The best restaurants serving British food in Ambleside and Grasmere South Lakeland North West

Al dejar el hotel car park y a pie a la zona del lago para tomar el té de la tarde, que son golpeados por la impresionante vista del lago Windermere. Nos sentamos en la parte de delante del balcón de piedra, la señora que nos servía era muy acogedor y eficiente. Pedimos una crema té completo de la tarde que era perfecto. Un lugar perfecto para tomar el té de la tarde en un hotel maravilloso.

Tucked away in a small side street this restaurant is very popular. The staff and ambiance are good. Entrees are particularly good and we heard a lot of good comments about the food. The thing that let in down for me was the desserts. They were all £9 and personally l thought this a little steep. We would go again but not have a pudding. Booking is highly recommended.

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! Just had one of the worst dining experiences of my life, for a 30th birthday celebration courtesy of Lucy’s on a plate Ambleside! I honestly don’t know where to begin with this, maybe the appalling manager, slow service, bland overpriced food, not sure really but here we go. So we email this place the previous evening to our booking enquiring about a reservation for 2 people, we heard nothing until WE contacted them around 3/4pm the following day to be told “oh yes im just on with the bookings now and was just about to call you”which I didn’t believe but that’s fine, on the phone I explained it was a special 30th birthday meal for my partner as they asked were we celebrating an occasion. We were looking forward to our meal and arrived slightly early about 6.20 for a 7pm table, we thought we could maybe have a drink if they had a bar or somewhere to wait for the table. We were shocked to see the manager fumbling around with his booking sheet to clearly see he didn’t have our names down, just to write us in in front of him, he then makes a joke saying “that would of been embarrassing”yeah it certainly would have been embarrassing so not a great start at all, we sit down to read the menu and notice some essay on the front talking about the guests and what they were celebrating, no mention of my partners 30th birthday just a half arsed after thought saying hello Andrew and Rhianne, as we were clearly forgotten about. After looking at the menu we decided to go for 2 pork belly starters £12 each and lamb shank £28 and lamb tagine £24, starters came out pretty quickly around 10-15 mins so great, unfortunately BLAND!! The apple puree could of been anything as there was no flavour at all, no sweetness to balance the dish just the flavour or pork and a little black pudding Bon Bon, BLAND! Then we wait for almost 1 hour, yes 1 hour for the main, asking the waiting staff how long, got told if it’s not here in 5 mins I’ll go and punch the chef, yes haha very funny but just get me my food I wasn’t up for jokes by this time, then the mains come, my lamb shank was dry had next to no sauce or should I say gravy at all, the mash was lukewarm the veg the same and very undercooked, I’m all for al dente but this just wasn’t and a piece of parsnip no bigger then your little finger, this place is a long way off fine dining! I asked for some more sauce and was brought a gravy boat of wishy washy gravy that they must use on every dish! Honestly very similar to a bisto gravy, where’s the lamb flavour or the reduced stock to coat the lamb shank, absolutely nothing! My partner said the lamb tagine was lukewarm again but after waiting an hour we were so hungry we just ate it, she said the cous cous was just bland and had nothing special about it, she said the cous cous from Sainsbury’s ‘food on the go’ was much nicer, why is this when we’re paying all this money? We also noticed there was no check back to see how we were enjoying the food as tbh they just weren’t bothered! When our plates were cleared(25 mins after we had finished) we were asked was everything ok, I said hmm yeah ok to which the waitress replied “ok yeah” great and takes the plates. This is where I would of informed the manager that someone was not very happy and suggest they go and speak to them! I was very reluctant to say anything because I’m aware I’m celebrating my partners 30th and didn’t want to make a scene, after such terrible service and food we just couldn’t order a dessert as we weren’t going to give these people my more of our money, we receive the bill at £115 for 2 starters 2 mains and 2 drinks each one of those was non alcoholic. Very overpriced for the quality you receive. Then to top the night off I go to pay, this is where the manger really shows his lack of experience, from me counting out the money to pay he never once asked “how was your meal” how did your partner enjoy her 30th birthday celebration” nothing! Didn’t even say enjoy your evening, honestly I recommend you research this place before going here as it’s beyond bad!

Beautiful location, lovely food, very friendly and helpful staff and really nice rooms. And very dog friendly too.

Lovely stay mews rooms where fab when you have dogs. Room service for breakfast was great meaning we didn't have to leave dogs while we went for breakfast. Food in the bar on the evening was great and fab value for money. Will definitely be back

Very tired and in need of complete renovation and it shouldnt have been advertised as a four star hotel. Staff were friendly and helpful working under poor conditions. Breakfast choice poor unless you like eggs and the vegetarian full English was dry and obviously been kept under a heat lamp. Definitely not 4 star and I understand the day after we left the hotel was closed for renovation.

