Places to eat in Kendal

If you’re after a stylish restaurant serving the best of British food, then make sure The Moon Highgate is on your must-visit list. With an oversized stone fireplace and a handsome chandelier, the Highgate restaurant certainly looks the part, and the food – a seasonal mix of British classics – is some of the finest in town, but also comes with a decent price tag.

Very able competition comes in the shape of the Greenhouse Restaurant, another middle- to high-end restaurant. On the edge of town on a hill overlooking Kendal, the views are splendid – make sure to bag a table by the large patio windows so you can drink in the view. The service is friendly, efficient and the food is first class.

There are plenty of more moderately priced bistros and restaurants in town as well. The Joshua Tree is a bustling café by day and charming bistro by night. It is housed in one of the town’s oldest buildings, dating back to the 1620s, with preserved oak beams and wooden floors. If the sun is shining, grab a seat in the courtyard or head indoors by the real fire and tuck into their menu spanning breakfast and lunch. We also recommend heading to their monthly Starter and Pudding club if you can; a real treat for those with a sweet tooth.

Less than a minute’s walk from our Kendal hotel is Deja Vu, a cute, French-style bistro and restaurant with decent prices, creative dishes and one of the best wine menus in the Lake District.

As you’d expect from a hill walker’s paradise, Kendal is loaded with cafés and coffee shops where you can happily restock up on calories, carbs and caffeine. If you need a strong cup of coffee to start your day, head for either Brew Brothers or Farrers Tea and Coffee Shop. Brew Brothers is down near the Brewery Arts Centre and is a cool hipster-style coffee house serving up freshly brewed coffee, speciality teas, craft ales and spirits, cracking cakes and all-day breakfasts and lunches.

On the northern edge of Kendal is Farrers Tea and Coffee Shop, a well-known local coffee and tea producer that has been dishing out caffeine kicks since 1819. They have dozens of coffees to choose from, which have been hand-picked from across the world, as well as matcha tea, hot chocolates, chai and loose-leaf tea, plus a wide ranging lunch and snack menu.

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, then you’ll probably already know about the legendary 1657 Chocolate House, a Kendal-based chocoholic heaven since the 1630s. It gleams like a Willy Wonka set piece piled high with chocolate of every colour, hue and taste.

If you need some food on the go, Relish is next door to 1657. The small café only has six tables inside, so if they’re all taken, pick up a pulled pork sandwich, Bakewell tart and flat-white to go and get exploring. Alternatively, head next door to Café Olive, a Mediterranean-inspired café known for its hummus, strong coffee and super sweet baklava, a fabulous honey and pistachio dessert.