The Sun Inn in Allerdale

A warm, welcoming pub in Bassenthwaite, one of the best finds of our trip. The landlord was instantly friendly and cracking jokes, as well as helping with our search for information on our ancestors in the area. We only popped in for a quick bite to eat at lunchtime, but ended up returning for an evening meal based on the great value and friendly atmosphere. Lunchtime sandwiches were tasty and just what we needed, but I was really impressed with the lamb in the evening - so tender and tasty. The dessert menu was also good - I can recommend the biscoff waffles! Staff in the evening were just as friendly - I'm looking forward to returning when next in the area.

‘Proper Pub’! Lovely atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff. Food beautifully cooked and delicious, good range of pub grub, but also specials and pizzas. Sweets looked great too. Dogs welcome, which is always a bonus! Thank you.

We visited here twice whilst on holiday in the area. We were greeted by friendly staff. The service was superb. There’s a huge menu and a specials board to choose from. All of our meals were piping hot and a substantial portion. They were tasty and reasonable priced. Good honest pub food.

Excellent friendly pub. Great beer and food. The lamb was top notch and the steak pie again was excellent. Certainly will visit again and will take our Westie to meet Finn

Exactly what a good traditional pub should be. Genial landlord, as well as giving us tips of where to go in the local area. The food serves a good sized portion of traditional tasty food. We enjoyed the whole experience with a nice beer in our hand. Will definately return when next up for a holiday.

Lynn and Stuart pulled out all the stops for my 'hanging of the boots' retirement party it was amazing. I will never be able to thank them and the staff enough for a great night and fab buffet. We all enjoyed it immensely. Perfect hospitality.

Wonderful meal and great service. Sunday roast was beautiful and such a lovely little pub. Fantastic to take dogs as they have a menu for them too!! Highly recommend.

Excellent food excellent service we thoroughly enjoyed our meal there the food was excellent and the staff were very friendly and helpful

Nice place. Friendly staff and overall the food was good and the prices reasonable. 10 of us ate. My steak and kidney suet pie was a bit chewy, but all the other meals were excellent. Good portions and a decent beer. Would be happy to recommend, and I'd return.

Nice meal. Good service. Still waiting for a Yorkshire Pudding to come with the Sunday Roast however!

Good food and great friendly service.

Lovely food, good atmosphere & friendly staff, especially Finn!

A wonderful village pub, the staff were excellent and the food delicious. Very warm and welcoming. We had two lovely meals on consecutive evenings and our two cockapoos loved lying next to the open fire. Can’t wait to return.

A nice place but let down by the food somewhat

We went to the sun in as a family of 4 for dining. What can I say as an ex chef? Excellent home cooked food, very friendly atmosphere and great selection of drinks! We will be visiting again before we leave:)

We visited the Sun 3 times during our week long stay down by the lake. The first 2 times we just had drinks, and the final visit we ate too. It’s a lovely little cozy, friendly and inviting place. All of the staff were lovely and made us and the dog feel welcome. The beer was good and the landlord gave us loads of useful info on the surrounding area. The food was great too. Pub food but well done. We had steak pie and lamb shoulder, whilst Burty had some of his own special sausages. I really fancied the sticky toffee pudding but we were both stuffed. All in all a great little place. Definitely worth giving it a go!

Great little boozer with fabulous food. We walked 2 miles for lunch and more than worth it. Being November it was fairly quiet, but that was fine. Very dog friendly with a separate menu for the dogs. Landlord was very attentive, imparted some local knowledge and chatted amiably to us. Food was fantastic, with the lamb shoulder a standout. Pretty sure it had cooked for days the way it fell off the bone and melted in the mouth. A couple of pints of well kept ale rounded things off nicely. The 2 mile walk back was very necessary to work things off. Stuffed!

Lovely food . Lots of choice big portions as well . Very friendly . Nice quirk place . Nice pizza and children menu

A most welcoming village local, which my wife and I stopped at on the way back from the Lakes to Scotland. The landlord was very friendly and a font of knowledge on the local area and places of interest. The beer was good and the food was very tasty and reasonably priced.

Lovely country pub, hearty food! Very dog friendly and staff were very nice

OK, so atmosphere, service and friendliness all great, however the food was something I haven't experienced for a long time. If you like a bit of frozen veg medley from aldi then this is your place 👌 A bit of reheated frozen pie with some lovely thick manufactured gravy is also something they do really well here...nothing homemade, all frozen and banged in the microwave but with a an extortionate price, their mark up must be considerable! Maybe it was just the chef's night off, who knows, but as I say, I haven't experienced food like this for a really long time, Kind of what your nan would serve for herself on a Sunday night. What a complete waste of money, sorry. And don't say that we should have said something, because obviously that is just the standard of food you serve and that can't be quickly remedied. Feel bad because the staff were all lovely.

