When the Lake District first became a visitor attraction, tourists came to see its rugged scenery, to experience a wilderness that other parts of England seemed to have lost. The dramatic landscape has largely been preserved, as the Lake District was first granted the status of a National Park and then a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Three of the highest mountains in the UK, Scafell Pike, Scafell, and Helvellyn, are all here, and every year more and more walkers, climbers, mountain bikers, and even skiers discover Cumbria’s charms. 

One of the most exciting recent developments, however, is the explosion of the Lake District’s food scene. Cheese makers, craft brewers, bakers, and farmers are producing a world-class selection of produce, much of which is organic, and supplying not only local markets and delis, but also a passionate new generation of chefs. Spending a day in the great outdoors is guaranteed to build up an appetite, and in many of the Lake District’s towns and even villages, you will be spoilt for choice of where to eat.

In an attempt to guide you, we’ve picked five of the best restaurants in the Lake District for our foodie’s guide:

Four & Twenty, Penrith

Four & Twenty Restaurant

Slow roast ragu of Cumbrian lamb with truffled pasta

Four & Twenty Restaurant

Slow roast ragu of Cumbrian lamb with truffled pasta

Four & Twenty Restaurant

Slow roast ragu of Cumbrian lamb with truffled pasta

A two-minute walk from Penrith’s attractive market square is Four & Twenty. Husband and wife team Rebecca and James Cowin work side by side with chefs James and Steve to create a small, bistro-style menu which changes every month, with additional specials at weekends.

The three-course set menu is an absolute bargain at £25, and it includes moreish starters such as roasted red pepper and tomato soup with goats cheese and basil oil; followed by slow roast ragu of Cumbrian lamb with truffled pasta and chieftain cheese. All the cheeses are sourced from Courtyard Dairy in Austwick, which for cheese aficionados deserves to be a holiday destination in its own right. 

Heft, High Newton

Heft Restaurant

Heft Restaurant

Heft Restaurant

Nicola Tickle’s family has been farming the Cumbrian fells for 400 years. Along with husband Kevin, she runs Heft, a fine dining restaurant with five guest rooms, which is in the village of High Newton, just to the south of Windermere. Heft’s chefs prepare a daily tasting menu, and there’s just one sitting for lunch and for dinner.

This means that there’s a communal feel: diners are sat at different tables but eating the same dishes at the same time, and you can look about you and see the deep-seated satisfaction on everyone’s faces. The ingredients – all of which are local and seasonal, and many of which have been foraged – are carefully chosen for their complementary flavours, and they are presented in such a way that they look like works of art.