Lakeside Cafe Restaurant in Allerdale

Good cafe. Not a good look at the lake.

Sunday we entered the cafe with my husband and ordered our drinks, only a milkshake and an iced coffee with a woman. Waited over 30 minutes, time flew, and we just thought they were just busy. I went up to the til and ordered a soup with the boy behind the till. When my soup came before the drinks, my husband went to query where the drinks were. We was quizzed on whether we'd actually ordered and paid for them. The boy approached our table and was saying that I only ordered soup and not a drink with him. When they eventually found our order in the til, a girl fetched the drinks and was also unprofessional, saying we've checked your order believe its correct. I replied yes we know it's correct."We paid for them!" The older ladies were on the ice-cream counter and shouldn't leave the children to run the cafe. We left our drinks in disgust with the terrible customer service and will never go back there.

Great for coffee before and tea after trip on Keswick Launch.

Was a great place. Went the start of the kids holidays so the long stay car park nearby was very busy but the cafe was surprisingly quiet. Managed to find a couple of tables to fit 10 adults and 2 kids straight away. Food was expensive but nice. About £7 for a sausage roll I think it was, was a handmade and very tasty sausage roll though! Had a kids menu with the usual on. Benches outside, plenty of which had dogs so assume outside is dog friendly, not sure about inside though.

Delicious soup and friendly service although the pies were disappointing.

Was almost put off coming due to the previous two reviews - but I’m glad we came! The food was nice and the view from here is really lovely! We sat outside with a lake view and the outside area is a nice little sun trap (if it’s sunny). Probably a little more pricey than other spots due to the lovely view. A really convenient spot right next to the lake for boat rentals.

We waited ages before somebody came to seat us, we placed our food and drink order, 2 drinks, only one came, we had to ask for the other, then we waited 30 mins for our food which never came, we asked and they had overlooked the order. Great views, staff friendly,but sorry to say, will not be visiting again.

Nice location, food good. Can get a bit chaotic in busy periods, possibly would be better is somebody works front of house to seat people better x

Totally underwhelming experience. Ok food, filled a gap, nothing to write home about.

On Friday the 28th of June my wife ordered a “lovingly prepared” 3 cheese sourdough toastie costing £9.00 from the Lakeside Cafe in Keswick. What was served up was 2 small slices that were burnt to a crisp on the inside with the remnants of a small amount of extremely overcooked cheese. See photos attached. The toast was so hard that you could crack teeth or lose fillings . The so called “chef” had very cleverly put the burnt toast on the inside of the toastie with the I burnt sides in the outsides. My wife ate what she was able as we didn’t have the time to wait for the food to be replaced. Very unpleasant , unprofessional and disappointing .

Stop here for a coffee service was great very friendly and nice coffee

Came here for tea and cake with family. It cost an arm and a leg! Paid £9.50 for two chocolate brownies and they were dry and stale. I wanted to order a sausage roll however I simply couldn’t bring myself to pay £7.50 for a sausage roll!! Absolute crazy prices. Service was also slow and without a smile.

Friendly service, good food, recommend the sausage roll

Unprofessional service, poor portion sizes, food doesn't match menu, tea bad, noisy. Garbage.

Very busy but staff worked efficiently to bring out the hot drinks as soon as possible

The service was bad! They would bring our order outside, but that took at least 15 minutes and then my husband picked it up himself. Pastry was pricey!

Cappuccino and pastries were fine. Service was bad. Our order was supposed to be delivered outside, but it wasn't. Ordering itself was difficult. Pastries without forks. Cappuccino without a spoon. "It's on a table somewhere" ..take it yourself. Atmosphere was mediocre. But we did continue to enjoy our order.

First time in here. I had the mushroom on toast which is nowhere near as ordinary as it sounds. Artisan bread with a gorgeous tomato puree topped with the most delicious mushrooms. Served with a salad with yummy dressing. It was really busy so be prepared for a wait, but the food is worth it.

