Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel, Bowness, Lake District

I decided to book Lindeth Howe for Easter weekend, as they had a great offer - £200 per night for room, breakfast and dinner. Trip advisor showed very positive reviews, particularly of the food, so I was sold.


We arrived on Friday afternoon and were quickly shown to our room – we had a great view of Windermere lake from the top of the house. Lindeth Howe used to be owned by Beatrix Potter so there were loads of references to her throughout the hotel, including pictures of the hotel as a grand family home at a time when the wealthy would visit the Lakes for their holidays.

We had dinner in the restaurant on both nights, but this is just a review of the second night. Both evenings we thought the food was excellent. You start in the lounge, where a waiter takes your drinks order, brings you the menus and some delightful canapés to start the evening off. The menu contains a Table d’Hote menu for residents having dinner, along with some chef recommendations. There were also a range of other dishes that you could pay a supplement for, but this was really unnecessary as the Table d’Hote menu had sufficient options. On this night, however, we decided to “push the boat out” and go for the extra main courses (partly because A fancied a steak).

On being seated, we were brought an amuse-bouche, which on the Saturday was a mini Yorkshire pudding with roast beef.

After this, our starters were served. Both A and I had the crab fish cake starter, which was just right.  A passionfruit sorbet was then presented to "cleanse the palate". 

For my main, I had sea bass with a bouillabaisse broth. The fish was cooked perfectly with crispy skin and a light broth containing other seafood. 

 A had the fillet steak, which came with a mini steak suet pudding and mash. We ordered some vegetables as a side dish to try to compensate for all that meat!

For pudding, I ordered the old favourite of Sticky Toffee Pudding, which came with Earl Grey ice cream (not my favourite flavour of tea – a hint of washing up liquid, I always feel).

A had the same pudding on both nights – a chocolate mousse with chocolate flakes on top, which was served in what I can only describe as a mini flower-pot. But the real attraction was the peanut butter ice-cream it came with. In fact the second evening, A said he would have been happy if they had just brought him an enormous bowl of that with a big spoon!

We were offered coffee or tea but declined. Although a lot of courses, the food isn’t overwhelming because they don’t outface you with massive portions. But we were certainly full by the end of it and coffee always seems like a bad idea just before bed!

I would go as far as to say that the food on offer was of equal standard to the few Michelin star restaurants I have visited. The waiters were pleasant and service was of a high standard. In fact, the hotel in general is well worth a visit. It is set in lovely gardens, has a small indoor pool and it is great to hear the geese and ducks quacking away on the lake from an open bedroom window as you drift off to sleep. A very relaxing but also “foodie” weekend.

Pentre Mawr Country House, North Wales

A weekend camping in Wales in October is not appealing to me. In principle, I like the idea of being around nature, cooking beans on a gas stove and eating them from plastic plates. But as soon as someone reminds me of the toilet situation, it all falls apart right there. Images of the last episode of The Inbetweeners and “digging a trench” flash through my mind and that’s the end of that.

“Glamping”, however, I can cope with. We booked a weekend at Pentre Mawr Country House, not to stay in their lovely guest rooms but in the luxury tents in the grounds. These are large canvas structures, with bedroom, living area and bathroom (all plumbing provided). They also contain TV, DVD, heating, lighting and a hot tub on the patio outside. This is camping I can live with.

Evening meal was taken in the House itself. Sitting in the drawing room with a pre-dinner drink and menus, we were made so welcome by the hosts that it felt like we were friends of theirs from over the valley who had just popped in for drinks after a day shooting pheasant in the grounds. Sadly, this is clearly untrue as we had driven two hours from Leeds and braved the horrendous M62 so were ready for a nice drink and dinner.

The drawing room.....



Dinner was taken in a number of different rooms. Before our starters, an amuse-bouche was served. This was lentil soup served in a small coffee cup. Lentils can be rather bland but this had a delicate spicy flavour.



For starter, we both ordered smoked haddock in a wine and cream sauce, which was excellent. Lots of bread was provided for mopping up the sauce.



A sorbet was served between starter and main to "cleanse the palate". I am never sure about serving something sweet at this point in the meal, even though it tasted great.

