Whatever the occasion, Lancashire and Lakeland’s has a great selection of places for alfresco dining. Here's our summer 2022 guide to some of the best
CASUAL EATS
Black Bull Inn, Sedbergh
Handmade sourdough pizzas, seafood suppers cooked over coals and dishes using the best of Lakeland’s larder are on the menu at the multi award-wining Black Bull at Sedbergh. Super chef Nina Matsunaga and partner James Radcliffe have opened their alfresco Stables Bar and Kitchen and Meador outdoor seating and dining area.
Choose from fresh langoustine with chimichurri, Lake District lobster with garlic butter, alongside spit roasted dishes, including slow cooked Howgill Hereford beef burger, Mansergh Hall pulled pork, beef brisket, served with homemade bread and grilled seasonal vegetables pulled, and Height of Winder Herdwick lamb seasoned yoghurt and flatbread.
A variety of vegetarian dishes are also on offer, including smoked paprika and parmesan corn on the cob and grilled aubergine. And head chef Nina has churned some of her own artisan ice creams.
Tables are limited and are offered on a first come first served basis. Available Wednesday to Sunday 12-8pm for food and the bar until 10pm.
To book call 015396 20264 or email bookings@theblackbullsedbergh.co.uk.
Teepee on the Green, Copster Green
A new outdoor dining experience launching this summer. Feast on Asian small plates; bao buns, poke bowls, crispy dim sum and Japanese robata barbecue in the grounds of Copster Green’s popular Yu restaurant. Cosy down into comfortable furniture in this gorgeous teepee for an alfresco dining experience with a difference. Soak in the relaxed atmosphere with those Asian small plates as well as champagne, wine – and perhaps the occasional Aperol spritz.
Yu & You’s head chef Victor Yu, nominated for a Golden Chopsticks award last year, is recognised as one of the top Ribble valley chefs and collaborated with the like of Nigel Haworth, Tom Parker and Steve Smith. Booking essential.
Teepee on the Green is open from Thursdays from 5-9.30pm and Friday to Sunday from noon-9.30pm.
yucopstergreen.co.uk
Blackfriars, Salford
Take a trip to Salford’s historic Black Friar’s where their new garden bar – one of Manchester best hidden beer gardens – is offering a slice of paradise just a stone’s throw from the River Irwell.
Award winning chef Ben Chaplin, who has wowed the regional dining scene since taking over the kitchens at the popular restaurant and pub, has turned his attention to outdoor dining. Using a new state-of-the-art Gozney woodfired oven, he will create British inspired dishes perfect for sharing – all done with the usual Black Friar flair. Choose from topped flatbread, epic ploughman’s platters and honey glazed ham hocks, beetroot slaw and freshly baked bread. Dogs are welcome on a lead in the outdoor spaces too.
The Black Friar pub, rebuilt in 1886, has been lovingly restored following a 15-year hiatus following a fire. If you’re eating outdoors, be sure to pop inside and see some of the building’s original features.
The Black Friar Garden Bar + Kitchen is open every sunny day, with the bookings diary open now. Please note, the space is weather dependent – if you’d like to check if outdoors is open before you arrive, call reception on 0161 667 9555, theblackfriarsalford.co.uk/bookings
Levens Kitchen, Levens Hall
As chefs from Levens Hall and Gardens’ eatery, Levens Kitchen, take to our TV screens in Bake Off: The Professionals, you can take a trip to this fabulous kitchen at this 13th century Elizabethan country house and estate to get a taste of what wowed the judges on the popular programme. Sit inside the main Levens Kitchen, where you can eat brioche French toast and eggs Benedict for breakfast, brassica mac‘n’cheese and pork belly as well as sourdough pizzas, summery salads and sandwiches.
But for that alfresco feel, head to The Goat Shed – a grab and go pitstop for filter coffee, artisan ice creams, sandwiches, salads and cakes that is open until September. You can take your treats home at the end of the day or, and we recommend you do, find a sunny spot at this spectacular location for the perfect picnic.