Nice place for a cuppa and a piece of cake looking over the lake. Very relaxing.

Lovely place .. parking .. nice cafes. Good views. Boat hire and cheap rowing boats hire. Highly recommended. Forget spending fortunes on water activities brong em down here.

£7.50 for a takeaway sausage roll! 🥹

Called in a couple of days ago. Waiter/Waitress service. Sat for ages, no one came over, others served before we were, just got up and left. Employ more staff!

Great vegan food! Genuinely surprised how tasty the Chana Drama was - very impressed for cafe food 😋

Very busy but good choices for a light meal and reasonably priced given it's geographical position.

£7.50 for a sausage roll, the same one costing £2.60 in a Keswick bakery! Robbing ********!

We had scones and a sausage roll all of which excellent

Nice and spacious with plenty of seating both inside and outside. Just a 10 minute walk from Keswick town Centre and 2 minutes from Derwent boat launches. Varied menu and cakes on offer as well as a doggie menu. Staff very friendly and brought my drink to the table for me. Table service is also available.

I think one of the best coffee's I've had. A brilliant cafe / restaurant in a very handy location. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into the building - wheelchair friendly, children friendly, dog friendly - thank you!

Been many times over the past 10 years. Food always very good. Staff now come to your table to take food and drinks orders. Have to admit its alot better and we were impressed by how well our it all works

Lovely food and atmosphere, can be very busy at times, pay and display carpark for adjoining theatre by the lake and restaurant.

Overall good cafe/restaurant however more food variety would be appreciated

A nice place to grab a tea or coffee after a lovely walk. Plenty of seating and space and nice food and drink options. We only had sausage rolls and some cakes with our hot drinks, but they were all freshly made and very nice. Will definitely call in again.

Lovely cafe/restaurant next to Derwent Water in Keswick. Its dog friendly and they even offer puppicinno's for you furry friend.

Only 4 stars as we had to wait awhile, yes I know they're busy but just a slight apology to let us know they were very busy would have sufficed

We told the restaurant about an allergy they choose to ignore us and poison us. They never said sorry. Don't eat here if you have any allergies, they will ignore your request and poison you anyway. Only after tourist money and dont care about dietary restrictions. Be very careful. We were in full touch and gave them all the details but they never got back to us and now on the 3rd April 2024 they are repeating what they have said before. They never got back or even said SORRY. As soon as possible is not something they understand. We are still waiting.

The hygiene was terrible. We found multiple human hair in our food. The tea cups were not clean, we could see previously drunk tea stains (they are removable, not a permanent stain, we managed to clean w tissues). The plates they served were not clean either. I would not recommend this place!!

Bit expensive for what you get. But nice for a coffee and look at the scenery.

Brilliant, and was able to hire an off-road scooter to go around the lake, as my wheelchair would not be able to do it.

A great space with views of Derwentwater. Food much improved over a few years ago. Attentive staff

Really nice cafe on the edge of town. We passed by and popped in for a drink after a walk by the lake, lovely warm drinks and beautiful brownies. We then went back before the show at the Theatre. A lovely meal, the food was delicious and generous in portion. The ladies serving were very friendly and helpful sorting our drinks to take next door.

We visited prior to seeing a production on the theatre and were not sure what to expect. Apart from being a little too bright we liked the surroundings and the staff really couldn’t have been more helpful. Although the menu was limited the food was really tasty and the portions generous.

I wanted something to eat after a short walk and had noticed that this cafe served breakfast until 11:30. That suited me just fine. I very rarely have a traditional breakfast so was looking forward to it. It was very disappointing and overpriced. The bacon was hard as was the sausage which was very poor quality and the tomato was cold. I had been in two days before when I had a hot chocolate. It tasted nice but was only lukewarm. Perhaps that should have warned me. I remember the wooden cafe which was demolished for this one to be built. It didn’t have such an extensive menu but this one is not an improvement.

