Food and Beverage

At the helm of the Royal Oak kitchen, you will find Head Chef David Lee. He's got an extensive background in hospitality and after a career front of house his calling was to the kitchen. As an aspiring Chef he trained at the prestigious Ashburton Chefs Academy in Devon, where he qualified with a distinction in Culinary Arts. Deciding quickly that the Michelin route wasn’t for him he pursed a simpler style but maintaining the complex flavour compositions and great presentation.

What inspires David?

His passion is freshly cooked seasonal food full of fresh Cumbrian sourced and cleverly combined ingredients. Looking for the best fresh produce of the day to create perfect combinations are a priority to David, he lives locally with his family, so he knows what is going on around the area. He celebrates the four seasons with the season's vibrant colours and produce. From Summer fragrances, refreshing dishes and desserts made from ripe fruits bursting from hedgerows to Autumn, with hearty winter warmers full of flavour, root veggies and braises, comfort food with a twist and the classics done well. David writes the everchanging daily menu the evening before, orders the fresh produce overnight and the next day supervises the fresh delivery and then prepares.

Whats important at the Royal Oak?

Our restaurant full of eager diners, a non-fussy, relaxed atmosphere, staff who take pride in serving David’s delectable dishes and where the food and service speak for itself. Hopefully our guests agree, it’s called real Cumbrian hospitality. We listen to customer feed-back, customer satisfaction and retention mean a lot to us.

What's on the menu?

We have a focus on healthy food but recognise that you’re here to indulge a little as well.

The breakfast menu is packed with ingredients from local producers. Start the day with a choice of English hearty breakfast, poached eggs and avocado on sourdough toast, classic eggs benedict or scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on toast. We’ve also got overnight oats, cereals, Greek yogurt, croissants, pan au chocolate, rye miller bread and local jams and honey.

What’s even better we serve beverages from Cumbrian based expert tea and coffee merchant Farrers, their blends are designed to impress. Don’t forget there is free tea and coffee all day for residents so just help yourself.

After a hard day’s walking on the fells, we believe that our guests deserve a truly tasty food offering. Our evening dinner menu is something to look forward to, with delicious seasonal dishes taking centre stage. We offer a daily changing menu with 3 courses for £35.00 which includes a starter, main course, dessert and self-service tea and coffee. In addition we serve a house cheese board complimented with crackers, chutneys and grapes and is available as an optional extra course at £6. If you don’t feel up to the full works then 2 courses is £31.00. We offer 3 types choices over starter, main and dessert, we usually do a roast on a Sunday night and there is always an imaginative vegetarian option, if your dietary requirements are more specific then please just let us know. Served in either of our two dining areas to sit down between 6.30pm and 8pm after having relaxed in the bar or snug before dinner with a local gin or pint or even a glass of wine from our hand-picked collection.