The best restaurants in South Lakeland North West

Have been going here for years and have always had good food and drink so when we are in Grasmere we always make a point of calling in on numerous occasions

We visited yesterday evening after a day hiking up Helvellyn and we was in need of a pub food fix and after all the amazing reviews we thought we would give this place a try.The quality of the food was amazing we had the pigs in blankets and calamari to start and gammon steak for mains and it was cooked to perfection.The staff and Owner were lovely and we even ended up staying for alot more drinks than we should have due to how friendly the staff were and how amazing the atmosphere in the pub. (Sore heads this morning!!)Highly recommend visiting this place we would rate higher than 5* if we could!

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Tucked away down a narrow alley, it's worth finding Bar Es! Best Mexican food outside of Mexico! Great cocktails, great beer selection, our favourite dishes were the spicy prawns, squid, nachos, and meatballs. The Bar Es in keswick is just as good.

Me and daughter went for a spa day absolutely loved every minute of it thankyou very much for your hospitality.

Lovely staff, great food. We called in for coffee but after looking at the menu decided to order lunch. The poached eggs were perfect!

We found the Masons Arms after searching for local dog friendly pubs during a stay in the area on 15th March 2025. We were absolutely blown away by the whole experience...firstly the food was amazing. We had the fishcake, and the prawn starters which were delicious. Followed by fish and chips and a cheese and bacon burger. The staff were lovely and made us feel very welcome... and they loved petting our dogs - the dogs were given a bowls of treats which was very nice of the staff. Our meals were washed down with a lovely pint (Cumbria Way) and a lovely glass of red wine. A lovely meal and memorable evening. Thank you

Very friendly service with great teas and coffee and the tea bread served toasted with butter ss amazing. If it wasn't misty looked like a greatcview across Windermere.

Beautiful period inn that offers a separate vegan menu, but not plant milk for hot drinks.

First Class Hotel, excellent service throughout our stay, staff here are brilliant. Went with some trepidation by taking our 7 month old cockapoo that hasn't conquered separation anxiety. We needn't have worried as everyone loved her and a table for breakfast and evening meal was prepared for us in a separate room so that she could stay with us at all times. Other than that personal note rooms here are always clean and if you have lake view you probably won't want to leave, the large grounds are beautiful with spectacular scenery.

A fairly small, simple and quaint restaurant, but excellent value and delicious Chinese food. The chicken and sweetcorn soup is some of the best I have ever tasted. Well seasoned and the texture is perfect, as often some places make it way too gloopy. The prawn toast had more prawn in it than virtually every other place i have been, furthermore you can tell its homemade rather than the oh so common freezer to fryer ones made with a prawn and chicken mix. The hot garlic beef steak was absolutely divine, so tender and spicy, a standout dish. Only downside, the sweet and sour wasn’t great, I have much better elsewhere, but the rest of the food is so good it doesn’t bother me, I just don’t order it anymore! If you have somewhere to eat at home, there isn’t much advantage to eating out at the restaurant compared to as a takeaway as its a simple setting, but regardless the staff have always been very friendly and catered to our needs well. The best Chinese in Bowness/Windermere and it’s not even close! (And trust me, at the time of writing we have been to them all!)

Just had a fabulous pint of stout sat by the fire 🔥 with my wife, dog friendly, and lovely staff.

Wow!! Wow! Wow Just got home from this wonderful Restaurant and all we can say is that meal was amazing! Staff perfect!! Food out of this world!! We will be back very soon!! Well done to Tracey who runs a fantastic team!!

Visited this pub again after many years. Lovely homely pub. Very quiet. Guy behind bar very attentive and friendly. I had small fish and chips which came with mushy peas and chunky (homemade?) tartare - which wasn’t my cup of tea to be honest - fish was nice though. Husband had pie and chips. We both chose sticky toffee pudding - but unfortunately and strangely one half of my pudding was stone cold and other side warm/hot? But it was nice.

It has a nice vibe but unfortunately the food didn’t hit the mark. Would try again! Staff are friendly. Could have just been a bad day.