Fell Foodie’s Guide To The 10 Best Places To Eat In Cumbria, And All Are Accessible By Bus

Few know the Cumbrian food scene better than outdoor cook, TV personality and mental health speaker Harrison Ward – also known as Fell Foodie. He shares his top 10 places to eat out across the county.

Cumbria is flying high when it comes to exciting places to eat, says Harrison Ward.

Best known to his fans as Fell Foodie, Harrison, who was born and bred in the county, says there has never been a better time to explore Cumbria’s culinary landscape.

“The county has a lot of amazing places to eat right now, everything from cafes to pubs to relaxed restaurants, doing great food with quality produce,” says Harrison. “And if you want fine-dining, Cumbria now has more Michelin stars than any other area outside London.

“It’s my favourite thing to do; head out and eat out with friends. I love to support local, and the artisan spots, and meet people who are passionate about their trade.”

Harrison has turned his lifelong love of food into a burgeoning new career. After a successful stint in hospitality in York he suffered a breakdown, struggling with alcoholism and depression. He returned home to Cumbria where his path to recovery, climbing fells, cooking outdoor meals and talking openly about mental health, drew a big social media following. Fell Foodie was born. He now travels all over the country as a motivational speaker, takes inner city children onto the fells to cook, and hosted Dame Mary Berry on an outdoor cook up for her BBC 2 show Mary Berry: Love to cook.

His first book, called Cook Out, is due to be published in October. “It’s full of adventure recipes, designed to be eaten on the go, from breakfast to more extravagant summit specials, and talking about the dos and don’ts of cooking outside and the Countryside Code,” says Harrison.
When he’s not working, he’s often dropping into Cumbrian eateries.

“Cumbria prides itself on its produce, and for such a small population the variety is vast,” says Harrison. “In Cumbria we have coffee roasting, preserves, fantastic smoked meats, creators and suppliers and farming. Also, a great coastline, it’s not just the Lake District.

“There are top restaurants, and there’s a great café culture. And it’s not just run of the mill machine coffee, often it is artisan, and they are creating fresh produce, which sometimes isn’t the case in this country as a whole.”

We’ve pulled together a guide to Fell Foodie’s 10 best places to eat around Cumbria and better still you can get to all of them by bus and all for £2 (for a single fare) thanks to the Government's £2 bus fare cap scheme, which runs until 31 October 2023.