We stayed nearby recently and called in three or four times for a drink and dinner one evening. Service was prompt and efficient, despite being very busy. The food was both plentiful and delicious - we can't wait to go back. Special thanks to the team for putting together some balloons to celebrate our son's birthday and for helping with the cake 😊

Best steak pie I’ve had n years. Salmon was also lovely. Now our go to place. Had to come early to get a table, no wonder why it’s so popular.

Lovely meal. Delicious food at reasonable price. Friendly staff. Efficient service. Plenty of choice.

We called into The Sun Inn on consecutive nights (23rd and 24th October 2023) whilst staying in the village and, I have to say, what an absolutely cracking pub it is The food is of the highest standard, over our two visits we enjoyed the Burgers, Chicken Melt and the absolutely delicious Goulash, the staff are so friendly, welcoming and courteous and the whole atmosphere is warming and inviting and everything you would expect from a traditional (proper) country pub We would highly recommend making a booking as it does get busy, not surprising given the high standards, but we would have no hesitation in recommending a visit and we will certainly be back next time we're in the area

We have visited twice this week, once for lunch and the second time for an evening meal. Both visit were fantastic, lovely staff, very welcoming and helpful. Food delicious! Fresh, great size portions and a reasonable price. Dogs loved the dog ice creams. Staff very helpful with allergy advice. Lovely to spend time in a proper pub! Will definitely visit again when we are back in the area.

Superb oasis in this hideaway village. Great food and drinks - the most reasonably priced vino in the Lakes.

Had one of the best pub meals ever this afternoon at The Sun Inn. Shoulder of lamb, so tender and delicious, followed by a heavenly banana sponge with salted caramel sauce. Fantastic food, lovely staff and definitely worth finding. It’s a real gem.

We didn’t have a reservation but we could still order food at the bar. Had a wonderful meal and the atmosphere was so homely. Very friendly staff. Highly recommend.

I wish this was my local. Dropped in for lunch and loved every minute. The friendliest staff, awesome food and great selection of drinks. Plus the car park is huge so our motorhome had no issues with space.

Lovely country pub, with excellent food and good beer. Publican and his wife run a welcoming establishment and even Finn the dog comes over to say hello too. Highly recommended!

Booked a table for the family and was not disappointed even though the cod had run out .the food was delicious and the service was both friendly and efficient with no long delay and that was during peak evening service.Also need to mention that the ales where top notch after myself and son indulged in a couple of pints would highly recommend this cosy little pub to all.

Randomly fell on here enroute to the animal farm, started to have car trouble. They was really helpful directed us to the nearest garage and couldn’t do more to help. Food was great even our very picky 2 year old loved his lasagne and that takes some doing

had a very warm welcome, food very good for money, will go again,

What an amazing little find! My wife & I stayed a few miles away and decided to walk in a random direction, we found the beautiful little village of Bassenthwaite and loved everything about it, this venue being the heart of it all followed by a lovely walk back past the river and across the fields. An absolute hidden gem...

We visited here in September to celebrate my dads birthday whilst we were on holiday. The food was absolutely delicious. The staff were so friendly and welcoming. They couldn’t do enough for us. My son has dairy and egg allergies and they couldn’t be more accommodating, the staff checked with the chef who then came out to visit us. I was debating whether to get him the vegan curry and the chef kindly let me taste it to check if it was too spicy(my son is only 1). She talked us through each item on the children’s menu and even brought the allergen matrix out to show us which was so reassuring. I cannot thank them enough as it is so worrying eating out especially as it is all so new to us as parents of a child with several allergies. Gorgeous, traditional pub with lovely food, lovely staff who couldn’t do enough for us. Would definitely recommend to anybody.

Found this gem of a pub by total chance after deciding to explore Bassenthwaite, what a lucky find. Initially dropped in for a quick lunchtime drink and after the welcome and friendliness received, we decided to book for evening dinner. The food and service was fantastic and we’ll definitely return if ever in the area again. Highly recommended this lovely village pub.

Lovely meal at the Sun Inn whilst holidaying in the area. Great attentive staff reasonable prices and good food., what more could you ask for. 5☆

Lovely meal at the Sun Inn whilst staying in the area. Reasonable prices and tasty food, what more could you ask for?

Called in today for lunch after visiting Cockermouth, whilst staying in Keswick, and so glad we did! What a wonderful find in a lovely village, an area we had not explored before! We enjoyed gorgeous steak burgers, which were done to perfection with lovely chips...

