What the experts recommend
Fellpack 19 Lake Road, Keswick, Cumbria (01768-771177) This “bright-spirited, welcoming” bistro leaps straight onto my list of Lakes favourites, says Grace Dent in The Guardian. It’s run by a “bunch of youthful, mountain-fixated friends”, and boasts a confident, clever menu that “skips cheerily” between hearty fell-running fuel – chilli beef, pork belly – and “Londonerappeasing, quinoa-munching dippiness, without breaking a sweat”. It is also unafraid of heat, spice, bold combinations and veg-centric dishes. We shared a nicely gooey Camembert, some rich tahini and “feisty” chipotle hummus with warm flatbreads. A spicy “fellpot” (served in pretty local pottery) of lentil and mixed bean chilli with jalapeño and chives was another hit. Slow-cooked Texan beef came with mac and cheese, a rough stew of spiced mixed pulses and some charred corn. And a wobbly pork belly was served on a deftly seasoned, Spanishinfluenced butter bean and chorizo braise with saffron-wafted fregula pasta. “If you’re going to the Lakes this summer, book now.” About £25 a head, plus drinks and service.
The Moorcock Inn Moorbottom Lane, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire (01422-832103) Prepare to hear an awful lot about The Moorcock Inn, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. It will be garlanded with prizes and fawned over by Instagrammers. “Your annoying friends, the ones who structure weekends away around a single dinner, will start talking frothily about minibreaks in Halifax.” And every bit of praise will be “utterly deserved”. The Moorcock was recently taken over by Alisdair Brooke-taylor and Aimee Turford, who spent years at the highly regarded In De Wulf in Belgium – and who have now pulled off “the most self-assured and self-possessed” launch in years. Everything we ate here was stunning: a “shamelessly crisp” venison Scotch egg; slices of pork neck with juniper and pancetta; pearly fillets of Torbay sole with apple and pickled onion; smoked carrots with a porter glaze. Aged raw mackerel was a “revelation”, but best of all were the spring greens with a hot pork and seafood sauce. Meal for two, inc. drinks, £50-£100.
The French Horn Sonning-on-thames, Berkshire (0118-969 2204)
Overlooking the Thames in genteel Sonning you will find this “plush, wellupholstered oasis of old-school charm”, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. The lawn running down to the river is immaculate, the carpets so thick you wade rather than walk. The diners are in blazers or smart frocks, and my trainers and sweatshirt – I hadn’t realised “this place was, well, this sort of place”– are met with mildly appalled glances. “Even Mary Berry would find this a little fuddyduddy,” notes my friend Bill. The food is similarly traditional – and mostly splendid. Breaded Dublin Bay prawns (scampi, to you and me) are “plump, immaculately fried and wearing the most skimpy and silken of batters”. There’s a foie gras terrine as “rich as Croesus”. Crab salad is decent, if fridge-cold. Bill’s vast veal chop is “lasciviously juicy and cooked pink”; my spit-roast duck, carved table-side, is “magnificent”. Some may find this place old-fashioned, but “they sure know how to cook”. About £60 a head; or the “astounding value” set menu for £33.