-raised chef and Great British Menu finalist Joe Baker, is leading the charge. Its menu celebrates the abundance of the island’s local seafood with dishes such as Chancre crab and seaweed tarts, and a signature wood-roasted lobster rice. JEJE, housed in St Helier’s historic fish market, specialises in fresh sushi and Korean-inspired dishes made using the daily catch. Over on St Ouen’s Bay is SANDS, whose menu is inspired by Australasian and Californian coastal cuisine, with homemade tacos and sodas like its apricot/cardamom and lychee/vetiver. And for a nightcap head to The Porter’s Store, a stylish speakeasy with live music and cocktail masterclasses on offer. Reigate, Surrey Reigate has had an influx of foodie establishments in recent years, making it well worth a visit. Lebnani – from chef Jad Youssef – is leading the charge. Its menu is inspired by the food of Beirut with traditional meze and charcoal grills designed for sharing, using the finest spices, herbs and grains from Lebanon, combined with local ingredients. Chalk Hills Bakery makes artisan breads that use traditional long-fermenting methods, each kneaded by hand, including sourdough with potato, rosemary and nigella seeds. The Chapel is an independent café specialising in perfectly brewed coffee, open sandwiches and sausage brioche rolls using meat from local family butcher Robert & Edwards. And New Gurkha Kitchen serves up authentic Nepalese cuisine, like Gurkha aloo (potatoes with turmeric and cumin), Kathmandu chicken and Nepalese-style chow – stir-fried noodles with spices. Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire Famous for its spirited community ethos which has attracted writers and artists for decades, Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire is now a hotbed for culinary creatives. At its heart is Kitchen 91, a micro-bakery and dining room in a converted weaver’s warehouse specialising in Italian cuisine with sustainability at its core. Independent cooperative Valley Organics sells ethically sourced ingredients from local producers, and Goo Cheese has a range of more than 100 British and continental cheeses with an emphasis on lesser known cheesemakers. Stylish contemporary restaurant Coin is the best spot for dinner, serving small plates such as Crown Prince squash, rocket, Loch Arthur yogurt and smoked almonds alongside an extensive list of natural wines. For a night cap, lively bottle shop Drink (open until 10pm) has a range of regional craft ales, fruit sours and cloudy gose beers from across the county. Bruton, Somerset Picturesque Bruton is nestled among Somerset's green rolling hills and has become a something of magnet for unconventional chefs and arty culinary creatives in recent years, turning the once quiet market town into a foodie hot spot. At the Chapel – a Grade II listed restaurant-gallery-hotel hybrid – takes pride of place in the centre of Bruton high street, serving a Mediterranean menu that heroes West Country produce and a wine store filled with organic, biodynamic vintages. Durslade Farm Shop showcases artisan makers and growers of Somerset in the chic Hauser & Wirth Gallery. The Newt country estate hosts seasonal gastronomic events such as foraging masterclasses and artisan cyder tasting in its orchard. And Michelin-starred restaurant Osip, fronted by chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, has removed all menus entirely – asking diners to put their faith in the hands of its masterful chefs. Where to stay: Number One Bruton is a revamped Georgian townhouse that offers 12 bedrooms and a sense of playfulness behind the polish. In the Georgian townhouse itself, designers Frank & Faber have decorated the bedrooms with a tasteful riot of pattern on pattern, plus period fireplaces and gilt mirrors. For a more modern feel, a trio of cottages behind the main house (overlooking the courtyard garden) have simple white bathrooms, quarry-tiled floors and neutral colour schemes, reflecting their former status as workshops. Breakfast, taken in Osip (see above), is totally unique in terms of its offerings. Try vanilla-spiked rice pudding topped with homemade granola and a spoonful of toffee-ish milk jam; still-warm boiled egg cradled in a little nest of hay; pheasant terrine and chutney on freshly baked sourdough; or a sliver of jammy pear and quince tart. Check rates and availability at numberonebruton.com Lyme Regis, Dorset Affectionately known as the pearl of Dorset, thanks to its beautiful bay, the areas surrounding Lyme Regis are also rich in culinary delights. The Seaside Boarding House, overlooking Lyme Bay, champions local Dorset produce and has a guest series with a host of exciting chefs including Jeremy Lee, Rick Toogood and Abby Lee. The Parlour at Bredy Farm offers Italian small plates like Tuscan fish stew with Dorset clams and courgettes alla poverella. And Rachels in West Bay is a beach side hut with fresh local seafood platters, moules and chowder, plus it gets our vote for the best fish and chips in the area. Stockbridge, Scotland Perched on the Water of Leith river and blessed with eye-catching architecture, this hip, upmarket inner suburb is a very pleasant 25-minute walk from central Edinburgh. Beyond its period charms (check cobbled Insta fave, Circus Lane), it is also a tasty place to eat. Acclaimed fine dining restaurants eòrna and Avery, which previously operated in San Francisco, rub shoulders with ambitious gastropub, the Scran & Scallie, cool basement small plates joint, Skua, and the Last Word Saloon, sister bar to legendary cocktail spot, Bramble. Wine geeks will love pace-setting wine bar, Smith & Gertrude (do not miss its grilled Montgomery cheddar sandwich) and the shopping opportunities at treasure trove, Raeburn Fine Wines, Vino and newcomer, Communique Wines. To accompany those wines, food shop at Stockbridge Market (Sundays) or cheesemongers IJ Mellis or George Mewes. Before the steep climb back into Edinburgh, refuel on next-level croissants at revered bakery, Lannan, or take a moment in craft beer haven, Stockbridge Tap, or Edinburgh Cider Co’s The Cider House. Aldeburgh, Suffolk Aldeburgh, a small seaside town in Suffolk, is famous for its annual food and drink festival, and something of a hot gastronomic ticket. The Lighthouse serves simple home-cooked fare with a neighbourhood vibe – including its very own Lighthouse 77 gin, which includes botanicals such as heather and liquorice. Sea Spice is a beautiful restaurant that combines local Suffolk produce with flavourful Indian cooking. The beach is lined with shacks selling boxes of prawns and smoked fish from local artisans including Butley Oysterage. And, like all great coastal towns, there’s the iconic Aldeburgh Fish & Chips made the traditional Suffolk way – fried in beef dripping! Be it colour palettes and decorative touches inspired by the Suffolk countryside or a guest pantry where you can pour yourself a complimentary cocktail, every detail of six-bedroom The Suffolk has been carefully considered. Enjoy the rooftop sea-view terrace, then head down to the restaurant, where chef Tom Payne makes impressive use of Suffolk produce, such as Gressingham duck or Dingley Dell pork. From Butley Creek oysters to lemon sole in Pernod garlic butter, seafood is prominent. Check rates and availability at the-suffolk.co.uk Malton, Yorkshire There’s so much going on in Yorkshire’s food capital of Malton right now. Those serious about their food won’t be disappointed. Over a four year period, 26 food and drink businesses have set up shop here. Many cluster around Talbot Yard – a former stables – which now houses an artisan roaster, Roost, the Bluebird Bakery, the Groovy Moo gelateria, macaron-maker Florian Poirot, the Rare Bird Gin Distillery and a butcher, Food 2 Remember. Other dates for the diary include the Malton Harvest Food Festival in October, and the monthly food markets. These events bring together the wider area’s exceptional producers’ including Malton Cider, cheese from Botton Creamery, chutneys from Sloemotion and lots more. Where to stay: Talbot Inn (owned – like much of Malton – by aristocrat Tom Naylor-Leyland and his glamorous wife and Vogue-contributor Alice) has relaxed décor, in a glamorous, playful sort of way. Ex-Lucky Onion stalwarts, Georgie and Sam Pearman, spruced up the 26-bedroomed Talbot, bringing a modern style to the imposing 17th-century coaching inn, resulting in oak-floored rooms where modern art and antique finds rub alongside ancestral portraits. Eating is when and where you want. Already savoured the views of the watermeadows from the plant-draped Garden Room? Curl up by the log fires in the Snug, or slouch into a leather armchair beneath the wall-mounted wild boar in the navy-walled Upper Bar. Wherever you sit, jeaned and Converse-sneakered waiting staff miraculously appear. Doubles at Talbot Inn from £96 per night, check availability at booking.com Studland, Dorset The village of Studland, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, is gathering a reputation as a beach destination with discerning culinary clout. Shell Bay Restaurant & Bistro – on the tip of the Jurassic Coast – is a scenic sunset-watching spot that specialises in open-fire cooking. Its exciting menu champions local lobster, bass and Poole Bay oysters, with dishes including fire-roasted miso and yuzu cod and pepper soft-shell crab with smoked pineapple chilli sauce. The Pig on the Beach has a walled kitchen garden and is committed to home-grown produce with its 25-mile menu, serving veg picked that morning and transformed into dishes such as marinated beetroot with spiced hazelnut crumb and blood orange. Across the water from Studland in Poole is Thirteen from head chef Alex Naik, whose tasting menus combine locally sourced and foraged ingredients – courses might include the likes of mushroom tom kha soup with seaweed noodles, velvet shank and oysters, and thyme panna cotta with orange jelly, ginger gel and clementine powder. And Bankes Arms is a pub by the sea that’s also home to the award-winning Isle of Purbeck Brewery – serving up the likes of Studland Bay Wrecked, Solar Power, Fossil Fuel and Purbeck IPA. Moreton-in-Marsh, Cotswolds In the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the market town of Moreton-in-Marsh makes an ideal base for a ‘foodie’ trip. A short hop from popular villages and towns such as Daylesford (famous for its organic farm, shop and restaurant), Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold, it benefits from good public transport links including direct trains to London. The main street is lined with handsome stone buildings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, many of them shops, tea rooms, pubs and places to eat. There are plenty of places to stay the night, including the White Hart Royal, a former manor house where King Charles I took refuge during the Civil War. The main public building is the Redesdale Hall which holds antiques and craft fairs, and there’s a weekly Tuesday street market. When it comes to eating out, Henne is highly regarded by the locals with its inventive and sustainably driven menu using hyper-local produce. If it’s artisan bread and patisserie you’re after, Otis & Belle bakery is exceptional and The Cotswold Cheese Company sells countless local cheeses. A short drive out of town is the Michelin-starred Royal Oak at Whatcote. Tisbury, Wiltshire In Wiltshire’s pretty Nadder Valley, Tisbury is more village than town yet still packs a punch when it comes to eating and drinking. On its edge the Grade I thatched Tithe Barn has been converted into Messum’s, a contemporary art gallery where the Mess Restaurant offers much more sophisticated fare than your standard museum café. In the morning Genius Coffea, on the High Street, is the first port of call. For sustenance to go with it, continue on to Tisbury Deli where the shelves prop up goodies from croissants to pork pies. Pick up a bottle to go with your supplies from <The Beckford Bottle Shop, where you can try-before-you-buy and get expert advice from staff. Pythouse Kitchen Garden should be on everyone’s radar too; not only for the first-rate restaurant but because the company’s glamping village, tucked away in the orchard, is the perfect place to stay. Where to stay: Pubs in the area are plentiful but few focus on food; the exception is The Beckford Arms where you’ll need to book to get ahead of the locals who come for a Beckford Bloody Mary and stay on for Sunday lunch. Doubles from £91 per night, check availability at mrandmrssmith.com North Berwick, Scotland There’s a food revolution underway in the seaside town of North Berwick, just half an hour from Edinburgh by train along the East Lothian coast. Millennials priced out of the city have de-camped to the coast bringing with them a demand for flat whites and sourdough – which they get at Steampunk Coffee Roasters and the <Bostock Bakery. The croissants at the latter are so good that NOMA’s René Redzepi sent his pastry chef from Copenhagen to learn from Bostock’s Ross Baxter. For seafood, try Lobster Shack – a seasonal operation on the harbour that cooks its catch from the neighbouring Firth of Forth Lobster Hatchery between Easter and October; the lobster and crab bisque is exceptional and the Shack is licensed so you can order a glass of crisp white to go with it. A blustery and beautiful walk out of town brings you to shipping container turned coffee shop DRIFT, perched on an outcrop above Canty Bay; sit in and order the bacon and egg sandwich