The best restaurants serving British food in Derwent Valley Allerdale North West

Precis: Wow! Excellent! Any other superlative you choose! Full review: What a wonderful gem of a find! From the start the welcome was warm and friendly. Nothing was too much trouble for Gary, Donna and their team; what a diamond they have found in Jack! The quality of the furnishings is very high, the fittings top class and the home made biscuits in the bedroom were delicious! Even a welcome decanter of sherry to start off your stay! The hallway walls are adorned with award plaques from numerous organisations! The grounds were extensive and very well kept. We had read about the wild red squirrels and hoped we may get to spot one - no fears there; we watched them running around the garden and feeder each day! Now for the food! Absolutely excellent! Each evening started at 7pm with canapés and good conversation with fellow guests, most of whom seem to be repeat visitors, with good reason! Gary is very personable and quite the bon viveur, his knowledge of wine is excellent, after all by his own admission he has been in the game for a good number of years! The four course dinner menu is set, no choices, but the menu is on display each morning and I'm sure that alternatives could be organised if enough notice were given. Each course was exquisite, served piping hot (where appropriate!) and presented beautifully, as was the table in general. Service was efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. Breakfast was just as good! Hazel Bank has seven rooms and the restaurant is open only to residents. All this means that each guest gets very personal, and personable, service from start to finish! If you think that this review is a little enthusiastic then I doubt you've visited! Don't get me wrong, it isn't for everybody and nowhere is totally perfect, but Hazel Bank gets VERY close!

My husband and I have always fancied trying this place, so I booked it as a surprise for his birthday. We came up (from the Midlands) with our two teenage children (15 and 17) and our two dogs. My husband and I stayed in the garden room, which is perfect for people with dogs, and the kids stayed in a mountain view room. From arrival to departure, we were made to feel so welcome. It was the smallest details like fresh milk for in your room, bath oils for your bath and a jar of dog treats and blankets for the dogs, that made it for me, not to mention the delicious evening meal and breakfast! The 7 course taster menu was absolutely delicious, I enjoyed every mouth watering mouthful. This was our children’s first experience of a taster menu and they loved it! The service was superb, with every single staff member being very knowledgable and helpful. They all worked really well as a team too. The breakfast the next morning was excellent, I’ve never tasted toast like it! Thank you for an excellent stay, we will definitely be back!

Great food well presented and excellent service

Thought we would give this place a try as we saw it when coming back from Lodore Falls a few weeks ago and thought location was good. Booked Sunday lunch for 2 adults and 2 teenagers as a pre-Christmas family lunch out. On arrival no one greeted us and we waited in line at the bar to be told, not shown to, which one our table was and to come back to the bar to order. This is fine but at hotel restaurant I would expect staff to come and take our order - main course Sunday lunch £24.95, burgers the kids had £21.95 so not cheap. Inn on the Lake Glenridding for example is less expensive and far superior in location, class, service and food quality. I ordered roast beef and when it arrived I actually got lamb - no problem mistakes happen - but it did mean i had to wait for it to be replaced whilst the rest of my family ate their meals. When beef arrived it was dried out, as if heated under a grill. No one checked on us during the meal but asked if everything was ok when they came to clear. I told them my beef wasn't great - half of it uneaten - and they said i should have told them and they would have replaced. Fine, but bearing in mind i had already waited for it to be replaced once and eaten after others had finished i didn't really want to go for round 3. My meal was removed from the bill but the experience for a family lunch out was spoilt. We were in the restaurant area that doesn't allow dogs but close to the open doors to the dog friendly area - I love dogs but the smell coming through wasn't pleasant from time to time, especially when eating. Generally i think it is expensive and disappointing for what it is, pub type service and food at restaurant prices. £9.50 for puddings for example is excessive for the environment. A shame as location is great to stop for lunch if walking around Derwentwater but I wouldn't recommend based on pour experience today. As a final comment the staff did seem genuinely apologetic.

Walked from Keswick centre to Nichol End Marina. A lovely walk but was glad when I arrived at the marina cafe. Roger (jolly Roger) welcomed me in and was so helpful and friendly. It was quiet as the season is coming to an end. I had an oat milk coffee and a raisin sticky toffee scone. It was so big! Put half in a bag to take home. Plenty of choice of scones all fresh and looking delicious. Prices were so reasonable. Roger then gave me a ride in his boat across Derwent Water. He’s such a nice man. It made my day to find a gem of a place. Would def recommend if in the area. Will return and try out the boating/canoeing etc next year.

Delicious home baking with local produce and perfectly situated for enjoying views of beautiful Borrowdale. We enjoyed carrot and coriander soup with toasted cheese and chive scones - highly recommended!

