Francine's
Windermere, Cumbria
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Windermere town (rather than the lake) may be many people’s first impression of the Lake District but, coffee shops aside, there are surprisingly few decent places to eat, especially at night. This long-serving, family-run, evenings-only bistro is a rare exception and is as popular with locals as visitors, which is why bookings are essential for each of the two dinner sittings. The simple dining room is divided into three small sections, though tables – each properly set with tablecloths and a vase of flowers – are just far enough apart to ensure privacy and elbow room, while service from the owner herself and local teens is well-paced without ever feeling rushed. The rarely changing à la carte is supplemented by a short list of daily specials; when the cooking is this consistently good, why mess with the formula? Tried-and-tested combinations of classic ingredients include a starter of perfectly timed, pan-fried Scottish scallops paired with homemade black pudding and a smooth pomme purée; the black pudding makes a second appearance in a main course of pork belly and braised cheek with mashed potato and crisp pancetta. It's not all so rich, however. Mussels come bobbing in a well-balanced leek, saffron and garlic sauce while linguine is laced with a jumble of springy palourde clams; each is available in both starter and main-course portions. Given the generosity of the servings, this may be worth considering if you want to make it to desserts such as sticky toffee pudding, as sweetly saturnine as treacle toffee on Bonfire night. There’s some room for improvement. The lone vegetarian starter and main – goat’s cheese salad and a roasted veg pappardelle – could be more imaginative, as too the short wine list. But overall this is the sort of personality-led local restaurant we all wish we had in our town centre – or that we’d discovered on the first night of our holiday.
