English Countryside Charm: Holbeck Ghyll

I'll be sharing about the two Michelin restaurants I brought my family to during our Summer road trip in UK last year (Part II coming up!).  I had been to both before with my own group of friends in Easter of 2013 and decided that they would make great stops for the family when they came up to visit.

I much prefer the Michelin restaurants outside of London because they are the perfect excuse to take a day trip out to enjoy what the English countryside has to offer, and their meals are generally very value for money without being too theatrical or pompous.  Just good ol' fresh ingredients, cooked really well and served in decent portions that would keep the men happy.

Date of Visit: 31 May 2014

First up is Holbeck Ghyll, the Michelin restaurant in a small hotel of the same name seated atop a hill with lush and tranquil surroundings.  It's the perfect kind of place for a getaway and to have the full experience of warm British hospitality.  It's also the one place that I confidently recommend to friends who are making a trip down to the Lake District, because I know the quality of their food and hospitality is consistently good.  If I were having my future wedding in the UK this would definitely be a top contender but too bad I have no such budget for that haha.  Okay enough talking, time to share the good stuff!

The winding road leading up to the hotel grounds

L'Enclume

Date of visit:  4 April 2013

L'Enclume is a Michelin two-starred restaurant helmed by Chef Simon Rogan located in the quaint Cartmel, Cumbria.  My group of friends and I planned our Lake District vacation around two Michelin restaurant lunches.  

This was the first Michelin meal of our trip and we had it the day after climbing Scafell Pike.  It was a welcome change from being in the middle of beautiful unexpectedly snow-covered peaks and a wonderful reward for doing well on the climb!

The reward:  Feeling on top of the world :)

The beautiful contrast between colours of the ground, snow and the clear blue sky.

Our six-course lunch menu, consisting of two appetisers, mains and desserts each

I found this dining style refreshing as the other Michelin restaurants I'd been to so far all had quite a few options to play around with.  I would sometimes be quite overwhelmed by the many enticing names and descriptions, but for this meal I could just sit back and enjoy whatever the team presented to us.

According to the service staff, this lets them serve us the freshest produce from their garden for that day and I personally feel it lets the chef show off his planning and presentation skills to great effect.  I for one was more than happy to let the chef take charge.