Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel & Restaurant

Beatrix Potter once owned this half-timbered house overlooking the lake, and was inspired to write The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes and The Tale of Pigling Bland here. The vistas of Windermere and the mountains beyond are certainly an inspiration, not least to the appetite, as they can be enjoyed from the large dining room, in which a grand piano sits centre stage. Observing the culinary watchwords of regionalism and seasonality, Marc Guibert cooks in the modern British fashion, with trios a favoured way of building complexity and value into the dishes. A sea trilogy may be composed of sweet-cured halibut in dill and mustard dressing, smoked salmon roulade in sweet pepper coulis, and keta caviar in tomato consommé, while a beef trio for main consists of fillet, oxtail sausage and a mini pudding, served in bordelaise sauce with buttery mash. Technical proficiency impresses, not least for a dessert comprised of a marbled cone of iced Grand Marnier mousse with a medley of citrus fruits and lime-flavoured mascarpone.