Surly Service....But Good Food and other Cumbria, United Kingdom Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: The Wheatsheaf

On our way back from Northumberland, Easter 2007,we stopped off for a pub lunch. By the time we reached the small village of Wetheral, we were ready for lunch. We opted for the first pub we came across, The Wheatsheaf, which was right on the side of the main village road. Easy parking for the motorhome in it's own carpark.

The pub is fairly small, with two seating areas, although both in the one room. We were the first customers and the welcome was non too friendly when we asked if food was being served. There were a couple of blackboard menus as well as the main menu. Meals ranged from the fancy fish medley which included tuna and sea bass, to sandwiches and baguettes.

Favorite Dish: I opted for the char-grilled chicken breast and cheese melt which was in a panini and seved with chunky chips and salad and coleslaw. A massive, delicious meal, served on a huge plate. £5.

Philip had steak pie, chips and ratatouille, mange tout and carrots. At £6.95 we thought this a little steep but he ate the lot bar the vegs!

Nick had the all day breakfast (as he would) and this was enormous. Bacon, a very good slice of excellent blackpudding, mushroom, grilled tomato and fried bread and a whacking great piece of thick sausage. and an egg.The one down side to this meal was the sausage tasted stale, like it had been in the freezer too long. £4.50.

We thoroughly enjoyed our food but not the miserable service. Parts of the pub are no smoking but this was a little dubious! And the whole place was non too warm.

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 01697 73030
Address: Wetheral, Carlisle, Cumbria CA4 8HD
Directions: Situated in the village, on the left, if travelling south.
Wetheral is between Carlisle and Brampton.

Restaurant Name: Stoneybeck Inn, Nr. Penrith

On our way to Northumberland, Easter 2007, we stopped off for a pub lunch. We opted for the Stoneybeck Inn, north of Penrith, off the A6.

There was a warm welcome awaiting from our host and the place was reasonably busy for midweek. Off to one side of the pub is a popular, small camp site.

Favorite Dish: The menu was mainly large meals with the snack side consisting of baguettes. These were nothing outstanding, being bog ordinary cheese, ham etc. The beef did look home cooked and was sliced thickly. We were coerced into ordering a bowl of home made chips which went down very nicely with the baguettes.

Philip had a child's burger which came with a large amount of home made chips. £3.25
Baguettes were £3.45 and the chipr £1.95.

There was also a puddings special board.

Altogether a nice start to the holiday. although perhaps our host tried a little too hard? Not really a fault, though. Definitely a warm and friendly atmosphere.

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 01768 862369
Address: Stoneybeck Inn, Bowscar, Penrith, CumbriaCA11 8RP
Directions: 1 mile from Junction 41 0n M6.
Website: http://www.pub-explorer.com/cumbria/pub/stoneybeckinnbowscar.htm

Restaurant Name: Kings Arms

Whilst camping close to Shap and having been out on the motorbike all morning we were feeling a little peckish, so decided to stop off in Shap for a pub lunch. Now, there are four pubs, I think, in Shap so we just opted for the first one that was advertising food at a reasonable price, the Kings Arms.

Two meals for 10 seemed a fair deal. In we went and ordered our drinks and had a look at the menu. There was a fair choice of basic fayre, such as chilli, shepherds pie, gammon, etc. We opted for a gammon and a steak pie.

We sat in the very pleasant beer garden as by now it was really quite hot (you could tell as the locals were wearing shorts!!) The garden is lovely, a nice lawned area with a scattering of trees and with open views to the fields and fells.

Favorite Dish: Our food arrived and what huge plates full. My pie was an enormous slab of thick pie, full of tender meat and came with a jug of gravy, (not real, of course) bog standard peas, a bit of salad and frozen chips. It was ok, as I said the meat was excellent, it was such a shame that the pie had been microwaved, making the pastry horribly soggy and not particularly pleasant.

Nick's gammon was good, not too salty and he had an egg and pineapple (50p extra as it only came with one or the other, which we thought was a bit much for a slice of pineapple!)The chips were nicely cooked and not too bad for frozen.

All in all, not too bad an experience, just the pastry let the whole thing down.

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Kings Arms, Shap, Cumbria
Directions: Heading north, it's the second pub on the left in the town. Carpark.
Website: www.kingsarmsatshap.co.uk/

Restaurant Name: The Chippy Bank.

A great little chippy in the centre of Ulverston, South Cumbria.

We had been to a local pub to meet some friends and decided we had better eat. On perusing the menu, the unanimous decision was that we didn't want to pay those prices, nor eat anything as fancy, so opted to cross the road to the chippy.

The Chippy Bank is a popular spot, with a sit in side and a take away side.The place was full but we were shown to a table as soon as it was vacated and we ordered two plates of fish, chips and peas between us.

Favorite Dish: The batter on the fish was light and crispy, not thick and soggy, as it so often is. I have to admit I never find fish overly full of flavour but the texture was good and firm and the chips were good (for this time of the year) and the mushy peas were excellent!! Oh, and it was all beautifully hot and freshly cooked.

There were the other usual offerings chippy's serve.

