The Yanwath Gate Inn

To one horizon rise the lofty North Pennines; to another the hills and moors bounding nearby Ullswater draw the eye. In between is the Eden Valley, source of much of the food prepared at this well respected dining inn. Evolving over centuries from a toll gate, or 'yat', on the long road from Kendal to Scotland, today's incarnation is a classy mix of traditional pub and fine restaurant; timeless ambience (the pub is around 330 years old) and top notch dishes, where free range and organic are words constantly at the forefront of Matt Edwards' mantra. Lunch and evening menus will vary, and content depends on seasonal or specialist availability, but could encompass starters of seafood ceviche or black pudding rarebit with watercress and chestnut salad, setting the scene for venison burger on home-baked focaccia or braised belly of saddleback pork with apricot and spinach forcemeat stuffing. To accompany, there's an extraordinarily wide list of bins, or take a leaf out of locals' and Matt's book and indulge in a beer from one of the reliable craft breweries within a few miles of the inn, perhaps a pint from Hesket Newmarket's range.