JezmondTutu
pfm Member
It has but food was pretty average and beer choice still limited as it's Theakstons. The Coledale Inn in Braithwaite is better.
Lake District - Fell Walking
- Thread starter Gerard124
- Start date
It has but food was pretty average and beer choice still limited as it's Theakstons. The Coledale Inn in Braithwaite is better.
Pretty sure they had a fair selection of guest beers, there was a blackboard on wall with a list. The food was just standard pub chain grub, nothing special.
Must check The Coledale Inn out, is the food any good?
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
It's good 'pub' food at the Coledale and beer selection is better. You do get guests at the Swinside but it's a tied pub.
The bar at Scafell Hotel is excellent as is the food but is small so can get busy.
The bar at Scafell Hotel is excellent as is the food but is small so can get busy.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Dunno why, but the food you get in the pubs in the Lakes, with one or two very expensive exceptions, is never up to much. We're always on the lookout for good food places in Keswick, but generally once you find a good one it either changes hands or the chef leaves. Current favourites are The Inn On The Square & The Highfields Hotel. The Bank Tavern & The Pheasant Inn, on the Crosthwaite Road, do reliable pub-type grub.
Totally agree Tony, we cook nearly always for this reason - I have a theory the better the view the worse the beer/food. Problem with the Lakes is if you don't like 'it' there will be another along next week to take your place at the table so a lot of places don't have to try too hard.
Absolutely this. The worst IME is Buttermere, I've been going there for 20 years plus and the 2 pubs there have never been anything other than dreadful. I've seen staff being rude to customers in a way that would have then sacked from a pub in town, if not punched unconscious first, and landlords/ladies behaving in a manner that would see a town pub empty within weeks. Yet they get away with it because there are only 2 pubs in Buttermere, the next one is a good walk up the valley (worth it IMO) and the punters just line up at The Fish and The Bridge on sunny weekends, so why do they need to try harder?
In and around Keswick I have had great food in Threlkeld, but a long time ago. 25 years ago, that kind of long time. I was back there 4-5 years ago and it was merely average. As you say people move on. It may be great again now. A friend used to sing the praises of the Dog and Gun, Keswick, I never found it fantastic. I suspect that the modern approach is to look up online reviews and choose one based on recent performance.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
We nearly always cook in ourselves Gerard. But with Booths a five-minute walk away from us we've access to some pretty fine ingredients, so it's not too much of a fag!
The local eateries were all up in arms a while ago when "The Chief Justice Of The Common Pleas", the Wetherspoons place in the old police station, opened. I'm afraid they got no sympathy from us - nice to see a bit more competition, & they do a fair range of beers. Burgers aren't bad either.
The local eateries were all up in arms a while ago when "The Chief Justice Of The Common Pleas", the Wetherspoons place in the old police station, opened. I'm afraid they got no sympathy from us - nice to see a bit more competition, & they do a fair range of beers. Burgers aren't bad either.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
I made the mistake (as we all do, just the once) of stopping for refreshments in Buttermere. Bloody awful.
It's an ongoing subject of debate as to which is worse. Unfortunately I have freuently had cause to compare as I regularly stay in the FRCC hut on the edge of the village or the campsite (the 3-tiered one) by the lake, and there are no alternative hostelries unless you fancy the walk. The answer of course is to take bikes.
Booths is good, we usually pull up at the Penrith branch and stock up on food and drink - most weeks by the door you can pick up a shrink wrapped pack of 8 No. 500ml ales (Wainwright, Cumberland etc) for £9.00, plenty of choice of wine too.
Have you been in the Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater? I can't comment on the food but it's a lovely spot to enjoy a pint after a walk.
I have indeed and it's my hostelry of choice in the area. To the point where I walk to it from Buttermere if I can persaude my mates to do the same.
Know the Queens Head in Tirril and Royal in Dockray, is the Dockray Hall the new pub owned by the Kirkstile Inn folks?, if it is it's on our to do list.
Also worth a look is the Punchbowl Inn in Askham (or was a few years back) there's also the Queens Head in Askham but I can't remember how that was for quality.
Excellent, is the grub any good?
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
The Dog and Gun was superb but may well have gone downhill ashave not eaten there in a while. Banks used to be below average so that's interesting and have heard Inn on the Square is good. Also have no issues with Chief Justice of Common Pleas and they do have some great beer there too.
MVV
pfm Member
Yes the Kirkstile people. Both Askham pubs have gone down the nick recently but seem to be pulling back a bit. The Dog and Gun is just a tourist pub now.
The Howtown Hotel back bar is a fun curiosity but the beer is rubbish.