with herby aioli. Where to stay: Stay just out of town, in Gullane, at The Bonnie Badger, Tom and Michaela Kitchin’s restaurant with rooms. Doubles from £236 per night, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com Deal, Kent Kent’s coastal towns are smartening up, luring in a hip London crowd who steer south on fast trains. Whilst foodies still love Whitstable, Deal is the buzzy new kid on the block. Find everything from Kent’s favourite chippie, Middle Street Fish Bar to date-night-dining at Victuals & Co. where the Raid the Larder menu on Sunday evenings is particularly good value. The Deal Dining Club is an institution and its Friday and Saturday night set-menu feasts always sell out; typical events include a Taste of Kent, with a menu boasting Canterbury cheese puffs, Kentish brown shrimp, local pigeon, home-smoked haddock and rhubarb crème brulee. It’s BYOB so pick up a bottle beforehand at Le Pinardier, a French wine bar and shop with an array of predominantly natural wines. Where to stay: Cross the road to The Rose where the seasonal cocktails are invented by local forager and chef, Lucia Stuart, who also runs excursions such as a Berry Bonanza Wilderness Picnic via The Wild Kitchen. As well as a bar, restaurant and pretty courtyard garden, The Rose has eight artfully-designed bedrooms. It’s worth staying for breakfast – the sourdough toast with pear and ginger jam is scrumptious. Doubles from £167 per night, check availability at booking.com Orford, Suffolk The Suffolk town of Orford may have kick-started its foodie reputation with the opening of the renowned Pump Street Bakery (a visit to its Suffolk-pink premises for breakfast pastries is a must) but the business has done a pivot into artisan chocolate-making so save space to try one of their artisan bars too. Proximity to the shingly coastline means the town is also home to two excellent seafood spots, fixtures since the 1950s – Butley Oysterage, a smart restaurant serving up plump oysters and griddled prawns dripping in garlic butter, and the sister shop, Pinney’s, where you can buy smoked fish, potted crab and angels on horseback to take away. If you’re visiting in September, Orford also makes a great base for exploring Aldeburgh Food Festival – confusingly not in Aldeburgh town but, rather, at nearby Snape Maltings, the Victorian red-brick malt kilns turned world-famous concert halls that sit amongst the reedbeds on Suffolk’s river Alde. It’s a great setting to learn, among other things, how to make bread courtesy of Marriage’s Bakery Room. Where to stay: Orford’s pub, the The Crown and Castle, promises smart bedrooms overlooking Orford’s 12th century castle, or there’s the Wash House Studio B&B – stay in a sweet shepherd’s hut or the converted wash house next to the coastguards cottages and wake up to find a breakfast hamper covered with a gingham cloth on your doorstep in the morning. Doubles at The Crown and Castle from £122, check availability at booking.com Abergavenny, Wales Abergavenny Food Festival takes place each September and is one of the most creative and dynamic culinary gatherings in the UK, also one of the longest running. Regulars come for talks by Diana Henry and Bee Wilson, Dinner Party masterclasses with Rosie Birkett and Elly Pear, vegan BBQing tips from Matt Pritchard, debates on sustainable farming, a children’s cookery school and outdoor feasts based around wild cooking. Beyond the festival, you’ll find a quiet market town packed with independent shops like The Angel Bakery, which serves seasonal fruit pastries and perfect artisanal baguettes. Pair one of the latter with a ploughman’s hamper from The Marches Deli (it includes three Welsh cheeses, local chutney, Cradocs crackers and Welsh ale). The top table in town for breakfast and lunch is at The Kitchen at The Chapel where soda bread is baked each morning and might be served with pumpkin, butter bean and olive oil soup and a local craft cider, while the Michelin-starred Walnut Tree Inn is just outside town. Where to stay: Stay at Old Lands in one of three pretty holiday cottages set within converted stables and barns on an old family estate. There’s a walled garden and an on-site micro farm shop and guests can book children into Forest School, go on a nature walk or take a rowing boat out to an island on the estate’s lake. Check rates and availability at old-lands.co.uk Clitheroe, Lancashire The Lancashire market town of Clitheroe, in the Forest of Bowland, is the hub of Lancashire’s Ribble Valley. You’ll find a heaving cheese counter at Holmes Mill, Clitheroe’s monumental new food hall, and regional produce galore at Booths. Dip into independent food shops, such as Cowman’s Famous Sausage Shop, which sells over 70 varieties. Then go for a walk on Pendle Hill, followed by lunch at the Assheton Arms in Downham. Where to stay: Stay over at Freemasons At Wiswell, just south of town. As well as a chef’s table experience the dining pub has added bedrooms; enjoy Herdwick lamb with aubergine and miso purée, and a superlative vanilla slice, then stumble into bed. Or head half an hour out of town to remote Dale House, a 400-year-old farm. One of its owners used to work as a chef for the Roux brothers so expect standout breakfasts and sumptuous (zero-mile) dinners, such as venison haunch steak with blackberries followed by homemade eccles cakes. Doubles from £160 per night, check availability at freemasonsatwiswell.com Porthleven, Cornwall Almost as far southwest as you can get in England, Porthleven is a pretty Cornish port that greets you with waving sailing flags and colourful buoys bobbing in the water (and a medley of carefully curated food stalls if you time a trip to tie in with the annual Porthleven Food Festival each spring). It may be a tiny town, but the food scene is growing at pace here – think Padstow thirty years ago. Current highlights include Origin, a coffee roasters that started here but now has shops in Shoreditch, Edinburgh, the British Library and Southwark too. Next door is Kota Kai which serves Thai tapas and forms a more relaxed little sister to Kota restaurant, up the road. Run by half-Maori, half Chinese Malay chef, Jude Kereama, Kota (meaning ‘shellfish’ in Maori) serves Cornish seafood with Asian and Kiwi influences; think pan-fried hake, crab ravioli, Cornish mussels and tiger prawns in a vegetable dashi broth or Porthilly oyster tempura with wasabi tartare. Try the tasting menu and then stumble upstairs to bed. Where to stay: Kota has two bedrooms above it so you don’t need to leave town. Alternatively rent a picture-perfect thatched cottage on the nearby Trelowarren Estate, also home to the excellent New Yard restaurant. Bridport, Dorset It’s over fifteen years since Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall