Restaurant in Ambleside, United Kingdom
Michelin-rated pub, own ales, fell views.
A Michelin Plate (2025) country inn above Ambleside that earns its recognition through generous Modern British cooking, on-site Barngates ales, and boutique rooms with fell views — all at a ££ price point. The bar à la carte suits walkers and solo diners; the fixed-price dining room is the right call for a celebration. Easier to book than most credentialed Lake District options.
The Drunken Duck Inn earns its Michelin Plate (2025) honestly: this is a pub that serves genuinely good Modern British food, brews its own ales on-site, and offers boutique rooms with fell views — all from a single address in the Lakeland hills above Ambleside. At ££ per head, it is one of the most complete packages in the Lake District for a special occasion that does not require a tasting-menu commitment or a three-month wait for a table. Book it for a long lunch after a fell walk, or as a two-night stay that doubles as a proper dining destination.
The Drunken Duck sits in a converted inn on the Barngates road above Ambleside, and the physical layout shapes how you should plan your visit. There are two distinct ways to use the venue: the bar, which serves an à la carte menu in a setting that retains real pub character, and the main dining room, which runs a 2 or 3-course fixed-price menu with global influences woven into a broadly British framework. The bar is the better call for solo visitors, couples who want flexibility, or walkers arriving with muddy boots and an appetite. The dining room is the right choice for a celebration, a date, or a group that wants the full sit-down structure.
Bar seating matters here in a way it does not at many country pubs. Sitting at or near the bar puts you in range of the house ales, brewed on-site at Barngates Brewery, which are poured correctly and change with the season. For anyone who treats a well-kept cask ale as part of the meal rather than an afterthought, this is a genuine draw. It also makes the Drunken Duck a more practical stopping point for solo diners than most restaurants in the Ambleside area, where the dining room format can feel awkward for one person. The bar format is informal without being perfunctory — service is noted as attentive across the venue, and the cooking in the bar is drawn from the same kitchen as the dining room.
Kitchen's approach is described as generous, which in practice means portion-forward cooking rather than the restrained plating you find at, say, Lake Road Kitchen or L'Enclume in Cartmel. The fixed-price menu in the dining room carries subtle global influences, so expect a Modern British foundation with occasional diversions. The à la carte in the bar runs parallel to this, giving you access to the kitchen's range without committing to a set structure.
On-site brewery is not incidental. Barngates ales are produced specifically for this venue and are available nowhere else in the same format. If you are making a decision between venues in Ambleside and the quality of what's in the glass matters as much as what's on the plate, the Drunken Duck has an edge that Rothay Manor or The Old Stamp House cannot match.
Michelin Plate recognition places the Drunken Duck in the same credentialed tier as hide and fox in Saltwood and Hand and Flowers in Marlow at the Plate level , venues where the cooking clears a consistent quality threshold without reaching for the complexity of a starred kitchen. That is the right framing: you are not here for technical precision on the level of CORE by Clare Smyth or The Fat Duck, but you are getting food that has been recognised as reliably above the pub-grub baseline by a credible external standard.
Several of the boutique bedrooms have terraces with fell views, which changes the calculus for a special occasion trip. Combining a room with dinner makes the Drunken Duck a self-contained overnight rather than a restaurant you drive to. For a Lake District stay where you want a proper inn feel over a hotel polish, this compares well against other Ambleside accommodation options. If your priority is hotel-level service and formal rooms, The Samling is the alternative to consider. If the inn format works for you, the combination of rooms, food, and on-site beer makes the Drunken Duck harder to beat at the ££ price point.
The Lake District's visitor calendar peaks hard in July and August, and the Drunken Duck's fell-view location means it draws walkers and tourists throughout the summer season. The most rewarding visit is in late September or October, when the fells are at their leading colour, crowds have thinned, and the bar feels more like a proper Lakeland local than a holiday destination. A midweek lunch in autumn is the optimal timing: the dining room runs the fixed-price menu, the bar is quieter, and the walk from Ambleside up to Barngates takes less than an hour on foot. Weekend evenings in peak season require earlier booking and will feel busier. For the full experience, consider a Sunday lunch in the bar during the shoulder season , it is the format that plays most to the venue's strengths. See our full Ambleside restaurants guide for seasonal context across the area.
Reservations: Easy to book; advance booking advisable for weekend dinner and peak summer dates, but this is not a hard-to-get table by Lake District standards. Budget: ££ per head , competitive for the quality level and the setting. Dress: Smart-casual; the inn format means you will not feel out of place in walking clothes at the bar, though the dining room calls for a slight step up. Getting there: Barngates is a short drive or a 45-minute walk uphill from Ambleside town centre. Groups: The dual-format layout (bar and dining room) means groups of different sizes can be accommodated, though confirming with the venue directly is advised for parties over six. Also worth knowing: The inn has on-site parking, which matters given the rural road position. For broader trip planning, see our guides to Ambleside bars, Ambleside wineries, and Ambleside experiences.
Google rating: 4.4 / 5 (1,033 reviews). Michelin Plate 2025. For the price tier, the combination of credentialed cooking, on-site brewery, and boutique rooms with fell views is a strong value proposition in the Ambleside area.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Drunken Duck Inn | ££ | — |
| Lake Road Kitchen | ££££ | — |
| THE SCHELLY | ££ | — |
| The Samling | ££££ | — |
| Rothay Manor | £££ | — |
| The Old Stamp House | — |
A quick look at how Drunken Duck Inn measures up.
The fixed-price menu in the main dining room is the most structured way to eat here — two or three courses with subtle global influences on a Modern British base. If you're not committed to a full sitting, the bar à la carte and the on-site Barngates ales are worth the visit on their own. The kitchen's style is portion-forward rather than restrained, so arrive hungry. Specific dishes aren't published in advance, so check current menus before visiting.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekend dinners, and further out if you want a fell-view room during July or August when Lake District visitor numbers peak. Weekday lunches and off-peak visits are easier to secure at shorter notice. This is not a hard-to-get table by Lake District standards, but the combination of Michelin Plate recognition and limited bedroom stock means it fills faster than a typical country pub.
The inn has a bar with à la carte service and a separate main dining room, which gives groups some flexibility in format. The dining room's fixed-price menu suits groups who want a shared, structured meal; the bar works better for informal gatherings or walkers stopping in. For larger parties, contact the inn directly to confirm capacity — the boutique size means this isn't a venue built around big-table events.
The Drunken Duck runs a fixed-price two or three course menu rather than a multi-course tasting format, so if a long tasting progression is what you're after, look at The Samling or Lake Road Kitchen instead. The fixed-price menu here is the right format for the setting — generous, approachable Modern British cooking at ££ pricing, backed by a Michelin Plate (2025). Value-for-format is strong; value-for-tasting-menu seekers is a mismatch.
At ££ pricing with a Michelin Plate (2025), on-site brewery, and boutique rooms with fell views, the Drunken Duck overdelivers for its tier. It sits below The Samling or The Old Stamp House on ambition and formality, but it beats most Lake District pubs on food credibility. If you want a credentialed meal without fine-dining prices or ceremony, this is the booking to make. Add a room with a terrace and the value case gets stronger for a one-night trip.
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