The best restaurants in Ambleside and Grasmere South Lakeland North West

Lovely bacon sandwich. The Ciabatta was fluffy and crispy. Really good. The side of halloumi was lovely too

I couldn’t fault this place even if I tried! We stopped in for our one night in Ambleside from Australia. We loved everything about this place! Staff were so lovely and attentive. The food however, phenomenal!! We had the leek risotto & the portobello mushroom. With the tarte tatin to finish. Everything was so flavoursome and fulfilling. We were shocked that a couple near us had a reservation, sat down and then left when they discovered it was a vegetarian restaurant. Absolutely appalled that they didn’t give this place a chance! Best meal we have had in a very long time!

Bought take out pie to take home with us, only got cheese one left, we were looking forward to it as got great reviews but just average

Excellent food, service and ambience.

A lovely, relaxed atmosphere. Fabulous food, beautifully presented, that was both creative and tasty. A delightful experience.

Very kind people, with my three boys and two dogs. A little stressful with traffic etc but the staff were lovely and helpful.

The focccia sandwiches are D E L I C I O U S! Highly recommended!! The food is fab, the staff are lovely 🤩 x

Gorgeous place to stay with infrared sauna, and 10% of food AND drink at the nearby Distillers Arms!

We went for Sunday Lunch. Incredible attentive staff with brilliant knowledge of food and drink, with excellent pairings for the meal. The food was second to none and an overall very enjoyable experience. We did not stay at this hotel, but if I judge my experience on this meal, I can only imagine the quality of the rooms would easily match the quality of the food. Location, brilliant very short walk from the cooperative and centre hub on the main road. Good amount of parking also. All in all 5 star experience and 5 star recommendations!

Lovely clean, spacious and comfortable cinema. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit to see Black Bag - we had a personal viewing as only 2 in the cinema on weekday afternoon. Ice cream and maltesers very good to. X

A total fiasco in orfering gf cake. I was told it would be a short delay - then 10 mins later it would be a little longer cos they were unable to get the freezer to get the cake and then 10 mins later they brought out our mocha and my wifes cake and said they were unable to get my gf desert . We consumed our drinks and when we went to pay they suddenly produced a cake - saying they had now defrosted it and would i take it for later and pay for it - cheek and awful service. The thing is there are other options in the village and they got our custom but did not deliver

Service left something to be desired but the beer was superb and it’s obviously a quality pub

I haven’t had the chance to visit Heidi’s myself yet, but I'm under strict instructions to write a review from my mum who came back raving about it. She said the staff were so friendly and helpful and loved the dogs of the week wall. The cafe had a warm and welcoming atmosphere as soon as she came in with her friends and food was delish. Definitely on the list for the next Lake District trip!

Visited in mid-February on the back of a recommendation. The setting is lovely, car park is "Compact and Bijou!" and the bistro itself is very stylish. Our waiting staff were excellent, not too pushy, very pleasant, and helpful. The whole party were blown away by the starters. Hummus, seafood Dahl, winter salad and souffle were all absolutely spectacular. The dhal was probably the best thing I have eaten in a restaurant in over a year. Because of the quality of the starters we had very high hopes for the main... Which were not met for any of us. They were not awful, or even bad, but just "kind of ok" in each case. Rarebit and Jamaican dish were not great, my Jambalaya was ok, and the honey mustard chicken was the most highly rated amongst us. The Jambalaya was listed as containing lobster bisque and I could not detect any seafood or lobster flavour at all. The spots of chimichurri sour cream were also lacking lustre and added nothing to the dish. The haddock batter was not crispy... The roasted sweet corn sauce and pickled onion rings were great and really stood out in what I felt was a bland dish which I had expected more of. We decided against ordering puddings. I would consider eating here again if I'm in the area, but might choose 2-3 starters over a starter and main.

My absolute favourite bakery whilst in Ambleside (Lake District) I popped in this morning before a hike for two ridiculously amazing pistachio croissants! Also had one of their delicious cappuccinos. Dawn who took my order was an absolute hero. She even treat my dog to some doggy biscuits whilst we waited. Dawn, thank you for you cheerful personality which set us up for a very positive day in the fells. Hopefully will catch you again the next time we visit, as Dennis dog never forgets a face (someone that gives him treats :)