Reviews Lake Road Kitchen

I'm still buzzing after our dinner at Lake Road Kitchen in Ambleside, over a week ago. We had planned to just visit   Old Stamp House and maybe have a light tea in a pub later on that evening. Then I got a message from someone in the industry recommending it and he really knows his onions. Well travelled, knowledgeable food blogger Cumbriafoodie raved about it too, so I knew we'd have to try and get a reservation even if it meant doing two taster menus in one day and breaking our budget. The search for better and better restaurants becomes like a ridiculous never ending obsession and the more it continues, the less satisfied you become with most places closer to home. I'm so glad we pushed the boat out. It turned out to be a very inspiring trip. Along with the Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds, it was the most exciting find of the year for us. This is interesting in itself, as in some ways they're polar opposites in style. But we loved them both. If you put a gun to my head and asked me what I'd thought about foraging before this meal, I'd have said that in all honesty, I couldn't care less. I'm just bothered about what's on my plate and how delicious it is. But listening to head chef James Cross talk so passionately about his early morning foraging trips out on beaches and forests, it would take a complete cynic not to be impressed. This 'North European' style has a real emphasis on using as much quality local product and foraging where possible. World famous chef Rene Redzepi has turned this into an all encompassing philosophy. James has worked (sometimes 100 hour weeks he told me) at Noma and at Per Se in New York. Both feature highly on foodies bucket lists as I'm sure you know. And that experience brings so much knowledge, work ethic and passion which is very evident when it comes to his style of cooking. But less of the waffle, what about the food? We agreed on a taster menu which was priced at £65 each.

Possibly the best place we have ever visited for food. Each meal is incredible. A chef from the kitchen brings out each meal and explains where the food has come from and what has been done to get it to the plate. The monkfish was surprisingly good and the desserts were my favourite. We would definitely visit again.

Superb uncomplicated beautiful dishes, packed with flavour, a really well balanced tasting menu for £74 for 5 courses, Delicious crusty homemade sourdough with their own butter, we've not tasted better. Clean, fresh flavours from the starters, amazing powerful barbecued miso pork dish and intense double baked cheesecake with juma berry compote. Excellent wine pairing, sommelier and all the staff were immensely knowledgeable and friendly. A more relaxed and informal dining experience with less complicated intense dishes than the Old Stamp House but equally as tasty. My wife actually preferred this restaurant, so no better praise.

What a wonderful meal! Every dish we had was excellent down to the finest details. While every course was indeed amazing, the tiger prawn was the unexpected star - since I'm generally not a huge fan of prawn. The tastes just worked so well together with the perfectly cooked prawn. The service was great and the chef was delightful, friendly, knowledgeable, and would come out of the kitchen to serve a number of the dishes himself. We'll definitely be back as he promised to make the cheesecake next time I'm in town! But also we'll be back because it was so good 😁

One of the best tasting menus we've ever had. Make sure you get the 12 course so that you get to try the crispy octopus which manages to be tender and moist inside and have a lovely crunchy skin. Some lovely additions to your usual fine dining with an amazing bit of Korean fried chicken and a beautiful bit of pork which manages to be moist but not fatty. Service was very good and spur dough for mopping up all those sauces was beautiful

Absolutely incredible dining experience. The team works together seamlessly to bring incredible flavours in the food and the wine parings. So much knowledge and care has been put into creating a really special evening. Service was outstanding. Thank you so much!

This was my first Michelin Star restaurant and the staff could not have been nicer, the food was just superb and the best I’ve ever had. From the Chefs to the server everyone who looked after me tonight was just incredibly helpful warm and welcoming and I definitely will be returning again. I wish I could give this place more than 5 stars. James, Thomas, Nick, Darren who looked after me tonight and Sally who was really nice and helpful over email a massive massive thank you to you all.

Truly amazing. LRK is my favourite tasting menu in the country. It is totally deserving of multiple Michelin stars. I have visited LRK 5 times now and every single time is a new experience, but just as amazing, if not more than the last. I couldn’t recommend LRK more, it’s truly the best food experience in the Lake District. The woodruff ice cream is my favourite, but trust their menu. The walnut ice cream I had was so good! Every dish was phenomenal, I let them keep the menu a surprise until the dish arrived and it made the experience so fun and exciting!

An absolutely fantastic experience. Very unassuming from the outside, you enter a world of surprises. We had booked this as a special treat to crown our time in the Lake District and we couldn’t have been happier with our choice! The service was lovely, taking us through our 8 course menu at the perfect pace, we never felt rushed or waiting for the next dish to appear. The chefs came out regularly to present the dishes themselves which made for a very personable experience. We had food we never even heard off and everything was absolutely spot on, from presentation to inventiveness to flavours everything was packed into these dishes. The wine pairing was also fabulous, the wines were surprising and unusual and matched the dishes perfectly, sometimes being the highlight, but also having the confidence of just supporting the dishes to make them stand out even more. A special mention to the Luxembouguish wine which was a complete surprise to find here in the Lake District, being from Luxembourg myself this is the first time I have come across this abroad. All in all a great experience !

Setting A small, intimate restaurant with a friendly, semi formal setting. The staff a welcoming and professional. Food We had the 8 course set menu. Highlights were: the homemade sourdough bread, steamed halibut, pork with apple, and the blackberry dessert. Some of the portion sizes were bordering on microscopic, and although creative, I found some of the ingredient combinations unusual at best and odd for example pine nuts with pickled mushrooms. Disappointing dishes were the hot smoked salmon with tomato consommé, and the onion broth, and cured ham appetiser. The portion sizes were tiny. Appreciate the number of courses but still! I felt some courses were lacking in substance, the salmon needed some vegetable or herb garnish and I felt carbohydrates were lacking throughout! There was no menu to hand, so the waiter keeps informing you what each dish as it arrives. I like to see and read about each dish. It also would have been an opportunity to talk about the province of the food and the team’s background. Drinks There was a limited choice of drinks to choose from with a QR code on the table for the menu drinks menu. There was a good choice however the prices were very expensive - £25 for a glass of white and £100 for a bottle!!! Overall We enjoyed the food and experience. We felt safe as the staff were very thorough with Covid precautions limiting access to toilets and spacing tables out. They also provide wipes for hands. The meal was enjoyable but for us it didn’t quite deliver on expectations and for the price, we have had better sadly.

Best meal of my life. Truly a concert of flavor and experience. A must visit if travelling through and a must for any local to experience. Thank you for the most unforgettable night!