turned the spotlight on field-to-fork dining in Dorset, with the River Cottage, and West Dorset is now a firmly foodie pocket of the UK. Exciting things are happening in the market town of Bridport. A vibey Asian street food joint might be the last thing you’d expect to stumble on up a small-town alley, but Dorshi is exactly that. The name (“Dorset-sushi”) stems from the founders’ days spent doing a roaring trade out of a food truck. Now in a bricks-and-mortar restaurant the menu is all about dumplings, buns, zingy salads and noodle bowls. Likewise the Soulshine Café is on-the-button with superfood spirulina smoothies, oat milk lattes and a vegan full English on the menu – meat-eaters needn’t worry you’ll find sausage sarnies here too. For a sweet treat visit Baboo Gelato where the ice cream is award-winning – try the plum sorbet. Just outside the town visit Washingpool Farm, home to one of the region’s best farm shops (it stocks its own veggies as well as other local produce, like North Perrott apple juice and Dorset Cereals. Where to stay: Stay further up the sands at the Seaside Boarding House, a hip hotel with unrivalled views over Lyme Bay, elegant modern cooking and a grown-up line in cocktails. Ashburton, Devon Dartmouth and Salcome might get all the attention in Devon’s southernly corner, but look inland for fewer crowds and great food spots. Ashburton, on the edge of Dartmoor, is home to the famed Ashburton Cookery School where over 40 classes are offered from a five-day patisserie week to a three-hour Indian cook-to-go and a recently introduced range of Christmas classes, from festive breadmaking to party canapés and chocolate advent calendar workshops. If you’d rather leave the hard work to the experts, the award-winning Ashburton Deli is the place to go, stocked with the best produce from across the West. Ten minutes’ out of town, meanwhile, brings you to Riverford, the organic farming champions – visit their home turf for lunch or supper at The Riverford Field Kitchen where the set veggie menu is about as close to farm-to-fork as can be. Where to stay: Stay at the Live and Let Live pub where there’s excellent provenance-orientated food and three bright and airy bedrooms. Kendal, Lake District But for its eponymous mint cake, Kendal is not known for its food. It is overlooked entirely by many visitors who, alighting at Oxenholme station or racing past from the M6, head straight for the Lakes’ better-known hot spots. This is a mistake. The food and drink scene in this handsome market town is on a flavour-packed roll at casual dining spots such as Comida, Marra 46, Pappy’s Texas BBQ, Baba Ganoush and exciting small plates restaurant, Ramble, run by wine-maker, Northern Wine. It is home to two mega breweries, Lakes Brew Co, which hosts street food traders at its monthly brew-tap, and Fell (check its bar and new arts venue, Glisky). Kendal also boasts award-winning butcher, Roast Mutton, a carefully curated, twice-monthly farmers’ and artisan-makers’ market (second/last Fridays), and, just outside town, one of Britain’s best bakeries, Lovingly Artisan – a neighbour to, among other food businesses, Plumgarths farm shop. Is Kendal Cumbria’s tastiest town? Quite possibly. Where to stay: 20-minutes drive from Kendal, Gilpin Hotel & Country House in Windermere offres luxurious bedrooms with lakeside views, and an on-site Michelin-starred restaurant that puts an Asian twist on Cumbrian dining. Doubles from £335 per night, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk Words by Daisy Allsup Photographs by Clare Hargreaves, Weekend Journals, Rhiannon Batten, Helen Cathcart, Keiko Oikawa More travel guides Best country house hotels in the UK Best health and wellness retreats Best hotels in London Best UK boutique hotels Best hotels in the Cotswolds Best Cornwall hotels Best hotels in the Lake District Best London hotel bars to visit Best romantic hotels in the UK European hidden gems: hotels off the beaten track Best Paris hotels Best Spanish hotels Best Italian hotels Best restaurants with rooms in the UK Best Amsterdam hotels
Famous for football, music and nightlife, this lively city increasingly draws a crowd for food, too, from hip snacking to modern fine dining
Looking for Liverpool restaurants? Check out the best places to eat in Liverpool, including cafés, bars and restaurants. Here's our local food and drink guide to Liverpool… For more city guides, check out the best restaurants in Birmingham, best restaurants in Glasgow, best restaurants in York and the best restaurants in Manchester. Discover more best restaurants in Cardiff. Best places to eat and drink in Liverpool Manifest – for casual fine dining in industrial settings Historically the Baltic Triangle served Liverpool docks. Now its industrial units are a nightlife hub of brew taps, street food and crazy golf. Quietly tucked away on Watkinson Street, Manifest is an intimate bolthole where chef Paul Durand creatively explores fine seasonal produce and his skills in sourdough, fermentation and charcuterie. Expect interesting wines and dishes akin to char siu celeriac, burnt apple and hazelnut, or cod loin, carrot, sea buckthorn and smoked mussel sauce. manifestrestaurant.com Belzan – for small plates in a bistro-chic dining room Heading out of central Liverpool, Smithdown Road is home to Caribbean café, Raggas, Italians Fritto and Little Furnace, and hip, easy-going Belzan, a small plates restaurant with a big rep. Think chicken mustard croquettes with wild garlic mayo; soused mackerel, blood orange, Guindilla and olives; or smoked pork chop with kohlrabi remoulade. All served in a simple, bistro-chic dining room with cool cocktails and good wine. belzan.co.uk Little Furnace – for wood-fired Neapolitan pizza At its cosy Smithdown Road HQ and Baltic Market, Little Furnace slings exemplary wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas. Patiently proven dough is blast-cooked to create pliable, elastic bases, gorgeously swollen at their cornicione rim. Well-judged toppings range from such timeless classics as fennel sausage and friarielli to goat’s cheese and balsamic onion chutney. littlefurnace.co.uk Wreck – for high-spec, all-day dining for all ages Chef Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros restaurants are friendly, high-quality, all-purpose affairs. The cooking is rigorous. Menus cater for all ages. Modern food trends are skilfully woven in. That MO has made Wreck popular from breakfast onwards. Dishes range from revamped classics (for example, confit duck leg with smoked bacon butter bean cassoulet, salsa verde and duck fat crumb) to contemporary plates such as miso-glazed belly bacon with sesame cream and black radish salad. wreck-bistro.co.uk Lunya – for