A very good experience all round and at £4.95 a plate, not bad value.

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Theme: Fast Food
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: 7 King Street, Ulverston, Cumbria.
Directions: From the top of Market Street, facing the Farmers Arms, turn right. The Chippy Bank is on the left, on a corner.

Restaurant Name: The Ship Inn Greenodd

On a glorious Saturday afternoon in September, we were on the look-out for a pub to have lunch at. We chose the Ship Inn at Greenodd, as it was advertising food on the main A590.

The tiny village of Greenodd is now a no through road, it having been bypassed a good number of years ago.This makes the road quiet and with easy parking for the pub.

On entering, the place appeared rather gloomy on such a beautiful sunny day. Lighting was low which added to the glimness. Furnishings were comfortable leather settees and sturdy tables and the whole place was filled with interesting little nick nacks, as well as a ceiling covered in beer mats. There was certainly plenty to look at which was just as well as our food took quite a while to appear. One other couple and a lone man watching the Grandprix were the only other cusomers.

The pub featured in the Good Beer Guide, 2007 and 2009.

Favorite Dish: We took our drinks to a table and the young bar girl brought menus over for us. There were some lovely sounding dishes but we didn't really feel like splashing out on a huge meal at lunch time. In the end, we opted for a steak and fried onion baguette and a chicken, cheese and BBQ melt baguette.The food took about 40mins to arrive but it was worth the wait! (all food is freshly prepared from locally sourced food.) My baguette was brimming with a freshly cooked, succulent chicken breast covered with melted cheese and BBQ sauc. (I have to admit it would have been nicer without the sauce, I wasn't overly keen on the flavour.) Served with it was a lovely salad of different leaves, tomatoes, peppers and cucucumber in a dressing and a decent quantity of crisps. Nick's baguette was a thick piece of rump? steak freshly cooked with fried onions, served with the salad and crisps. Both of these were priced at £5.25, which we thought was jolly good value for the quality and quantity of the food.

Service was friendly.

Curry nights were advertised and Sunday lunches.

It was just a shame the interior was rather gloomy on a beautful day. It would have felt cosier had it been pouring down!

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 07782655294
Address: The Ship Inn, Main Street, Greenodd, Cumbria.
Directions: Heading east from Ulverston on the A590, after about three miles,Greenodd is a major turn to the left, signposted Coniston, Workington. Take a left off this into the village and the pub is on the right.
Other Contact: theshipinngreenodd@yahoo.co.uk

Restaurant Name: The Bridge Inn Santon Bridge.

We were invited to a surprise 40th birthday party at this pub. We had booked into the campsite next door with our motorhome but upon arrival, found the site to be totally unsuitable, an extremely wet and muddy field we would have got bogged down in. Tentatively we enquired at the pub if we could stay overnight on their carpark. No problems. said the friendly bar manager.We actually ended up with a superbly quiet overnight pitch looking out onto the river.And at no cost.

The party went extremely well, with around twelve adults and numerous highly excited children all enjoying a lovely meal in the function room.

Most of the other guests were booked into the inn for the night, with only one couple having to leave the party to go home. The rest of us continued on until around midnight.The hotel is a lovely old coaching inn with a warm, friendly atmosphere and the bar was still going strong by the time we left, presumably with both guests and locals.

Favorite Dish: The menu here is a mixture of old favourites with a few different twists and some lovely sounding salads .There are a couple of interesting vegetarian dishes, including Kenyan coast aubergine moussaka (there is a strong Kenyan representation with some of the staff being poached from the world famous Hemmingway's Hotel in Kenya.) Starters were equally as interesting with such delectables as crab and prawn medley, seafood creviche and smoked chicken. Sweets were listed on a blackboard with apple pie, sticky toffee roulade, chocalate gateau, banoffie something or other etc. (I'm afraid I don't take too much notice of sweet things, more into savouries!!)

I chose Lamb Jennings, a shoulder of lamb marinated in Jennings beer and served on mashed potato with a delicious gravy and Nick had the 16 oz gammon, served with two fried eggs and real pineapple. Vegetables were fine beans, carrot rounds and broccoli (which I thought were a little ordinary for the delicious meat.)My lamb was superb, melt in the mouth stuff with oodles of the lovely gravy. Nick's gammon was ok if a tad salty and the chips, although real, were nothing exceptional and had lots of tiny crisp pieces.

I opted for the sticky toffee roulade which was nice but very sweet and I wish I had chosen a starter rather than ending with a pud.

All in all, an excellent meal which the multi- national staff served as efficiently as possible with wild children running around and not knowing what had been ordered for them!

The staff consisted of a Pole, three Kenyans, a Latvian, a Thai and a Brazilian!!

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 019467 26221
Address: Bridge Inn, Santon Bridge, Holmrook, Cumbria CA19
Directions: Western Lake District, close to Eskdale valley and Wastwater.Take A595 from Broughton. Turn right just before Holmrook. Pass Irton Hall and the craft shop. Turn left at junction. Pub is on the right, at the bottom of the hill, over the River Irt bridge.
Website: www.santonbridgeinn.com