Some of the best value places to eat in Cumbria
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Whilst exploring the Lake District and beyond in your caravan, motorhome or tent, we recommend sampling the following places for local dishes, great-tasting food, and most importantly, good value.
Sun Inn, Kirkby Lonsdale
This retaurant combines a 17th century inn, traditional bar with oak floors and real fires, with a contemporary restaurant and five-star accommodation. The award-winning menu includes locally sourced food and award-winning sausages and bacon from a local Kirkby Lonsdale butcher. The relaxed and welcoming bar serves a selection of real ales from the Lake District, Yorkshire and Lancashire, and food is served at lunchtimes from Tuesday to Sunday. The bar is also dog friendly, so perfect after a hard day's walking as you can relax in the bar with your four-legged friend and enjoy a choice of the full menu too. The small and intimate restaurant serves a range of meals, from starter-size portions of meat, fish and bread dishes to pub favourites and Sunday roasts.
- Sun Inn, 6 Market Street, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria LA6 2AU. 01524 271965. Lunch served Tues to Sun 12pm - 2.30pm, dinner every evening 6.30pm-9pm.
Canteen Baba Ganoush, Kendal
This is not your typical cafe. Bacon rolls, sandwiches and baked potatoes share the menu with risotto, cassoulets and vegetarian mezze boards. But it is also not a restaurant - no bookings are taken and there's a no frills, no fuss approach which is reflected in the prices too. Baba Ganoush is a daytime eatery, serving breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Be tempted by the delicious cake counter and if you're in a rush, the original Baba Ganoush food shop offers takeaway. But as with the canteen, this is not your usual takeaway, there's a deli with a range of cheeses, olives and antipasti, plus a salad bar, cakes, traybakes and a range of soups.
- Baba Ganoush, 3 Berry's Yard, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4AB. 01539 731072. Canteen open Tues - Sat 9.30am - 4pm, Food Shop open Mon-Sat 7.30am-4pm.
The Hazelmere Cafe & Bakery, Grange-over-Sands
The emphasis here is on locally sourced, seasonal food with everything made on the premises. The cafe is light and airy with a terrace area for the summer months and an open fire for the winter. After enjoying one of the delicious dishes you can visit the bakery and take away home-made breads, preserves and cakes. The Hazelmere serves an extensive menu which changes seasonally. Breakfasts are served and then food all day, with dogs welcome. The dishes range from sausage and mash to sandwiches and cakes which can be washed down with an award-winning tea or local beer.
- The Hazelmere Cafe & Bakery, 1-2 Yewbarrow Terrace, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6ED. 01539 532972. Open daily. Cafe 10am-5pm. Shop 8.30am-5pm.
Angel Lane Chippie, Penrith
For a best of British tradition head to this little chip shop tucked away up a side street in the market town of Penrith. As well as the takeaway there's a cafe upstairs serving all your usual chip shop fayre, plus homemade pies and specials such a curry, chilli con carne and lasagne. Angel Lane's steak and ale pie comes recommended, due to its tender slow-cooked met, layers of filo and lashings of the shop's own special gravy.
- Angel Lane Chippie, 17 Angel Lane, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 7BP. 01768 866762. Open Mon-Fri 11.30am-9pm, Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 12pm-8pm. Cafe stops service at 7pm.
Tebay Services, Penrith
A motorway servies on the M6 might seem a little odd on a list of top places to eat but this family-owned services, with is farm shops, shopping outlets and main cafeteria, remains one of the best places to eat in the Lakes. Full meals are cooked on site, using local ingredients, and a brick oven to cook its flatbreads and panninis. The cafe serves a range of soups, hot meals, and home-baked cakes and has a deli and salad bar. On fine days burgers are cooked on the outdoor BBQ area and customers can enjoy breathtaking mountain views.
- Tebay Services, between Jct 38 & 39 of the M6, Orton. 01539 624511. Cafe open daily 7.15am - 9pm.
Broughton Village Bakery & Cafe, Broughton in Furness
Using traditional baking methods, this bakery and cafe offers home-made soups, quiches, pies, pasties and cakes and desserts. You can takeaway or sit awhile in the comfort of the relaxed cafe. Comfort is the order of the day, with a wood burning dtove for keeping cosy on wintry days and a cosy sofa for total relaxation. Breakfasts, lunches and snacks are served and include beef stew, sandwich melts and a 'sandwich of the day' and daily specials.
- Broughton Village Bakery & Cafe, Broughton in Furness, Cumbria LA20 6HQ. 01229 716284. Cafe open Tues-Fri 9am-4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-4pm. Shop open Tues-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm.
Chesters by the River, Skelwith Bridge
This is a smart, modern cafe, bakery and shop, near Ambleside by the River Brathay at the start of the Langdale Valley. From the small kitchen, fresh goods are cooked from scratch every day for customers to enjoy for breakfast and lunch and to take away. Produce is all locally sourced and the cafe can seat about 90, with doors opening to an outside decking area in the summer, with views over the river. The shop sells everything from cards, books, furniture and gifts.
- Chesters by the River, Skelwith Bridge, Nr Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 9NJ. 01539 434711. Cafe open daily 10am-4.30pm. Shop open daily 10am-5pm.
Hawkshead Brewery, Staveley
This family-owned brewery is Cumbria's largest and home to award-winning ales and The Beer Hall. Here you can sample one of their many real ales, buy products from the shop and enjoy great food in The Beer Kitchen. Beer Tapas is their sepciality - small portions designed to complement your beer. They also serve hearty main dishes, like sausage and mash, venison casserole, plus a traditional roast on a Sunday. The consultant chef here was the first British head chef of a Michelin 3 star restaurant and also a pioneer of gastro-pubs, giving you an idea of the tasty food on offer at Hawkshead.
- Hawkshead Brewery, Mill Yard, Staveley, Cumbria LA8 9LR. 01539 825260. Kitchen open Mon-Thurs 12pm-3pm, Sat 12pm-7pm and Sun 12pm-6pm.
Developed an appetite for the Lakes?
Read about the top attractions of the Lake District, here.
See our pick of the best Cumbrian waterfalls, here.
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