a taste of Spain This large, modern deli-restaurant has paid loving homage to Spain – and Catalan food, in particular – for 15 years. Feast on grilled sobrasada with whipped goat’s cheese and wild honey, gambas pil pil or pre-order sharing roasts such as the Segovian suckling pig. After eating, stock up on produce from Asturian ciders to the Navarran sheep’s cheese, roncal. There is a sister venue, Lunyalita, at the Albert Dock. lunya.co.uk Madre – for modern takes on Mexican cuisine This colourful Albert Dock restaurant is much loved for its next-level tacos (do not miss the birria with slow-cooked beef shin) and its crisp, modern takes on Mexican cuisine, in dishes such as watermelon salad with chilli, mint, feta and a strawberry vinaigrette, or wood-fired pistachio-crust lamb breast with avo salsa. On sunny days the fun extends out onto a large terrace. Also, this summer, look out for the opening of a Liverpool Salon, Madre’s pool hall meets tacos spin-off. thisismadre.co.uk Vetch – for modern British dishes with Nordic and East Asian influences Opened in spring 2024, Vetch is an ambitious addition to Liverpool. Expect polished service in a relaxed dining room, where 2021 Great British Menu winner Dan McGeorge creates modern British dishes with clear Nordic and East Asian influences. His cooking is elevated work, full of exciting flavours. Brief menu descriptions (duck, beetroot, damson, say) barely hint at the layered complexity on the plate. Barbecued monkfish, for example, comes with leeks used in four different ways, a hot dashi and XO broth, and pearls of ponzu dressing. Carefully chosen wines and bespoke cocktails seal this refined deal. vetchrestaurant.com Nord – for a menu celebrating Northern heritage A stylishly retro-futurist space (think sixties sci-fi chic) where exec chef Daniel Heffy’s team is cooking to great acclaim. Star dishes, such as beef tartare, tallow emulsion, macadamia and pickled cucumber, or seasonal entries such as a spring dish of butter-poached hake with sorrel cream, Jersey Royals, smoked eel and peas, are intelligently designed and deliver memorable flavours. Daniel also leads the kitchen at The Hightown Inn, a pub and dining room in Hightown, a coastal village between Liverpool and Southport. nordrestaurant.co.uk Buyers Club – for fresh pasta, pizza and spritz cocktails Easily missed (look for the archway entrance off Hardman Street), Buyers Club courtyard garden is a sweet summer location for spritz cocktails and pizza. Its reliably brilliant fresh pasta dishes are reason to visit all year round. Try orecchiette with ’nduja and fennel sausage, mascarpone and sage pangrattato or the pappardelle with 14-hour braised beef shin ragu. buyers-club.co.uk Duke Street Market – for an industrial-chic food hall An attractive space with a convivial buzz, Duke Street feels right even before you take a bite – and even better after you do. Kitchens include steak specialist Bone and Block, whose menu runs to 1kg ex-dairy Galician sharing steaks; Big Lola’s for tacos or burritos; and Barbina, which serves fresh pasta dishes of, for example, rigatoni with ox cheek ragu or lobster and crab ravioli. dukestreetmarket.com Bar Glue – for cocktails in an award winning bar From brewery tap Black Lodge to the Liverpool Gin Distillery bar and its Gin Lab, this city offers numerous diversions for curious drinkers. If cocktails are your thing, make a beeline for the multi award winning bijou Bar Glue. Takeover nights with globally renowned bars, such as Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy, indicate the ambition at play here. The Glue vibe is relaxed but in its fastidious sourcing of rare bottles, homemaking of ingredients and creative serves, it is working tirelessly to deliver distinctive drinks. barglue.com Baltic Market – for a tasty array of street food A Liverpool scene linchpin, this warehouse chow down is home – in the likes of Listo Burrito, the Middle Eastern inspired Hafla Hafla, or wood-fired pizzeria Little Furnace – to a tasty array of kitchens. Proper plates, cutlery and glassware is a grown-up, eco-friendly touch and, with its steak frites and beer-battered fish and chips, chef Livia Alarcon’s La Bistroteca is broadening Baltic Market’s range beyond the street food classics. balticmarket.co.uk Delifonseca – for retail food hall treasures This large, modern Brunswick Dock retail food hall and restaurant is a treasure trove. At the butchery counter you will find acclaimed Wirral butcher, Edge & Son, a specialist in locally sourced, rare and native breed meats, while Delifonseca’s shelves are stacked with gourmet treats from Liverpool (Black Lodge beers; Plattsville Bakehouse breads; handmade Toxteth Chocolate), Britain and around the world. delifonseca.co.uk Neighbourhood spotlight Bold Street and Ropewalks When locals talk of Bold Street they mean not just that main drag but also the grid of streets (aka Ropewalks) it sandwiches with Duke Street. In the past decade, that compact area has proven a fertile ground for bars, restaurants and nightlife. Where once Matta’s International Foods or treasured veggie-vegan veteran, The Egg Cafe, were foodie outliers, second gen pioneers such as boho café-bar Leaf, ace Levantine restaurant Maray, and Bold Street Coffee (do not miss its toasted brioche brekkie sandwiches) put Bold Street on the map and helped attract many flavour-forward indies to the area, from Liverpool and beyond. Today, those originals share Bold Street with, for example, Middle Eastern and North African spot Bakchich, coffee/wine bar Ropes & Twines and hot imports from across the north, including Fat Hippo burgers, Leeds-based Gujarati snack geniuses Bundobust and doughnut kiosk Gooey. The story is the same on the surrounding streets where local faves such as Hibiki Sushi & Ramen, cocktail bar Berry and Rye or Duke Street Market operate alongside growing northern brands such as Neapolitan-style pizza crew Rudy’s. Given its ultra- central location it is but a short hop from Bold Street to everything else, too. You could, for example, walk to specialist beer bar Dead Crafty, or Hope Street pub and dining room, The Dog & Collar, in 10 minutes. From Bold Street, Liverpool, if not the world, is your oyster. More UK restaurant guides Best restaurants in Deal Best restaurants in Birmingham Best restaurants in St Albans Best restaurants in Bristol Best restaurants in Edinburgh Best restaurants in York Best restaurants in Whitstable Best restaurants in Oxford Best restaurants in Cambridge Best restaurants in Margate Best restaurants in Manchester Best restaurants in Glasgow Best restaurants in the Lake District Best restaurants in Brighton
Foodie road trip in Ribble Valley, Lancashire