Just popped in for a pint. We've been before. Lovely be garden, when the sun shines. Good choice of beer friendly staff/owners and they don't charge stupid tourist prices. A little gem.

Great post walk pint in lovely welcoming Cumbrian pub. Unexpectedly friendly chicken in the beer garden was entertaining watching it intimidate my wife

Excellent pub. Brilliant food and drink. Friendly helpful staff. Friendly locals

Great place, great food, great people, what more can you say 😁

We had a midweek evening meal here whilst on holiday in the area. Both the service and food were excellent. We didn’t have to wait long to order or receive our food. The meals were all hot and delicious and value for money. There’s a...

Had a family meal, everyone enjoyed it. Nice food.

Excellent choice of cask beers and drinks. Beautiful old pub. Dog friendly. The food was excellent too. Very reasonably priced. I chose Salmon Fishcakes, nicely presented and very tasty. If you go at weekend for food ,you may need to book a table. Recommend . We will be returning again,

We had a meal here last year and it was 5 stars, so we returned again and was really looking forward to another amazing meal whilst on our camping holiday, but it didn't hit the heights of the previous year. Last year, I had the burger and my wife the lasagne and this year we both opted for the beer battered fish and chips. Don't get me wrong, it was OK, but just didn't wow us like the food the previous year. The kids meals we're OK, pizza was pretty basic whilst the scampi was lovely. Most enjoyable part of the meal was the pudding which was delicious. We went for the banana sponge with ice cream. Following the meal we took a quick walk and returned for a couple of pints of the local ale that was lovely.

Friendly old pub in the village of Bassenthwaite. Food was fairly standard Pub Grub fare but tasty and freshly cooked. They also do Take Away Pizzas. The pub has a lot of old world charm and staff were friendly and helpful. Its essential to book...

A beautiful and friendly pub, the staff were all so lovely and food was fantastic. We especially enjoyed the steak burger and churros!

Lovely outdoor area for a drink

Fantastic food and great service

Sat nav took us here because of my mistake. But it was a great mistake because the food was very good and the landlord was a very helpful and friendly guy. Told us about the local attractions and how to get to our destination hotel Would recommend getting lost and ending up at the Sun Inn.

Great choice of beer. Brilliant food. Will have to return on a Thursday for the pensioners lunch. I did enjoy the venison burger though.

Took my son-in-law and grandson for a meal. Excellent food (proper Cumbria Steak pie, washed down with a pint of Cumberland ale), very good service and a super friendly atmosphere.

Venison steak was delicious as was the steak burger my husband had. Our little boy actually didn't complain about his food (which is amazing as due to his ASD it's unheard of.) Staff extremely attentive and pleasant. My husband is in a wheelchair and access...

Lovely little recommendation from Hotel

Called in here for a quick bite to eat before we checked in to a lodge near by. Only had soup of the day and chips. Very tasty! Highly recommended this place

Atmospheric pub popular with locals and tourists alike. Dog friendly, they even serve a doggy menu. Food is good with decent sized portions and local real ales are served. Good sized beer garden and ample parking.

Had not booked, they very kindly squeezed us in. The guy who served us was fantastic, really helpful. His gin recommendation (mango) was a treat. Food was excellent and great value. Love the evening there.

Perfect! Great classic pub food, we had scampi and chips and vegetable lasagne. The atmosphere was great, not pretentious and a lovely place to relax! What a great find! We will be back!

Absolutely excellent. Great service, great food, great price. Couldn’t fault it.

Really good pub grub and local ales. Great local recommendations from the friendly staff. Lovely roast dinners and even a dog menu.

Last minute birthday booking after being let down elsewhere. Five fantastic meals. Portions are huge. Lamb shoulder melted in your mouth. Very popular place so suggest booking as a number of visitors were turned away whilst we were there.

Nice village pub - BUT BEWARE! Currently one of the most expensive in the region. On my latest visit prices had been truly hiked: Lunches, starting from £17.00 Bitter @ just under £5 Lagers, around £6. Largely unchanged and pleasant Village Inn. But, Beware of current prices.

Lovely food, fast and friendly service. Loved it.

Staff at the bar lacking courtesy. Ok food but not cheap . Wouldn't recommend

Excellent food, really good service despite being very busy, would highly recommend.

Went in for a family lunch & had a wonderful meal. All the main options for a proper country pub, cooked beautifully & tasted delicious. Had starters to share, mains & deserts - very very full! Chap on the bar was good craic too!

We've been going to the Sun Inn for years and can thoroughly recommend it. Lynn and Stu and the staff have worked hard to revive this lovely local pub which is popular with locals and visitors. The food is very good traditional pub grub locally...

