The best restaurants in Ambleside and Grasmere South Lakeland North West

We were knackered after a load of personal stress and a walk from Ambleside to Grasmere (recommended) on a really hot day. SO ... we decided to have a pint (or several) on our return and we chose this place. Lovely staff, nice atmosphere and the 'early bird menu' for people like us who were past it by 8 o'clock (hic !) it was excellent. Seriously, this is a fantastic place to go. Also try the Royal Oak and the also consider staying at Rothay House for your accommodation. Hope this helps. Rob & Ruth.

Me and the missus called into the Ambleside Inn at around 4pm for a couple of drinks with a view to possibly eating later on. It was a busy bank holiday Sunday (Spring bank holiday) The bar was busy but didn’t take too long to get served. The drinks were pricey never the less we stayed for a few rounds and then decided to have a Sunday roast. We paid £21 each for roast beef, again pricier than most. It arrived pretty quickly and when it was placed down they looked dry so I asked if we could have some more gravy. The waitress said that would be another £2 each WTF!!! I explained this was disgusting but she walked away. Another member was passing and I asked to see the manager, he wasn’t available but this member of staff said extra gravy was extra but could see there was hardly any so on this occasion she would get some for us. The food was ok but nothing to shout about. Pale roast potatoes, tough beef and tasteless yorkshire puddings. Not worth the money. Very disappointed and hope they review this charge for extra gravy. Won’t rush to visit again.

My partner and I ate here on 4-5-25. Service was initially great, food selection was good and generally tasty. We were having a really pleasant evening. The toilets downstairs unfortunately were a bit unclean and the area smelled of stale cigarette smoke, but this did not detract from our experience so far. HOWEVER my partner then found a long black curly hair embedded and cooked within an onion bhaji, which instantly put us off from eating further. I complained very discretely to the manager, away from the eating area and other diners, and asked for a goodwill discount but was met with a dismissive and flippant attitude and the response of "well it's not like we did it on purpose" and "these things happen". Eventually the manager agreed to a 20% discount off our bill, which was acceptable but hard fought! When we left the premises we were made to feel unwelcomed and as if we had done something wrong. Any return to Ambleside will surely omit a visit to this place in the future.

Fab first visit to the Wainwright Inn last week. Lovely friendly bar with a large outdoor area for eating and drinking. Great service with very short wait for food The tuna roll with side salad and extra bowl of chips was lovely as was the Bitter. Would definitely recommend a visit and on the 516 bus route from Ambleside too 😁x

Extremely annoyed that you now have to pay £5 parking to have lunch. Will never ho back. Found another pub that was very welcoming with good food

Great service, really nice coffee and cakes

Erin was fantastic lovely girl asset to the team amazing pricing and the chips are absolutely amazing complement to the kitchen

Megan and Shane are the best servers ever!! So sweet

Wow how things change, been when it was run by the Trust when it was great. Now extremely overpriced and rude staff to go with being overcharged for average food.

Not great, lady serving said she was too busy to take an order without a table number - despite only 6 tables to choose from and my saying we would look out for it. Walked back downstairs out of building to garden to check table number then soup was salty and scone was damp (microwaved?)

Just wow. The nicest ice cream EVER. The lady serving was lovely and the ice cream was amazing. Will deffo be going back next time we visit this area. Highly recommend.

The Quaker Guest House is a great place to stay. The accommodation that we had was in a separate annexe in the grounds and was well appointed. The clientele tend to be of a certain type and it would appear that many have been coming for a good number of years. The food was fine but you do have to share a table with other guests and share in the conversation which may not suit everyone. Afternoon tea is served every afternoon and is complimentary which is a nice feature. There are extensive grounds too for the children.

Great patio and lovely service! Great stop in Ambelside!

Good selection of vegan options (anything pretty much on the veggie menu can be done vegan), pretty decent food but not as good as some other Chinese locations in the area. Waited a little while to pickup.

Helpful in changing our booking to the following evening, but when we arrived on time at 7pm they had almost run out of food so we had to go elsewhere.