This was our second visit. We had previously enjoyed our stay and so booked for a special family event. Positives first- Our rooms were fabulous and clean. The doggy shower room a great idea. Staff on arrival lovely, cleaning staff and maintenance staff polite and friendly. Although the furniture in the lounge area was a little tired, there genuinely seemed to be an effort to maintain and improve the hotel and grounds. Negatives- one or two waiting staff had a bit of a toxic attitude. We’ve eaten in top Michelin and other good restaurants around the globe and would not expect this. So much so we chose to eat out at other local restaurants after our first night. We were a party of mixed dietary requirements and found the Vegetarian/vegan choices were very limited especially if staying for a week. My meal was ok but spoiled by atmosphere created by waiter attitude. Not truely vegetarian/vegan. I opted for pancakes one breakfast with compote, no bacon. They were cooked in bacon fat. Waitress, instead of immediately trying to sort it out, lied to my face. Doggy friendly on the face of it. Only allowed in certain rooms, not in main restaurant. Fair enough but Bar restaurant/lounge area not serving meals or seats unavailable because main restaurant users waiting on their restaurant table becoming available (people appeared to be waiting quite a time). Felt a bit Faulty Towers. Would we choose to spend our money there in future?

Barmaid wanted £36. I said, "£36 for two puddings and a pint and a half?" She immediately reconsidered. "It's £29.50.". She printed me a receipt and said, "You asked for extra custard. Life isn't free, sir." I had indeed asked for extra custard, for which I had only been charged a pound. But obviously, people who query bar bills in the Lakes are regarded as the lowest form of scroungers.

We have been to The Wateredge Inn a couple of times for drinks when visiting Ambleside. It is set in a fabulous location with amazing views of Windermere and is dog friendly. The interior of the bar is also very nice. We called in for lunch today and the first dissapointment was having to pay £5 in the car park. That's the minimum amount. I appreciate it's a deterrent to stop non-customers using the car park. But paying customers should not have to pay and the amount should be refunded when ordering. We wrongly assumed they may serve Sunday roasts, they don't! The queue to order food and drink took a ridiculously long time to get served. My partner ordered ham hock, which came with a 'dollop' of mash and a tiny amount of gravy, it looked pitiful. The ham hock looked nothing like any ham hock I'd ever seen. And to be honest, I wouldn't have given it to my dog. It was very fatty. I ordered a bacon, brie & cranberry toastie, effectively dried up bacon, too much cranberry and brie which hadn't melted. It was as dry as a bone. Neither of us enjoyed our meal. I would not recommend the food, it was poor and not value for money. I do realise that most places have bad days, but that on top of the car park charge is enough for us not to return next time we're in the area.

Having criticised this place (Stickle Barn is it's name) last year for its extortionate drinks prices, we chose to give it another go (having already popped in to the ever dependable ODG where we enjoyed great cask beers in the sun). It proved a much cheaper visit this time, however, as they had no cask beer on at all. Foreign lager and Guinness were available, in a place that purports to celebrate Cumbrian produce. Another 'Lakes' place bites the dust - but the Old Dungeon Ghyll is more than adequate compensation. Visit there instead.

I really wanted to be more impressed... but I just wasn't. Perfect location for walkers and a potentially cool vibe but don't be fooled by instagram! It was cold and lacked atmosphere- not ideal as 90% of customers were walkers. I was disappointed to know the Langdale gin was currently made in Essex, and food was average. We had two plates of loaded fries and while the toppings had a nice flavour and were warm, the chips underneath were stone cold. We'd had quite a wait which I didn't mind, but by this point we were too hungry to send it back. I might have mentioned it to a friendly waited if there was one to be seen, however no one checked in and it really felt the staff were happy to do the bare minimum. One guy lit a few candles and sat and had a pint on this side of the bar with some mates. I'd love to return in the hope it's better as it really feels it has so much potential.

We were staying in Grasmere and headed here on our first night. It was very expensive, the starters were tiny for the money and our mains were tasteless. To top it off they charged us 95p for a tiny slice of sourdough! Making the small starter £9! The pub did feel cosy but definitely wouldn’t recommend for food.

Nice day in Ambleside, we were looking for a nice pub for lunch. Saw this pub with board saying ‘beer garden at the rear’. So we walked through the quiet pub, down some fire escape steps, past some bins then found the ‘beer garden’…… No kind of beer garden I’ve ever been in, couple of tables, fake grass, rubbish bins, beer barrels, ash trays (overflowing). My wife had gone the bar on way in, the wonderfully helpful barms said “I’m not doing food outside”. Grumpy as Mr Grumpy. Frankly I wouldn’t have had food sat in the ‘beer garden’. Shambles!

Headed in as a group of 9 as other cafes weren't big enough to accommodate (absolutely fine), and we're seated quickly. Everyone had coffee or tea and a scone. Scones were a good size and delicious. Service from the guy with long hair was fantastic.

Superb food and excellent serice from Tom this evening. All the food was delicious, especially the braised belly pork. Highly recommend.