We booked this after visiting the village in 2023 & seeing the refurb. We wanted something other than a B &B, but some of the “ 5 star” lakes hotels were charging astronomical prices. What can I say, but this is a gem, and we are so pleased we give the other hotels a miss. We were in a skiddaw facing room- bed was huge, so comfy, lovely bedding, high quality. Room had everything you needed , and the decor was so tasteful. The staff were so friendly, welcoming and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. We didn’t eat dinner there, so can only comment on breakfast. I noticed a review that commented on the English breakfast ie sausage, bacon, egg, tomato and mushroom only being one of each. I really feel it is important to add, that while that may be the case, in addition to this you can have as much toast, cereal, fruit, yogurt, fruit juice, coffee/tea etc as you want. My partner has a big appetite & he wasn’t at all disappointed, and we were both very impressed by the wide choice of food on the breakfast menu. We are planning our next visit here for 2025, we enjoyed it so much. I don’t think , if I were visiting in the spring/summer, that I would book a skiddaw facing room, given the noise from the A66, but as we had all the windows closed given it was November, the noise wasn’t a problem.

Great breakfast,cooked to perfection by Sarah, same great quality every morning. Highly recommend,great start to the day.

So disappointed to arrive last night for our restaurant reservation to be told "it's not in the book"! You are not able to book online therefore we phoned 3 weeks prior but obviously whoever took the call never "put it in the book". The fact we are on honeymoon made this even more disappointing.

I have visited here with friends for a number of years. Food, beer, service always good. Lovely views. Surprisingly busy as it is just off the beaten track. Some respectable walking locally.

The festive lunch was ordered by all. Firstly the food for the most part was enjoyed by all 4 pax. However service was lacking both in care and in speed. A set 3 course lunch took 2.5 hours to complete. Dishes were delivered to table without suitable cutlery, serving tray left on the table, 3 pax finished their desserts before the 4th pax received theirs. Waiting staff had to be called for as they passed by, as all, except one, just ignored checking the table meal progress. It appears there is a shortage of staff, but in that case restrict the number of reservations to a level which can be coped with. That said the Brasserie was only a quarter occupied.

A fabulous hidden gem nestled in the sleepy village of Stonethwaite. Delicious food , fabulous service and very friendly staff ! The inn is very interesting with lots of ancient artefacts too .

This cafe is in a great position for walkers and cyclist exploring the Borrowdale valley and it's useful it if you want a quick coffee. We had coffee and cake which was ok without being excellent. But beware, the owners/staff have a very unaccomodating almost mercenary attitude to visitors to the cafe. Lots of smiles, but you can't use the loo or get some tap water for your water bottle unless you've bought something (expensive). My husband summed it up; "You can just hear Basil Fawlty saying "yes, well, that's cost me hasn't it!"". Also they don't allow dogs and any dog owner will tell you what that suggests. Sorry, some staff training is needed - Manuel has obviosuly left.

The Ladore Falls is a lovely old hotel which we have enjoyed a number of times over the years. My wife and I are an elderly retires business couple and booked a three night stay from September 8th 2020. Jane is recovering from major abdominal surgery and the trip was her first few days away after many weeks. We arrived after a 120 mile trip at 5pm tired and parked my wife’s modesty sized red sports car outside the main entrance while we unloaded our luggage. we queued at the reception desk and I asked if someone could help with 2 suit cases and 2 suit bags. A member of staff said she would try to accommodate us. At this point we were unfortunate enough to meet the General Manager although he did not introduce himself as such. “No we cannot help with luggage it may be contaminated” was his response. We moved towards the lift and he said “ I hope you are not going to leave your car there too long”. He was not impolite, just cold and totally disinterested. I asked how would people with more serious disabilities would manage. His response was “They simply wouldn’t come here”was his response. The lift holds 2 people and with luggage is very difficult especially as I have a chronic back condition. We arrived at room 331 and as we opened the door found another flight of narrow stairs to the room. By this time we were both exhausted. The room was comfortable but a little dated and there was a magnificent view over the lake. We found no soap in the bathroom and the shower tray had black mould around the edges. We found the bar area comfortable and the staff friendly and attentive if a little over familiar. As we sat there over a bottle of wine it was obvious that there was a training program. A number of people complained about wrong orders and excessive waits. Dinner on the first night was excellent. Food quality was good and the restaurant manager was first class. Dinner on the second night was also good but we waited 40 minutes between courses. Breakfast on both the mornings of our stay was first class. When we arrived back to the hotel after our first day we found dirty towels, dirty wine glasses, still no soap and an unmade bed. I tried for 10 minutes to contact reception with no response. We were eventually told that that because of COVID rooms were only serviced every third day. It was at this point we decided to go home and forego our final nights stay. We asked to see the manager and eventually a gentleman called Ritchie interviewed us and agreed to refund £320. He said COVID had presented great difficulties, which of course we understand. East European staff had returned home after lockdown. New summer staff had been recruited on the hotel reopening but with little or no time to train them properly. Government and head office policy was changing daily which was causing difficulty in running the business. Our conclusion is one of understanding, but also disappointment. £960 for a three night stay under these conditions is not acceptable. Had the general manager been more understanding and informative at the start we would probably have stayed the three nights. Our 6 star hotel in Beverley is the place we will remain for the foreseeable future. We did get one night refund for £320 for the night we didn’t stayRead lessDate of experience: September 2020