Nice coffee and scone. Cafe in good spot after a walk along the lake and woods.

Nice lakeside cafe, quality home-made food not too busy.

We took the pre-theatre Small Plates option: the food is prepared by the Lakeside Restaurant and served in the Spotlight Bar in the main theatre building. We shared six small dishes. All of them were very disappointing. The mixed olives were the type available in any supermarket, as was the hummus: no chance of anything prepared freshly in the kitchen. The artichoke hearts were described as ‘marinated in olive oil and herbs’ but were, in fact, tinned artichoke hearts in brine and no herbs. The padron peppers were over-cooked and had shrivelled down to almost nothing. As a consequence they also lacked any flavour. And finally the two portions of focaccia, each one comprising two pieces about 4 inches by 1 inch. ‘Tough as old boots’ was my wife’s description. Let’s just say it was very stale - quite an achievement for an oily bread which naturally has a long shelf life. I wonder how long it must have been hanging around. All of the dishes (apart from the peppers) were served very cold, presumably straight from the fridge. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say the service in the Spotlight Bar was decidedly odd. Was this all worth £28? Not really. After watching the excellent School for Scandal, we emerged starving and had to top up at the motorway services!

We called for a drink today.My husband has a mobility scooter,can only walk a very short distance with assistance i.e. from scooter to chair,& though there was one parked outside there was no sign to say they aren't allowed inside. We went in, ordered, paid,were seen by several staff members but no-one mentioned the scooter.Then as we were having our drinks a staff member approached to ask if it was our scooter.On saying yes she asked us to move it as it was blocking a fire exit - again no signage to indicate this. We do understand that in an emergency any door is an emergency door but they are usually signed to indicate this.She said he was welcome to put it outside ! but did not ask if he would be able to come back in or offer to assist. He hurriedly had his drink & took the scooter outside where he sat waiting for me in the cold while I too rushed my drink.My husband has suffered from M.S. since 2006 & found this incident very embarrassing. Maybe there should be a sign outside to request that scooters be left outside,in which case we wouldn't have entered.They were happy to serve us & take our money before embarrassing us. Maybe when we come next time signs will be in place to save us & anyone else being put in this situation.

Really nice little spot, staff are really on the top of service. Food very enjoyable. One point off for sourdough bread, everyone uses it and god knows why it's terrible for toasting.

Lovely place, atmosphere could be improved with music :)

Nice menu, great view, friendly people. Kids meal is just £1 if ordered with an adult meal. Also good options for dogs.

Very expensive 3.50 for a cup of tea, give it a miss.

Good food and nice options for Indians

Lacks the traditional atmosphere of the tea rooms it replaced, but the coffee's good.

Every dish one asked for had run out and this was 1pm! The staff were friendly but useless and it was chaos. The food we eventually got was nice but we did not get a single item we requested!

Stopped here after walking past earlier to go around the lake. The views from in the café were great even on a rainy day. Lovely hot chocolate and friendly staff. We both had mushrooms which was delicious, will come back next time we visit the lakes.

Lovely place with beautiful views of Derwent water

Scenic location but that is where the magic ends ! Food is nothing special and well overpriced.

Visited today and everything was fab! Food and coffee were delicious and staff were so friendly!

Fantastic place to stop for a bit to eat or just to grab a coffee /tea

We ordered soup, Lakeside Rarebit, and two coffees. The rarebit was good, but the vegetable soup was tepid, wishy washy & had no character. The coffees were unremarkable. Sad because it is in a stunning location, but you can’t eat the view.

Had tea and cake to thaw us out after a walk. Calm music playing, tasty cakes and friendly staff.

Tea and tea cakes.for two. Excellent all round. Completely dog friendly. A good place to chill with a cuppa mid morning.