This bosky corner of Lancashire should be rammed but, for now, you can enjoy its posh hotpots, artisan cheeses and venison cobblers in peace
Looking for restaurants in Ribble Valley? Want to know where to eat in Clitheroe? Head on a foodie road trip through Ribble Valley and the Forest of Bowland, stopping off at country pubs, hotel estates and cream tea cafés. Many tourists still bypass Lancashire for the more obvious charms of the Lakes and its traditional rival, Yorkshire. They’re missing a trick. The Ribble Valley, most of which is in the Forest of Bowland (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), is where you’ll find charming market town Clitheroe, with its tiny castle, a clutch of picture-perfect villages and a cast of inspirational chefs and food producers linked by a food trail. Read on for our picks of where to go in the Ribble Valley. Best restaurants in the Ribble Valley The Inn at Whitewell When Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon careered north on their gourmet road trip for BBC2’s The Trip, their first stop was the The Inn at Whitewell in Lancashire’s unspoilt Forest of Bowland. This rambling inn, its old stonework a tangle of creepers, is cradled by rolling sheep-speckled hills above the River Hodder. Inside, fires blaze and crackle in open grates, walls are crammed with hunting prints and men in tweed prop up the bar. You’re not going to stumble on it by accident, but the effort it takes to get here is worth it, as its many punters appreciate. Don't miss the classic Lancashire hotpot with pickled red cabbage and crusty bread. Beneath a wafer-thin lid of crispy potato the lamb is soft and doused in a buttery gravy, the shredded cabbage adds a sweet acidity that cuts through the richness. innatwhitewell.com Best food shops in the Ribble Valley Mrs Kirkham's farm shop Cheese is one of Lancashire’s oldest specialities. As far back as 1199 King John granted Preston a Royal Charter to hold an annual cheese fair. The rich grasslands on the edge of the Forest of Bowland (the name comes from the Norse Bu-land, meaning cattle land) are well-suited to dairy farming and have been dubbed Lancashire’s milk fields. I’m heading there the next day to award-winning Mrs Kirkham’s Cheese in Goosenargh. They still make cheese the traditional way, blending the curd and covering it with salted butter – rather than wax – to protect it. The Kirkhams have been making raw cow’s milk cheese from their herd of Holstein Friesians for 35 years. Head to the farm shop to take your pick from the heaving cheese counter, as well as produce from local artisans. mrskirkhamscheese.co.uk At Mrs Kirkham's Cheese they still make cheese the traditional way, blending the curd and covering it with salted butter Cowman’s Famous Sausage Shop A Clitheroe High Street stalwart. The shop’s 70-strong sausage recipes range from pork and plum with mulled wine and spices to lamb, mint and rosemary and a beef and beer version made with local stout. cowmans.co.uk There’s more beer on the edge of Clitheroe. The Bowland Brewery is an exciting new development in a 19th-century cotton mill. The sprawling buildings now house a café, artisan bakery, beer hall and ice-cream parlour, with a boutique hotel on the cards. The beer hall lays claim to the longest continuous bar in the UK (made from old mahogany floorboards). And the beer? Try the Pheasant Plucker, a copper-coloured bitter with bright berry flavours. For lunch, I visit an award-winning gastropub. They’re two-a-penny around here. The Assheton Arms, in the picturesque conservation village of Downham, is now part of the Seafood Pub Company, a group of Lancashire pubs run by fishmonger’s daughter Joycelyn Neve. It has smart bedrooms and a menu featuring cockles with spiced vinegar and clotted cream mashed potato with homemade fish fingers. The Freemasons, meanwhile, in Wiswell is a fine-dining pub complete with tasting menus; chef-proprietor Steven Smith’s hot dog of proctors’ kick ass cheddar with Wiltshire truffles is a breadcrumbed cheese ‘sausage’ topped with pungent truffle shavings in a crisp roll. In the tiny hamlet of Mitton, The Three Fishes’ claim to fame is its chef patron, Nigel Haworth, arguably Lancashire’s most lauded chef. I grab a table beside the open fire (think stone-flagged floors and tweed curtains) and order Morecambe Bay shrimps swimming in hot butter with a sweet toasted muffin. Heaven. The Three Fishes Classics includes Haworth’s Lancashire hotpot, of course, the winning dish on the Great British Menu back in 2009. But the venison cobbler in Lancashire ale stew with root vegetables, smoked bacon bits and crispy suet dumplings is too tempting. It’s pungent, rich and gamey, and perfect for a cold winter’s day. I’m staying at Northcote, the hotel that’s home to his Michelin-starred restaurant, so get a double helping of Haworth’s expertise courtesy of his five-course dinner menu. The Orkney scallop tartare, organic leeks, fresh wasabi and caviar is fresh, fragrant and feisty, while the caramelised celeriac and chestnut ravioli with celeriac tea is perfectly paired with a sake. Dessert is Brockhall Orchard apple cheesecake, in the shape of an apple with salted caramel, cider sorbet, herbs and flowers; the sharp sorbet at its heart is a tongue-tingling surprise after the salty sweetness of the caramel. The next morning Haworth is teaching a game larder masterclass in the hotel’s new cookery school. The first recipe is game terrine with fig chutney. “Terrines are coming back into fashion,” he says. “This is my favourite winter snack, with watercress soup.” He demonstrates the dish before letting the group loose on duck, rabbit and pheasant. Haworth is a strong supporter of Lancashire’s artisan producers, among them Gazegill Organics. Threading my way through narrow, hedgerow-trimmed lanes I pull up in a muddy farmyard to meet Emma Robinson and Ian O’Reilly. The 250-acre farm has been in Emma’s family for 500 years, but they now have 120 Hampshire Downs sheep, Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, polytunnels of vegetables, and plans for a zero-food-miles, off-grid café to run alongside their farm shop. They also have 140 Old English Shorthorns; a heritage cattle breed rather than high-yielding Holstein Friesians. They’re out to grass as long as possible and are smaller so have less impact on the environment. Robinson and O’Reilly walk me into their barn to see the latest calves – and DC (Dad’s Cow) who is 20 years old. In cow terms that’s ancient. Most dairy cows, Ian tells me, have a lifespan of around six years because of the intensive dairy farming’s methods. At Gazegill Organics they do things differently. “This is where dairy needs to be going,” he says. “It should be compassionate.” At Gazegill all the heifers go into the herd and bull calves