The regularly changing menus in both spots feature produce grown on the estate. Follow your meal with a walk around the ten acres of gardens and see some of the world’s oldest examples of topiary.
levenshall.co.uk/levens-kitchen
Brockhole, Windermere
There are many alfresco dining experiences available at destination place, Brockhole. The café has a covered terrace overlooking Windermere’s waters, the fells and the Mawson-designed gardens. The Garden Shed is the ideal pitstop for a perfect picnic, located near the adventure playground, it’s a great spot for families who can perch on picnic tables. Not needing a full feast? Tuck into a choice of English Lakes Ice Cream flavours. Just a few steps away, The BBQ Grill is the place for delicious barbecue classics and the Lakeshore Café has homemade treats for everyone to enjoy.
brockhole.co.uk
DINING DECADENCE
Ye Horns Inn, Goosnargh
The new, exciting restaurant on Lancashire’s thriving food scene, have been delighting diners since they opened a few months ago. Head chef Sean Wrest, who came from Tommy Bank’s famed Roots in York and has also worked at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck at Bray, and partner and general manager Sam Haigh, who most recently was restaurant manager at the much beloved The Black Swan at Oldstead, have decided which is the right side of the Pennines and opened up Ye Horns Inn in gorgeous Goosnargh.
Enjoy snacks on the chic outdoor terrace including salt and pepper squid with sriracha mayo, mac and cheese croquettes with chive mayo, sausage rolls and scotch eggs, pop in for a drink or enjoy a post dinner coffee on the sunny terrace.
Ye Horns Inn, a coaching inn previously called Buck Horns, dates back to 1782 and was originally part of a working farm. The Grade II listed building was given a new lease of life in 2018 when renovation work began. Now, there are gorgeous interiors and exteriors that complement the stellar food on offer. yehornsinn.com
The Cartford Inn, Great Eccleston
If you've not eaten at the glorious Cartford Inn yet, then we might question your life choices. It’s an inn that has everything – innovative menus celebrating the best of Lancashire’s larder crafted from head chef Chris Bury, quirky, stylish interiors, it’s very own TOTI deli, art gallery and rooms to make you swoon. When it comes to the outdoor dining experience, owners Patrick and Julie Beaume, have used their trademark creativity to provide a fabulous outdoor dining experience. Choose to sit in one of their ‘greenhouses’ – a lockdown innovation that continues to work well – or chunky wooden tables and chairs to sit completely alfresco, under a tree festooned with colourful ribbons. This is hospitality at its best.
Seasonal menus, the best seafood suppers – be sure to try the Grand Fruits de Mer – and desserts to make your mouth water. All this and gorgeous riverside views over the River Wyre.
thecartfordinn.co.uk
Parkers Arms
Some diners may have noticed the rise and rise of stunning rural inn, Parkers Arms, run by chef patron Stosie Madi over the past few years. Named the second-best gastropub in the country earlier this year, the Parkers serves a fantastic menu from langoustines, heritage tomato dishes providing summer on a plate and Stosie’s much-lauded pies – the food is so good it has impressed some of the most well-known food critics. When it comes to views, the Parkers must offer one of Lancashire’s best. Take a seat in the inn’s garden, enjoy a beer and look out over the Trough of Bowland and some of the best scenery you’re likely to find. Take it from us, this is a place offering the full package. And it’s difficult to beat.
Henrock, Bowness-on-Windermere
Simon Rogan’s newest Lake District dining destination – located in Linthwaite House Hotel, will bring back the popular Henrock Terrace Pop again this year. Running until September 28, this chic dining experience in the gorgeous landscaped gardens of the Bowness hotel, diners can enjoy lunch and dinner overlooking Windermere.
Feast on a selection of Simon Rogan’s favourite dishes from countries around the globe such as mains of buttermilk chicken with gravy and chipotle sour cream or Korean belly, sides of bone marrow mac n cheese and loaded fries and desserts including meadowsweet crème brulee, cherry and sherry trifle and baked Tunworth cheese.
All the dishes feature fresh, locally grown ingredients, accompanied by handcrafted sauces and pickles. Salads take centre stage too, served from Henrock’s bespoke cart, brim full of the freshest ingredients, harvested daily, from Simon's own 12-acre farm, Our Farm in nearby Cartmel.
