Keswick Restaurants

A cosy, old style pub with oak beams and wooden floors. The George has a good selection of beers from the local Jennings brewery. A pint of Snecklifter went down a treat, but to be honest I liked them all.

We popped into the George on a couple of occasions during our stay in Keswick and it is a busy, friendly bar. You can eat in the restaurant, but this can get full early, so when we did eat here we were happy enough just to grab a table in the bar

Favorite Dish: You have got to try out the famous George Cow Pie. We sat down at one of the tables and looked around at what everybody else was eating. In the menu you could have the cow pie as a half or a full pie

Looking at lad behind me, and his huge plate of cow pie, I thought that I'd better go for the half pie option, just to leave me a bit of room for a pint or two. The waitress then came out with dinner for another table, and she placed an even bigger pie in front of another shocked, but hungry looking punter and said "Good Luck".

It turned out that the huge plate of pie I had seen earlier WAS the half pie! The full cow pie could have easily fed a hungry family of four.

I had the half portion and it was excellent.

This busy pub is a great place to stop off for deinner after a days walking in the Lake District.

It was recommended by a friend, and so we popped in on the first night of our stay to see what it was like. A cosy somewhat smallish place, so come early to get a table, or be prepared to stand at the bar to wait for one.

Good beer and even better food.

Favorite Dish: When we first sat down at our table I looked across at others and saw that it seemed that the Goulash wasn't that tasty, as most people had left some on their plate. How wrong I was. It wasn't that the goulash wasn't good, in fact it was excellent you just the fact that you got a huge amount of it on your plate. Really tasty.

I suppose that after a long day's walking up and down the hills in the Lake District, you need some hearty food to prepare for the next day.

For my first visit I actually went for the half a roast chicken, although I was tempted into finishing off my wife's goulash. I went for my own goulash on my next visit.

We popped in on a few occasions sometimes having something to eat and sometimes for a decent pint and a crack at their weekly pub quiz.

An all round excellent pub, which makes you feel like a local as soon as you get in the door. It’s a real dog friendly place, so expect any crumbs from your table to be snaffled up by a nearby hound.

Turn up hungry and expect to relax your belt by a notch before you leave.

Sweeny's occupies several floors - the upper floors are accomodation (you can stay here, about 30-35 pounds per person per night), the ground floor is a restaurant and the lower floor (described as a cellar) has a more relaxed lounge/bar with sofas & comfy seats.

Favorite Dish: Can't say. Since I was here last it's changed hands, so I dunno what's on the menu now, or what it's like. It always used to be good, with things like Moroccan Chick Pea Curry, Felafels, Aubergine Parmignano etc. I look forward to trying it under it's new owners, and I'll report back when I have.

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I had hoped that we could take a tour of the Keswick Brewing Co. operations. I was surprised to see that their operations were relatively small and that no tours were available. They do have a tiny gift shop. Their beer is quite good nevertheless and it was worth seeking out the small brewery while wandering the streets of Keswick.

Favorite Dish: I liked their Thirst Bitter beer the best. It's an easy drinking hoppy beer.

I was looking for something for lunch while in Keswick and stumbled upon this little gem. Walking by The Cornish Pasty I was drawn to the piles upon piles of big, delicious looking pasties in the window. I got a ham and leak pasty for lunch and an apple and blackcurrant pasty for desert. They were both awesome. The ham and leek pasty was like nothing I had tasted before.

Other pasty options included lamb and mint, spicy chicken, beef and stilton and many others. The prices were also very reasonable, between 2 - 3 gbp. There is no place to site so plan on getting your pasty and enjoying it while walking the streets of Keswick.

Favorite Dish: Pasty, pasty, pasty. With more days, I would love to try them all.

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Sykes Farm Cafe is a simple little cafe in the simple Village of Buttermere. They are the only place to get ice cream in the Village - to my knowledge. Their ice cream is homemade and the fresh cream is produced right there on the farm from cows that graze in the Buttermere Valley. It doesn't get any fresher than that. They have an assortment of traditional and unusual flavors. Some of the unusual flavors when we were there included blackcurrant, cappaccino, kiwi, fig ripple and rosehip. You get the picture.

I got my ice cream, black raspberry I think, served in a cup over a scone. I am not sure if the bakery products were made at the farm also? I don't think so. Good nevertheless.

I should also note that I thought the prices to be very reasonable.

Favorite Dish: Ice Cream!

My wife and I keep a top 5 list of our favorite restaurants from vacations around the world. The Wheatsheaf Inn, in Low Lorton, Cumbria, has now assumed the pinnacle place on our list. There are only a couple places to dine in Low Lorton, but I could not want anything more than the Wheatsheaf. I fell in love with it instantly and we ate there all 3 nights we stayed in Low Lorton. We could have driven into Cockermouth or Keswick, but there was no need.

Food at the Wheatsheaf is delicious. It is homemade, slow cooked and locally grown for the most part. We had 3 different dinners and all 3 were delicious and different. They have a respectable wine list and several "real ales", the best real ales I had in Great Britain.

The ambience was wonderful, old flyfishing paraphenalia and historic documents hanging from the walls. The staff were exceptionally friendly and nice. Our first evening there, a group of historic dancers played in the parking lot for an hour after dinner to raise funds for the local wilderness rescue group. The owners, Mark and Jackie, work the bar and floor many nights of the week and are wonderful conversationalists.

Whether you are staying in Low Lorton (relatively unlikely) or just spending time in the Lake District, dinner and a pint at The Wheatsheaf Inn is very highly recommended and worth the drive.

Note, the Wheatsheaf is only open in the evenings after 6:00 PM. They say that reservations are recommended; however, we never had a problem just walking in and getting a table, even during the busy season of late July/early August.

Their prices were extremely reasonable and the average prices I listed below include a pint or two along with your meal.

Also, though it says it is an inn, they do not let rooms - at least not while we were there.

Favorite Dish: Every dish we had was exceptional. I had a lamb special with mashed potatoes one evening that was very good, a sausage dish that was out of this world (local hogs provided the sausage) and a great meat pie. My wife enjoyed her meals also, but the surprise meal of the trip was an order of fajitas on our last night there. She wasn't expecting too much since this is such an atypical order at a pub, but they were probably the best fajitas and one of the best vacation meals she has ever had. The vegetables were ultra fresh and the fajita recipe perfect. What a pleasant surprise.

Also, be sure to sample some of the "real ales" available on tap as they have a wide selection of Jennings ales, located just up the road in Cockermouth, in particular.

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I love bikes and I love to eat. This is a place that brings these things together. This is a nice little bike shop attached to a restaurant. We happened on this place while looking for a place for lunch.

We like whole earthy foods and this place delivered. Barbara is a vegetarian. This is often a challenge when on the road here she found a generous selection. The ffod was fresh and well prepared. The coffee was very good as well.

Just off the main square in Keswick it is easy to find.

Favorite Dish: We had some good sandwiches and Barbara had a nice salad. We both enjoyed it and would return.