We live nearby but haven't called in for a while. We cycled through looking forward to some warm food on what was a freezing day. We entered inside to find all the empty tables had not been cleared so we had to clear a table ourselves. Fair enough..it was busy so understand how tables got missed. But when we ordered our food they said it couldn't be warmed up. It was a Cumberland sausage roll and a quiche served with potatoes and salad. They couldn't even warm the potatoes up. They said they weren't allowed to warm things up. I hardly ate mine...it was so disappointing. Then to top it off..I went to the toilet and they were absolutely disgusting. Toilet roll on the floor in every cubicle..used....and womens sanitary products on show..used!!! It had clearly not been checked or cleaned all day long. Safe to say we wont be returning. I'm not one to complain, honestly..nor have I ever written many reviews but felt I needed to on this occasion.

Great views and great food! Chana drama vegetarian curry excellent 👌 as was mushrooms on toast.

Lovely location, great food, great cost. Lovely staff

Good food, but tends to be noisy.

After a long wet walk we were pleased to find this cafe open but that was as far as our pleasure went . It was overpriced, small portions , quiche was cold and accompanied by a dollop of chewy red cabbage coleslaw that was thoughtlessly smacked on the plate . The soup was ok but again a very minimal amount . And all for extortionate price . The service was desultory and slapdash , the staff didn’t seem happy or helpful in the least . The cafe furniture is reminiscent of a school dining room . Although it is warmer and drier than the lovely old Art Deco cafe, it isn’t a patch on it and completely lacks character, is a very expensive and a disappointing experience.

Too overpriced. Drinks(latte and hot chocolate) from McDonald's or greggs are way better. If you are looking for a cafe food experience,this is not the place. Great ambience to eat in though.

We came for lunch as a family group on Christmas Eve. We had our first contact with the cafe on 1st December when I enquired about the possibility of booking a table on our preferred date. We were then in regular contact with Lewis to amend our arrangements. At all times the communication was efficient and professional and all our extra requests were swiftly granted. We arrived today for our lunch and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The food was delicious and the staff most attentive. Thank you so much for a lovely experience which really enhanced our family Christmas.

Very expensive and disappointing! Poor value for money. We visited at the weekend to have lunch before our walk around the lakes. We opted for a Welsh rarebit thinking it would be more substantial than the £9.50 sausage roll! We were very disappointed at the measly 1 slice of cheese on toast with a few salad leaves at £11 and the coffee was very week too. The quality of the Welsh rarebit was good however the expense overshadowed the lunch experience at £28.60 for 2 americano coffees and 2 slices of Welsh rarebit. Sadly We shall not be visiting again.

Fab food and location but comes at a price!! Bit expensive.

Stopped in on our way into Keswick. We had hot chocolates which were rather smaller than we expected, and weren't as hot as expected, however they were absolutely delicious, and the staff were very friendly. Would still recommend.

Enjoyed a well presented cheese toastie and decaffeinated pot of tea. Pleasant café with views to the lake. Lovely.

We had enjoyed a lovely trip along the lake and the setting of the restraurant was superb....but the food...riduculous and posy descriptions, very pricey, and pretty poor stuff...cold sausage rolls, and bread described as " lovingly artisan sourdough" being dry and tasteless, and probably stale before toasting. Tea, a weak teabag priced at over £3.00. Memories of the good little cafe restaurant that proceeded it! I won't be returning.

Quite often come here, but yesterday we visited at lunchtime with 4 friends from Chesterfield. We had some lovely warming soup & sourdough bread & 2 of them had the kids bacon sandwich with chips & beans. Everything was excellent. Would recommend 100 %.

Pleasant atmosphere and ideal situation but the service was extremely poor. It was busy and there seemed to be a staffing problem. They were extremely slow and totally miserable

Efficient, friendly service and good food. Will be returning.