I had to order Welsh rack of lamb for main course. There were fields full of sheep all over the place on the drive through Wales so I felt I had to give it a go. It was fantastic, and a really generous portion. It was served with a potato gratin and vegetables.



We were stuffed after two courses, so asked if we could have our pudding “to go”. The owner gave us a tray of our choice of pudding to carry down to the tent and we ate it later. Bread and butter pudding was probably the best I have ever tasted.

After pudding, cheese and coffee is served back in the drawing room, but we missed this on the first night. Our second night, though, we managed to eat all three courses and stayed for cheese. We were joined by one of the owners’ dogs and one of the cats (they have three of each and two horses). The dinner on the second night was equally good.

The service is excellent and the owners clearly have long experience of running a hotel. There are loads of little touches which make the place so brilliant. Polo mints are left in the hall for guests to feed to their horse in the next field. The three dogs love a bit of football on the lawn. Bucks fizz is served at breakfast. Afternoon tea is served when you arrive to check in. A golf buggy is used to take you to your tent if you have a lot of luggage.

We were very lucky to stumble across a food festival in Conwy when we went to visit the castle. Loads of Welsh produce, a beer tent, a champagne and oyster bar – I was in my element. We bought and ate some pies on the sea front. I do love a pie.

Donington Manor, Castle Donington

A trip to Birmingham to drop off a keyboard (don’t ask!) involved a stopover in Castle Donington. I found the Donington Manor Hotel by googling the journey and working out a good place to stay on the way.

We arrived just before 7pm (with the keyboard – the band has arrived!) For £99 we acquired a suite (with its own patio), dinner and breakfast.

The entire hotel was lovely – quiet on a Thursday night – with very obliging staff. After checking out the room (switching lights on and off, opening cupboards, looking what toiletries are in the bathroom) we went down to the bar and had a couple of drinks in the garden before sitting down to dinner.

Three courses were on offer, with a good choice of dishes. I could have eaten every one of the starters, but opted for the smoked salmon and cream cheese, a light start to the meal.



A ordered pigeon – he wasn’t overly keen – it was very gamey. However, this was due to A never having eaten this meat before, rather than there being something wrong with the way it was cooked.



For main, I ordered lamb, which was presented on a pea puree base. A had the duck. This all came with vegetables and potatoes on the side. Both dishes were lovely and full of flavour.

The duck.....



The lamb......



Pudding was blueberry crème brule for A and cheese for me. Both good.......





The food overall was outstanding – best meal I have had in ages. I couldn’t believe that this was included in the special offer price, particularly with breakfast as well. The hotel staff were friendly and hospitable – you couldn’t really fault it in any way. Breakfast was excellent as well – a full English fry-up!

The hotel is a couple of miles away from East Midlands airport, so a good place to stay if you ever have an early morning flight from there.

The Black Swan, Helmsley

I have visited this hotel a couple of times before I began writing this blog, and felt I should pass on the general wonderfulness of this place and its restaurant.

Helmsley is a small market town in the North Yorkshire Moors, very close to Harome, village of the famed, Michelin-starred The Star Inn.

The Black Swan is a hotel right on Helmsley’s market square. It is the sister hotel to The Feversham Arms, and you can use the Feverham’s spa facilities if you stay at the Swan. I have never done this, however, as I am there for the food.

There are some great deals to be had at the Black Swan. We booked a “Thank fizz it’s Friday” deal last year. For £145 for two, we got a bottle of champagne in the room, a three course dinner in the restaurant, a nightcap and a full English breakfast in the morning. The second time we visited was for Valentine’s night this year, a late deal at a similar price, but including a cream tea on arrival in the afternoon.

The restaurant is outstanding. I don’t know why they don’t have a Michelin star. Last visit, we both had French onion soup to start (better than the one I had in Paris last year). Duck was the choice for main and then A had the cheese and I had the coffee themed dessert – a coffee tiramisu, coffee ice cream and a cold latte with a straw!



Breakfast is equally amazing. A full English brought to the table and a choice of cereals, pastries and fruit on a small buffet table. Clearly high-quality produce used at all times.

There is plenty to do in the area. Rievaulx abbey is round the corner, where you can do a good audio tour. Helmsley castle also has an audio tour and is really interesting. The stately home, Duncombe Park is in Helmsley, although I haven’t visited yet. There are some lovely foodie shops in the village.