We’re currently visiting Mr M’s family in Cumbria and on Monday we had lunch at The Lakes Distillery bistros. Situated in the northern part of the Lake District National Park, the distillery is in a restored Victorian cattle farm and produces whisky, gin and vodka, as well as cooking up a gorgeous lunch.
It’s about a 45 minute drive from Carlisle, where we’re staying, to The Lakes Distillery. It’s a really scenic drive through some beautiful countryside. We arrived just before 1pm and went straight in for lunch.
The bistro is housed in what used to be the milking parlour. From the outside it retains its Victorian exterior, each stone having been photographed and numbered before being removed during the restoration and then replaced in exactly the same position once all the structural work was completed. There is a small courtyard for outdoor dining if the weather allows, and inside the dining room in bright and modern, with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the courtyard.
At lunchtime and during the early evening, the bistro offers a set menu of two or three courses for £17.95 or £20.95 respectively, in addition to their a la carte menu. There’s a good selection of cocktails and wines by the glass, and Mr M ordered a Singapore sling while I plumped for an old fashioned.
To eat, I ordered the curried cauliflower fritters and grilled coley with minted peas and chips; Mr M had the tomato and basil soup, followed by the minute steak with rocket salad and Parmesan fries and Mr M’s aunty (Mrs D) ordered the prawn cocktail and the chicken, peppers and chilli linguine.
The drinks came first – the old fashioned had a nice orangey smell and a subtle orange flavour that went nicely with the whisky. Mr M enjoyed his cocktail, which was fruity, sweet and potentially dangerous as it was very easy to drink and not too alcoholic tasting.
The starters were all really good. The curried cauliflower fritter was served with a chilli mayonnaise and smelt absolutely gorgeous. The batter had a beautiful, warming flavour and went really well with the mayonnaise, which added a pleasant sweetness, the whole combination really jazzing up what I otherwise tend to find quite a boring vegetable.
Mr M really enjoyed his soup and was particularly pleased to see that the butter was not so chilled that it wouldn’t spread properly. Mrs D said the prawn cocktail was also delicious with the whisky flavour coming through nicely without overpowering the other flavours.
The mains were also really good. The coley was delicious and the skin had a nice saltiness to it. I ordered a glass of Nyetimber to go with it, which went down a treat.
Mr M enjoyed his steak and Mrs D said the linguine was lovely.
For pudding, we ordered peanut butter and chocolate chip ice cream, yoghurt cake with honey strawberries and pistachios and chocolate tart with honeycomb and vanilla ice cream for myself, Mr M and Mrs D respectively. Mr M and I also ordered a couple of coffees. All excellent, a lovely finish to a beautiful lunch.
For the three of us, the bill came to £95, including drinks. Service charge is not included, but can be added when paying. All service charge is distributed between serving and kitchen staff.
After lunch, we took a tour of the distillery, which ended with a tasting of their gin, vodka and whisky. The whisky they are currently selling is a blend of whiskys from the British Isles as the whisky they are producing at the distillery has to mature for three years before it’s sold. The tour itself was really interesting, we learnt a lot about the restoration of the distillery, the local water they use and the distillation process. In the gift shop, after the tour, we got to taste their sloe and damson gins, both of which were really good, and so I treated myself to a bottle of the sloe gin.
We had a great afternoon, lunch was fabulous and the distillery tour (around 40 minutes) was really interesting. The Lakes Distillery is definitely worth a visit if you’re planning a trip to the Lakes.
Albatine x
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