go for veal. Iain is an advocate of Slow Food and they farm organically. Cows fed on corn and a cocktail of drugs is the antithesis of Gazegill’s ethos. “They need to eat grass full of flowers and herbs. Meadowsweet is nature’s aspirin, fennel protects against mastitis, valerian is a natural sedative.” The milk they sell is raw and organic. And delicious, I think, as I drink a chilled glass. Other fans of Gazegill Organics are Maurizio Bocchi and his wife, Cinzia, whose restaurant La Locanda has won a Taste Lancashire Award for two years running. This little restaurant could be a neighbourhood trattoria in Italy. Instead it’s in the village of Gisburn. Their menu combines regional Italian cuisine and seasonal Lancashire produce. A blackboard is scrawled with the season’s bounty: in winter artichokes, garlic, hake, broccoli, mushroom, butternut squash, pheasant, leeks, apples, pears, pumpkin, truffles… I try pear wrapped in bresaola with a gorgonzola and walnut sauce; the soft sweetness of the fruit is the perfect foil for the dark, pungent sauce and salty meat. The star of a moreish charcuterie board of truffle mortadella, Goosenargh-cured duck and figs, meanwhile, is a bergamot marmalade, a Calabrian speciality that’s a fabulously citrussy palate-cleanser. Maurizio is famous for his homemade pasta and the ravioli with goat’s cheese from nearby Longridge – plus honey, butter and mint – is plate-scrapingly good. I tear myself away reluctantly. “Come back and stay longer. There’s a good b&b in the village,” Cinzia coaxes. I’m sure I will, as I’m now more than a little in love with this rural corner of Lancashire – still, surprisingly, one of the country’s best kept secrets. Ribble Valley hotels Double rooms at The Inn at Whitewell cost from £132, b&b, at the Assheton Arms from £120 b&b, and at Northcote from £230 b&b. More info: visitlancashire.com. Words by Lucy Gillmore Image credits: Getty, Alamy, Adam Riley, Rachel Warne, Lucy Gillmore
Never let it be said that olive is not open-minded in its gluttony. So, this issue, we’re looking beyond starters and main course, in a celebration of cakes, baking and desserts. It’s time to indulge your sweet tooth
RISING PASTRY STAR Helen Vass, Number 16, Glasgow Three years ago, Helen Vass was still at college. Since then, this fast-rising talent has worked at Barcelona’s oldest patisserie, Pastelería Escribà, trained with world champion pastry chef, Jordi Bordas, and joined Mark Tilling’s winning team on BBC 2’s Bake Off: Crème de la Crème. Little wonder that Gerry Mulholland, head chef at West End restaurant, Number 16, gives Helen free rein to express herself. She loves the artistry and theatre of modern Spanish cooking – “I visit Barcelona every few months to get some inspiration” – and channels that into dishes such as a cheesecake mocked-up to look like camembert (served in a wooden box with wax paper); a Reese’s-influenced peanut praline panna cotta cup; or the lemon, a hollow chocolate lemon filled with lemon mousse, pistachio sponge, lemon ganache and cremeux. number16.co.uk GORGEOUS GELATO Swoon, Bristol Swoon’s chief ice-cream maker, Luisa Fontana – often to be found working in the “flavour lab” at the front of this stylish spot – is a former tutor at the Carpigiani Gelato university near Bologna. Naturally, her gelato is exceptional. It’s painstakingly slow-churned and made using more milk (organic, Somerset) than cream, to give it both a beautifully thick, soft texture and brilliantly clean, vivid flavours. Try the pistachio (the nuts are imported from Bronte in Sicily) or the cracking salted caramel flavour. £2.75-£4.75; swoononaspoon.co.uk GOING DEEP ON DESSERT Dessert Restaurant by Sarah Barber, London W1 “For years, I was disappointed when I went out for dessert to various restaurants as most were remarkably similar,” says Sarah Barber, who, within the grand Hotel Café Royal, has created a dedicated dessert space that demonstrates the pastry chef’s art at its most on-trend. Her menus proceed from savoury-accented dishes that utilise sweet ingredients (for instance, Golden Cross goat’s cheese, wild honey and beetroot snow, or a carpaccio with parmesan marshmallow), to seriously arty but playful, technically sharp desserts such as her yuzu yogurt ‘building bricks’ or peach melba over which customers squeeze their own almond custard from a tube. A former head pastry chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Sarah uses a lot of fruit to naturally sweeten her desserts, and lighter elements, such as lemon verbena foam, to prevent them from becoming too filling. “You can taste several in one meal. They’re well-balanced, not full of sugar. We use techniques that enhance our dishes so they’re lighter but still full of flavour.” Menus from £26; hotelcaferoyal.com PIG OUT ON PUD The Pudding Stop, St Alban’s “Everything revolves around it being sweet or a treat,” says owner Johnny Shepherd of the Pudding Stop. You can start your morning here with pancakes or French toast, but the Pudding Stop truly comes alive in the evenings. People either pop-in late for dessert after eating elsewhere, or make a night of it by sharing a selection of, say, fried Bramley apple pies, salted caramel brownies, a slice of flourless chocolate cake or the dangerously good sticky toffee pudding – all of them baked upstairs, daily. The Pud has a jovial atmosphere, the social interaction at the communal tables (“You’re forced to make friends,” says Johnny), further eased by a tight selection of pudding-paired drinks, such as Pedro Ximènez, the red dessert wine banyuls, and Beavertown’s dark, smoky Smog Rocket porter. Desserts £5-£6.50; thepuddingstop.com DREAMY DOUGHNUTS Eve Kitchen, Sheffield Lauren Eve Hutchinson has always loved doughnuts. As a child, they were her favourite treat on seaside day trips to Scarborough. Now she’s living the dream (albeit one with 4am starts), after opening her own diminutive café selling handmade doughnuts in Sharrow Vale, Sheffield’s heartland for quirky indies. It’s a 48-hour process to create Lauren’s best-selling jam, Belgian chocolate custard or seasonal fruit and whipped cream creations, in which every element is made from scratch. The doughnuts are made with yeasted dough to ensure they fry on top of the oil, not in it, meaning they remain light, fluffy and crisp. If you eat in, they’re attractively garnished with fruit and edible flowers. Ultimately, says Lauren, doughnuts speak to the big kid in all of us: “They’re fun. They’re naughty. They’re quite a treat.” Doughnuts £2-£3.20; evekitchen.co.uk CULT CURVEBALL Taberna do Mercado, London E1 Ever since Nuno Mendes opened his hip, buzzy Taberna do Mercado, one dessert has been making waves, splitting opinion and thrilling foodies who crave a true taste of