The Michelin star restaurants worth travelling to the Lake District for

The Lake District – that long hilly wonderland in the north, between the ballroom dancers of Blackpool and the hikers of Hadrian’s Wall – has long been a destination in its own right for walkers, outdoorsy folk and literary lovers. But now, it’s seen a flurry of food-focussed travellers planning their fell frolicking around the best places to eat. Cumbria has 13 Michelin-star restaurants – giving smart city diners a run for their money – and the most of any hot spot outside of London, so while it’s wise to pack the boots and the waterproofs you should also bring an appetite too. Here are seven of our favourites in the region.

Michelin star restaurants to try in the Lake District

L’Enclume, Cartmel

Simon Rogan’s flagship restaurant-with-rooms managed to secure its third star in 2022, almost exactly 20 years after the budding chef came up north to put British plates in the spotlight. Since then, they’ve received a Green Star for sustainability credentials too, where almost all of the restaurant’s ingredients are grown and plucked from Our Farm, Rogan’s hotbed for produce. It’s the type of place where serious eaters come from near and far to the matchbox-sized village of Cartmel for a theatrical intimate 16-course tasting menu of plant-forward feasting. Sittings might start with pig and eel fritters with fermented sweetcorn before a bigger display of celeriac roasted in yeast oil with buttermilk and smoked pike perch roe or lamb sweetbreads and ramson honey. Bring your adventurous hat.

L’Enclume, Cavendish Street, Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands LA11 6QA

lenclume.co.uk

The Dog and Gun Inn, Skelton

Before this wooden-beamed village pub got a fresh lick of paint and a shiny star in 2022, it was just a lovely local neighbourhood pit stop, where mucky-booted trekkers and shaggy dogs came to warm their cockles with a local ale and a daze by the fire. But since its purchase by Ben Queen-Fryer (an apt name for the head chef) and his wife Elizabeth, they set out to keep the charm of a countryside pub – a welcome break from the cleaner, slicker spots nearby – but with good hearty takes on classic grub at the forefront. Regulars return for the twice-baked Torpenhow cheese soufflé with black truffle and more pin-sharp plates of Cartmel Valley venison suet pudding with beetroot cooked in duck fat or West Coast lobster cannelloni. All chased with a dark chocolate mille feuille and some lavender shortbread.

The Dog and Gun Inn, Skelton, Penrith CA11 9SE