Had friends visiting from New Zealand and looking for somewhere to have a meal together. Like the area and found the Sun Inn. Booked the day before and table was all ready for us when we arrived. Good choice. The lamb special was absolutely loved....

Lovely old fashioned pub with good beer and food. Really enjoyed coming here with my family. In a very picturesque village near Bassenthwaite Lake

A fantastic pub. Staff are amazing. Wonderful food and drinks and a real welcoming atmosphere .

Really bad. Unfortunately we really wanted to like this place but the food was not good. We ordered mainly steak burgers which were dripping with grease, frozen chips which were undercooked and cost £15 a head. Portion size good but I think having less of...

Lovely little pub friendly service been a few times would definitely go back again.

Had a great meal here while we were on holiday in the area. Food was great and had good gluten free options as 2 of us are Coeliacs. Dog friendly too which is a bonus. Would def recommend and go back if in the area....

Very busy, had to queue to get a menu then again to order, system could be better.

A great find in a village we hadn't stopped at before. Meals excellent " specials " Thai fishcakes were that bit different with cod and prawn very tasty as was the fish and chips. Opted for the coffee and cake instead of dessert "lemon Persian" not seen or had that before the perfume running throughout was delicious. Service excellent and atmosphere from Stuart the owner full of information, although food was cooked to order we certainly didn't wait very long and cost is no dearer than anywhere we have been. Certainly will return, we like a place that shows it is cared for with pride.

Really enjoyed the meal in a really nice pub,great atmosphere.

Popped here for lunch, it's a big pub that was really quiet when we visited. One guy working who was very friendly, the food was pretty average though, I was quite disappointed. If you like chips and deep fried food this is the pub for...

Accommodating. Welcoming. Decent food. Not cheap not expensive. Great lakeland pub

Lovely experience all round. Food was amazing and very reasonable pricing for such large portions. Staff are very welcoming and Finn the dog is adorable. Will be going back

We Have been visiting the Sun for approximately 16 years when we stay in Bassenthwaite. It has had its ups and downs over that time. But Stuart his wife and the whole team have brought it back up to be incredible again, Extremely good food...

Excellent food and service . Staff are fantastic. Dog friendly. We visited every evening of our week stay it was so good . Can't recommend this place enough .

The food here is very nice. Staff are friendly and the pub has a great atmosphere. Would definitely recommend

The Sun serves a great pub meal at at reasonable price. The salad accompaniments are huge and with good variety and fresh. The staff are friendly and welcoming. It’s well worth a visit.

Popped in here as camping near by, beer was spot on so well kept. Location good and decent carpark if you're driving . Food- very much lacking in quality and flavour, very much the let down of the trip. Staff always on hand, polite, and...

Great place to stop off for a pint or two and a good menu for a bite to eat. Very pleasant and helpful staff. Enjoyed. Would recommend a visit to The Sun Inn. Bassenthwaite Village.

Nice lake District pub, with a busy out door area, a decent size car park, dog friendly. Mine Host is character with a quirky sense of humour, good home cooked food with a proper plate pie, not that pastry topper rubbish. Very nice well kept pint, recommended Thursday Seniors lunch.

Really good country pub with good beer

Fabulous food, lovely bar staff and dog friendly with a dog menu. Would definitely recommend and will definitely return.

Great pub. Great food. Friendly staff. Dog friendly. Decent wifi. Came here 3 days on the run before we travel home tomorrow. Will definitely be back when we are next in the area

Food was excellent as was the service. Steak pie was fabulous and vegetable lasagna plentiful and piping hot. Good value prices. Excellent parking too. Would definitely recommend to friends and family.

Great dog friendly village pub with excellent food and large portions. Great atmosphere. Staff very friendly, pleasant and efficient.

Fabulous location and good. Perfect place to retire to after a hard hike.

Incredibly good fish and chips. The best sticky toffee pudding ever. Highly recommend. Can’t understand why this place doesn’t have 5* Friendly staff and so dog- friendly! Even if some of the dogs didn’t want to share this pub! Can understand. A brilliant experience.

Fantastic little pub Food was amazing, landlord was happy to see us, had a great few tips about the local area all round 5 stars

Staff were really pleasant despite the place feeling a little busy. With only a couple of them, they were communicative about the table situation and waiting times, and welcoming of the dogs. The plant based burger was flavoursome but a bit dry, the pizza base was somewhat bland, whilst the generosity of toppings made up for that. The gammon, Cumberland sausage, fish and chips all hit the spot nicely.

What a great pub. Very friendly staff and service was excellent. Good pub grub at a decent price. What more could you ask for?

Good meal and friendly staff. Average price for the area. Dog friendly. Did the job very well.