Called in for lunch after a long walk and getting off launch. I had carrot and coriander soup which was tasteless. I was starving so after lots of seasoning it became edible. My hubby asked for baked potato with tuna and cheese. He received without cheese so the lady brought a pot of cheese for him to add himself. The potato was cold so he asked the lady to take it away. It came back and really wasn’t much warmer so we decided just to eat what we had and make a note not to return. In fairness we were offered another cuppa on the house if we wanted but we declined. Not a good experience. It would appear that because of its location right next to the launch pier it has the monopoly and doesn’t need to work hard for custom.

Lovely views over the lake toward Catbells. Simple well made food.

This is my preferred cafe when visiting Keswick. The food is a little pricey for the portion size but on the whole I like it there. But, they really need to sort out their advertised opening hours. Everywhere I look is different. The sign outside the door says one thing, Google Maps says another, the theatre’s web site says something else and now I see on Trip Advisor something different again.

Our family enjoyed a delightful lunch at this cafe.

Nice location but expensive! £10 for a sausage roll! Much better places in town.

This cafe is near the lakeside, close to where my photo was taken, and it has lovely big glass windows. There are seats both inside and outside. We didn't eat, but the mushrooms on toast looked particularly good. Luckily, there was not too much of a queue; the time taken to prepare a hot chocolate and a pot of tea was surprisingly slow and a bit frustrating to watch.

الاطلالة والموقع جدا جميل والقهوة والكاكاو الساخن لذيذ استمتعت بالاجواء والمناظر خلال المطر

Only called in for coffee - all decent, so give it a try

Lovely surroundings. Staff very friendly. Bacon butties delicious. Toilets very clean.

Lovely cafe gluten free cakes warm cosy place very nice coffee helpful friendly staff lovely atmosphere

Great little cafe in excellent location.

Fab experience. Great service & lovely food before the show! served in a timely manor, this is a busy café with a good atmosphere. prices were reasonable despite location.

Lovely cafe, beautiful location right by the lake.

Not very clean but food OK. What was concerning was how miserable the staff were. They looked like they had all received bad news apart from the lady on the till. Quite depressing to eat there.

It's on the end of the theatre by the lake. Close to the boat landings. Eat in or picnic tables outside. Waiting time was OK on a very busy day. Staff are friendly unlike the locals who are up their own arses. Expensive though. 2 snack type lunch things v burger and a v sausage sandwich (both vegan alternatives) no sides with them. 4 cold drinks and 2 bags of crisps. £35! But it's OK keswick is somewhere I won't go back to and I'm pretty easy going. I wondered why I hadn't been for 30 years and now I know lol.

Had drinks and snacks here with my husband and granddaughter. Sausage roll cost £7.50. ????

Booked for a meal before theatre performance - have to say that the menu was very limited and "specialised" - much more Eastern European and mainly vegetarian. If its your cup of tea, great - but the wife struggled to choose something and TBH the portions a bit smaller than in the past. think we will eat in Keswick town first and walk to theatre from now on. Disappointed from what it was in the past.

We called in as we had been visiting the Lake. Menu very limited, ordered sausage bun, extortionate at £6, husband ordered burger and chips. Had to wait nearly an hour for the food by which time our friend's had already eaten theirs. Disgusting service and when food arrived was terrible and had to have in takeaway box. Would never go there again

Atmospheric former barracks with a huge space for outdoor seating. Several bars offering everything from cocktails to beer. Outdoor film viewings during the summer depending on the weather

Only popped in for a coffee, but a nice place with friendly staff...

Nice place, the food was pretty good. I had the burger which I enjoyed. It wasn't too busy when we went. Unfortunately, it took 45 minutes for a burger and a chicken wrap. There were a couple of tables that had their order taken after us and got their food before us. I had a look in the kitchen when I asked how long it would and there were plenty of chefs in there, so God knows what they were doing...

Very slow service but I understand this is a busy spot ! Decent coffee. It is a convenient place but not one of those which I will recommend.

Fab experience here. Great service and lovely food before the theatre!

Very greasy food, very bland and VERY expensive.