The menu is also accompanied by a carefully curated selection of seasonal alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, made using fresh ingredients from Our Farm and carefully selected suppliers from across the region.
Places are strictly limited and must be booked online in advance. henrock.co.uk.
The Barn at Moor Hall, Aughton
The Barn, the little sister to the renowned two Michelin star Moor Hall from chef Mark Birchall, is one of Lancashire’s newest Michelin star kids on the block. The Barn at Moor Hall was awarded its first star in the latest round of Michelin announcements.
This casual dining experience is so good bookings can be like gold dust but it will be worth the wait. The chic outdoor dining area has views onto Moor Hall itself and its lake. You can dine and drink on the terrace or tables can be booked just for drinks – the perfect pitstop for a summer sundowner.
moorhall.com
FOR IMPRESSIVE VIEWS
Untamed Supper Club, Cockerham
The ultimate in cool catering, the team from Rewilding in Cockerham encourage their guests to slow down and drink in the atmosphere at their series of Untamed Supper Club and food experiences. This immersive and experimental feasting experience celebrates local food and the best of the seasons, which is at the heart of the carefully curated menus.
There is a set menu that is kept a close secret with dishes, many using foraged ingredients and cooked on an open fire, to pass and share. Feasts are set up various interesting outdoor locations – be it woodlands, fields and barns. They are hosting event their Seasonal Feasts on July 9, August 19 and September 24 as well as a Summer Foray with lunch on August 19 and an autumn forage, mushroom hunt and lunch on October 22.
the-rewilding.com
The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
Enjoy a cocktail, gin and tonic or cold beer on the shore front with views over the specular Morecambe Bay. Once you’ve soaked in the vistas from the Sun Terrace Restaurant – which is indoors but with panoramic views of this special stretch of coastline – head to the outdoor seating at the hotel’s Ravilious Rotunda Bar where you can sip on cocktails, gin and tonics and cold beer on the shore front.
If you don’t want a full meal, the Rotunda offers a more casual dining experience with Lancashire influenced tapas and that coastal classic – fish and chips. Once you've finished, order another drink to enjoy more of the scenery or take a stroll up the promenade.
englishlakes.co.uk/the-midland
Aspect Bar and Bistro, Morecambe
And if you do explore the prom, you could head for Aspect Bar and Bistro, the area’s first dedicated gin bar located in the Lothersdale Hotel. Choose from the award-winning AA rosette bistro menus with stone baked pizzas and afternoon teas as well as sharing platters. Aspect’s rosette ‘signature menu’, utilises locally sourced ingredients to produce award winning dishes, while the ‘comfort classics’ menu produces hearty, home cooked favourites. Pick your perfect spot on the outside deck that takes in more of those stunning Bay views.
bfhotels.com/aspect-cocktail-bar-bistro
Another Place, The Lake, Ullswater
Due to open on July 1, the new Victorian Glasshouse. Part of the new outside development at this striking Ullswater hotel, the glasshouse created by Lancashire business Hartley Botanic, will be the closest building to the lakeshore. Guests can enjoy breakfast, coffee and lunch as well as woodfired pizzas and feast nights – and if there is time form yoga in between.
This gorgeous new space is located next to the kitchen garden which will supply the Glasshouse chefs with produce, and edible plants will grow in the space. There is a small terrace outside, too, to make the most of the spectacular lake and mountain views. another.place
Albion Farm Shop and Cafe, Delph, Saddleworth
Food farm shop utopia, Albion Farm Shop, is also a place where you can enjoy some of the best countryside views. With raised outdoor seating positioned to make the most of those lush, green panoramas, you can feast on dishes made from some of the region’s best producers. Managed by Eleanor Pye and head chef, Hayden Leigh, the homemade menu features the Albion’s award-winning breakfasts, afternoon teas and a wide selection of hearty specials. Milk and cream come from over the hill in Dobcross, cakes and desserts are prepared in the kitchen or by local artisans including Dukinfield’s Stuart Thornley cakes and coffee comes from Worker Bee MCR. The best thing? Whatever you enjoy in the café, you can buy the ingredients in the farm shop.
albionfarmshop.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here