Kendal’s best 5 pubs serving food

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Perhaps you’ve just descended from a lofty, cloud-kissed mountain in the Lake District. Perhaps your favourite form of walking is the trip to a local pub. Either way, here are five great pubs that serve food in Kendal and its environs.

So, you’ve just spent some time in England’s prettiest National Park, perhaps hiked along some lakes, or up a mountain or two, and Kendal is on the way home. Although, whatever the reason that brings you into town, there is more than enough to keep any visitor occupied, not least of all are Kendal’s top-quality pubs.

There are many to choose from, and this list is by no means exhaustive, however here are five of the best pubs serving food in Kendal. Options range from the downtown, post-shopping stop-off, to the close to the train station pint before the train option.

Masons Yard 24

Cask beers, craft and cocktails epitomise Masons Yard 24 since it was reopened. Renovation was completed at the end of 2016, which led to a design award from the local civic society for the tasteful preservation of the 19th century building’s original features. The interior is open and airy, with a window looking onto the kitchen, where chefs prepare daily lunches and dinners for the pub’s meat-centric brasserie section, including steaks, grilled kebabs (the fancy kind), and classics like scampi and roast chicken. Food is served from Wednesday to Sunday every week.

18 Stramongate

The Gate of Kendal

Located close to the train station, the Gate of Kendal is a cosy, laid-back pub, and a particularly good choice for those either leaving or arriving in Kendal by train. If you’re fuelling up before heading into the mountains for the day, or refilling after descending from them, the comfort food menu with items like steak and ale pie, beer-battered fish and chips, or something from the burger range are the ideal accompaniment to a day of outdoors exploration. Real ale, draught lager and cider are available along with hot drinks.

5 Stramongate

White Hart Hotel

Excellent all-rounder the White Hart is run by Robinsons Brewery, so you can guarantee a good roster of real ales like Trooper or Cumbria Way, alongside brand lagers, Guinness, and a healthy range of spirits and wines. Located right in the centre of town, the pub has an outdoor terrace for when the sun decides to show up, a pool table if you’re feeling sporting, and a menu of pub classics like gammon steak, bangers and mash, and farm pies with fresh vegetables.

2 Highgate

Ring o’ Bells

Claiming to be one of the few pubs to be built on consecrated ground – i.e. either holy or owned by the church – the Ring o’ Bells is located right next to Kendal Parish Church on the south side of town. With Victorian features, like stained glass panels, and hand-pulled real ale, this is a proper pub in every sense of the word. Food of the home-made, comfort variety, is served from Friday to Wednesday. There’s folk music on every Monday evening and the occasional bingo or quiz nights on a Thursday.

37 Kirkland

Romney’s

The beer garden at Romney’s (Photo: Courtesy of Romney’s)

Modern and chic, Romney’s is a revamped stone inn to the south of Kendal that brings the region a family-friendly gastropub option. The building itself doesn’t just have history, it even has Agnes, the resident ghost. With stone flag flooring and exposed brick around the bar area, to the pleasant beer garden with a play area for the kids, the pub is geared towards comfort and class. The main gastronomic draw is the four-meat carvery every day for lunch and into the evening on Sundays. There is also a menu of traditional pub fare served from 6pm.

72 Milnthorpe Road

By Paul Stafford