1 – Homeground

Homeground is a quaint café in Windermere that specialises in delectable breakfast, lunch and brunch meals.

Winners of the Cumbria Life Food and Drink Awards Café of the Year 2018, Homeground is highly rated for its delicious food including cereals, speciality toasts, soups, waffles, egg-based dishes and even burgers and risotto.

For coffee loves, Homeground provides a wide range of coffee drinks as well as hot chocolates, soft drinks, a variety of teas as well as beer and wine. With both vegetarian and vegan options available, it’s easy to see why Homeground is truly a café to suit everyone.

2 – The Magic Roundabout

For an all-around restaurant that can provide everything you’re looking for, look no further than the Magic Roundabout in Bowness-on-Windermere.

The Magic Roundabout features a bar, restaurant and café where you can indulge in delicious dishes, afternoon tea, cocktails and a wide variety of gins.

The restaurant is a smokehouse featuring the likes of mouth-watering ribs, steak, pulled pork, burgers and brisket. However, if you’re vegetarian or vegan there’s no need to worry, the menu also includes a range of non-meat options including gluten-free.

For the early risers, you can sit down to breakfast at the Magic Roundabout café and try a wonderful array of dishes such as a full English breakfast (including a veggie option), egg dishes, granola, butties, pancakes and waffles. No matter how fussy your party are with their food, the Magic Roundabout won’t fail to impress.

3 – Just Good Food

For dishes guaranteed to satisfy a hunger of any size, Just Good Food can be found in Windermere and serves delicious home-made comfort food.

This café is both sit in and takeaway, you can indulge in the likes of burritos, salad wraps, mac ‘n’ cheese and chicken curry. These delicious, filling meals are perfect for lunchtime travellers looking for somewhere to take a break, or to take their food away with them to carry on their exploring.

This adorably rustic café will delight you with its range of tasty and healthy meal options. Don’t forget to try the coffee, too.

4 – Chesters By the River

Chesters By the River is a riverside café that can be found in Ambleside.

It is a vegetarian café by the beautiful River Brathay. They serve delicious meals and delectable home-made cakes. Outside you can take in the stunning view as you sit by the wood burner and look out over the water. It’s a great place to stop for a rest on a walk through the countryside and indulge in scrumptious burgers, salads and soups.

Next door you can find a delightful gift shop featuring home and fashion accessories, furnishings and giftware from all over the world.

5 – The Boathouse

For those who love seafood, the Boathouse is the perfect restaurant for the whole family, including the dog!

Located within the grounds of Windermere Marina Village, whether you’re stopping for snacks, a meal or for drinks in the bar, there is something for everyone to enjoy at the Boathouse.

Featuring delicious platters from both the land and sea, as well as burgers, fish, salmon, mussels, duck, pizza and steak, the Boathouse has something to suit every taste, including a range of wonderful desserts.

6 – Gilpin Spice

Gilpin Spice is a restaurant that seeks to follow the spice trail of the silk road, bringing all those delicious flavours to Windermere.

This laid-back establishment is a short drive from Windermere Marina Village, and has an open kitchen serving tapas-style pan-Asian dishes inspired by the likes of the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and China.

The Gilpin Spice is stunning both inside and out with its beautiful modern aesthetic. You can dine here for both lunch and dinner and enjoy a range of dishes that are spiced to perfection.

7 – The Fizzy Tarté

If you’re looking for a lighter bite when visiting the Lakes, The Fizzy Tarté comes highly recommended.

This stylish and modern bar is renowned for serving some of the best cocktails in Windermere, but also serves a fantastic range of sandwiches, pizzas and afternoon tea between 12pm and 4.30pm every day. This location is perfect if you want to enjoy an afternoon tipple whilst having a smaller lunch, as the alcoholic beverages on offer definitely take centre stage here. Unfortunately, this bar doesn’t serve food in the evenings, but it’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area!

We hope you find this list of incredible places to eat in the South Lakes helpful for your next visit.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, Windermere Marina Village offers some of the most stunning self catering accommodation in Bowness on Windermere, giving you the perfect base to enjoy the Lakes and sample all the incredible restaurants in the area.