Portugal. Unusually made with pork fat, the abade de priscos (pictured) is a rich and dense steamed egg pudding, similar to crème caramel or panna cotta, which restaurant reviewer Andy Hayler memorably described as ‘bacon toffee’. “It’s served with a port wine reduction,” explains Nuno, “and we finish it with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinklings of Portuguese salt, which are non-traditional garnishes.” It sounds intriguing, right? Small plates around £6-£10; tabernamercado.co.uk LOCAL, SEASONAL LUSCIOUSNESS Orwell’s, Shiplake, Oxfordshire Dessert is often where chefs stop cooking locally and seasonally, but not at Orwell’s. This swanky former pub, now the site of serious culinary fireworks, uses both fresh and preserved produce from its Mill Lane polytunnels and beehives in its desserts all year round. The growing is managed by green-fingered Liam Trotman (in partnership with Ryan Simpson, one of Orwell’s two chef-owners), who gleefully describes juggling gluts of strawberries, raspberries or rhubarb in, for instance, his ever-evolving millefeuille. Liam is also big on foraged ingredients such as sorrel whose sour, appley flavour he uses in a green sorbet – “The grass sorbet, that’s what people call it” – served with a Lyonnaise-style pink praline tart. The gardening and the constant changes to the menu are hard work, but Liam loves it: “Put it this way, we don’t get bored.” Mains from £22, dessert from £9; orwellsatshiplake.co.uk FANTASTIC FUSION Cinnamon Club, London SW1 “I’ve a theory,” confides Vivek Singh, “that most great cuisines – and Indian cuisine is one – often have terrible desserts. I wish I could say how great Indian desserts can be, but that really is not how I feel.” When he opened the pioneering Cinnamon Club, Vivek was acutely aware that not only do we Brits not consider dessert an integral part of an Indian meal, but many Indians don’t either. The majority of sweet Indian treats were designed to be eaten as snacks at any time, rather than as complementary dishes to crown a great meal. “There’s no way people, would choose a dessert if faced with a sugary, spongy rasgulla, gulab jamun or a big bowl of stodgy carrot halwa,” says Vivek, thinking of his London audience. Instead, with his ace pastry chef, Morsingh Jakhi, Vivek set about combining western desserts with Indian spicing to create something unique. The desserts now enjoyed in this book-lined room (set in the Grade-II former Westminster Library), range from a sub-continental version of baked Alaska with carrot halwa ice cream to a thick, yogurty shrikhand with tamarind-glazed strawberries. These can be enjoyed as a sharing platter for two (£25). Morsingh is most proud of the saffron-poached pear with cinnamon ice cream: “It combines a quintessentially British fruit with exotic spicing – saffron, cinnamon, anise, cardamom. It’s a true crossover dish.” Mains from £16, desserts from £6.50; cinnamonclub.com SCANDI TREATS Baltzersen’s, Harrogate During those long Scandi winters, the natives need something to keep their spirits up, which may explain why Norway and Sweden have evolved a dazzling baking repertoire, popular way beyond Malmö and Oslo. Inspired by visits to his Norwegian grandmother, the eponymous Liv Esther Baltzersen, Paul Rawlinson’s friendly, trendy Harrogate café does a roaring trade in kanelbullar (Swedish cinnamon rolls); skolebrød (custard-filled cardamom dough buns); and princess cake (a custard, cream and jam sponge topped with green marzipan). Chef Mary-Jane Walker is always tinkering with Scandi recipes, which is how she developed Baltzersen’s tea-cake-like sultanaboller. Bakery buns, £1.50-£3.50; baltzersens.co.uk THE SWEETEST STREET FOOD Yeast Bakery, London E8 On weekdays, Yeast Bakery creates exceptional pastries for trade customers across London (most notably Chiltern Firehouse). On Saturdays, however, owners Ben Keane and Angela Chan open a stall outside their railway arch site and sell their breads and Normandy butter croissants direct to the public. “Wholesale’s great but you don’t get that one-to-one feedback,” says Ben. “We can test things here and see how they go.” Look out for new versions of Yeast’s kouign-amann (the increasingly hip Breton pastry), and also its Croaf®, a buttery croissant-loaf hybrid made for sharing that, says Ben, is great with curry: “It’s like naan!” Yeast is between Broadway and Netil markets, so you can grab a coffee from Terrone or Climpson & Sons to go with your croissant. Pastries £1.50 - £1.80; yeastbakery.com DESIGNER DAINTIES The Bakemonger at Caro, Bruton, Somerset A former textile designer who still freelances in fashion, Helen Bakunowicz is now applying her love of art and design to the creation of ornate cakes. “I work seasonally in terms of flavours and design,” says Helen, who, in May, was creating decorative magnolias from white chocolate, rice paper and mango petals. “My decorations are always handmade and enhance the flavours rather than just being a lump of sugar.” Helen trades at the Frome Independent market (the first Sunday of each month; thefromeindependent.org.uk) but, on a daily basis, her cakes – usually two varieties, such as individual salted caramel brownies or lime, courgette and pistachio cake – are available to eat-in, in the stylish homewares store, Caro. Cakes £3.50; thebakemonger.com DARING DESSERTS Ynyshir Hall, Eglwysfach, Wales If there’s one thing that Gareth Ward hates, it’s a meal where the savoury courses soar but the desserts fall flat. “As a chef,” he insists, “you should be well-rounded and able to do everything.” Consequently, in his three years at this Michelin-starred country house hotel, he’s brought an unusually high level of creativity to its desserts, such as his palate-cleansing lager ‘n’ lime jelly, or a white chocolate mousse that, rather than using heavy eggs and cream, is blended with tofu for a greater purity of flavour. Gareth is constantly eating and says his best dishes often arise from accidents or eating weird things together out of curiosity. He’s also a big fan of the fresh flavours and the alternative seasoning potential offered by east Asian ingredients. For instance, his renowned treacle tart is made, not with lemon, salt and butter, but miso and Wagyu beef fat (not to mention blackened breadcrumbs from Ynyshir’s seven-day fermented bread). Its acidity comes from a dollop of soured cream. “If you read the ingredients out you’d say that isn’t going to work,” says Gareth. “Our food is very much our own. It’s a destination for something different.” Dinner from £55; ynyshirhall.co.uk Written by Tony Naylor You might also like The Pudding Stop, St Albans: review 18 UK restaurants that top chefs love to eat at Top 16 UK Street Food Stalls | The Best Street Food in the UK