If you are looking for a restaurant that provides locally-sourced and sustainable Michelin-starred joy on a plate at a very reasonable cost, then do check out📍 “A journey around Cumbria” – an extremely memorable 7-course dining experience lovingly designed by Chef Patron Ryan Blackburn at The Old Stamp House, Ambleside.


For Christmas, I decided to gift with a difference, and treat my stepdad to a very special tasting menu lunch in his favourite place, Cumbria’s magnificent Lake District. This was to be his first-ever Michelin Star dining experience, and I felt extremely lucky to be the one to accompany him. The Old Stamp House is tucked down a quaint little street in Ambleside. It’s an unusual gastronomic gem, sitting there all quiet and unassuming amidst the neighbouring fell-walking and outdoor pursuits shops. 
This place caters for a whole different kind of clientele. Those whose mouths water reading reviews by Jay Rayner, who drool over Saturday morning tv cookery shows and eye-watering feats on Master Chef.

I’d wanted to get him something that he would remember forever. You see, my mum is not known for her adventurous appetite, and so decided to treat herself to steak pie and mash at the pub opposite and then popped to Hayes garden centre, a short stroll away, whilst we ate.

 You can really feel, see and taste just how much of a love for Cumbria — it’s people, heritage and landscape — that Chef Ryan carefully instils in each and every dish. With celebratory nods to local stalwarts like Herdwick Lamb done three ways, served with deliciously flavoursome wild leeks. To the history lesson you get about Cumberland sauce.

 It is marvellous!

 And so, with mouths glistening in anticipation — after a 3-month stint on the waiting list —we were greeted by stylishy pared back white-washed walls and tasteful Cumbrian decor. To be honest, you’d never guess from the outside that this unassuming 27 cover restaurant has a @michelinguide celebrity status… unless you’d spied the red sign of course.

Tasting lunch menu

~The Fields~

• Black pudding “bon bon” Cumberland sauce – pickled apple

• Duck liver Beetroot – pickled walnuts


• Potted Char - Horseradish cream


• Last Wolf beer bread - Winter Tarn butter made by Jeremy Eden Valley -Rapeseed oil



~The Bay~

• Crab - Avocado - pink grapefruit – radish



• Potted shrimps – cauliflower – kale – spiced mead velouté



• Roasted Turbot -Morels - Monk’s Beard - chicken crackling - butter brown sabayon



~The Fells~

• Yew Tree Farm Herdwick hogget


• Braised shoulder – onion – artichoke – wild garlic lamb fat flatbread


• Scrumpet – mint and anchovy



~Ullswater~

• STP (sticky toffee pudding soufflé) - Vanilla ice cream



~Wines~

• @blackchalkwine Classic English sparkling, 2018, England

• Jacobus Riesling, Peter Jakob Kuhn, 2020, Germany

• Pouilly Fuisse, Dominique Cornin, 2021, France

• @chateaularoze, Saint-Emillion Grand Cru, 2012, France

• Sauternes, @chateau_filhot, 2015, France

And the food! Oh my! So, I’ve been to L’enclume… and yes! Of course, with 3 Michelin stars to its name, it’s gonna be good. But this place shines in its own special way.

 Our lunch booking was for 1:15pm. Service was warm, professional and friendly without being too much.

To be fair, to echo the words of my well-dined and well-watered Michelin Star-loving mate Andy:“The Old Stamp House really is the perfect place to take someone for their first Michelin star fine dining experience.”

It’s not hard to see why ITV’s report crowned this lovely little Lake District restaurant “the best in the world!”

Final thoughts? All in all, I felt educated, entertained, and well fed.

 And would return to The Old Stamp House, Ambleside in an instant!

Cost £55 per person
+ £55pp for classic wine-pairing



Approx. £187 total (menus change seasonally)

To find out more, check out @OldStampHouseAmbleside, Ambleside on Instagram and Follow Chef Partron Ryan Blackburn aka @Ryan_Stamphouse for more mouth-watering goodness.  Note: The Old Stamp House is very much in demand, and so you can either book months in advance, or. Try and get a spot on their waiting list.

Photography & thoughts ~ Lucie Kerley