The Wild Daffodil, Grasmere

Fantastic food with excellent friendly service. Thank you. Best restaurant in Grasmere if not Cumbria.

Having had a disastrous meal at the Ash Cottage restaurant the previous, and our first night during a week long stay in Grasmere, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that we entered the Wild Daffodil.

On a lovely sunny evening we were happy to wait the 45 minutes for our table in a busy, (always a good sign), little restaurant. Boy was it worth the wait. The restaurant is a family run affair and dad is head chef, mum and son are the hosts and young daughter is the table clearing technician. The food is made and served with a passion and all cooked to perfection. On our visit I had the prawn cocktail to start whilst my partner tried the black pudding with wild mushrooms served with a delicious suace. My prawn cocktail was delicious and served in a colourful display that matched the scenery of our surroundings whilst my partner's starter was so tasty that I managed to talk her into parting with half of one of her two black puddings, a task in itself as it was in her mouth at the time.

To follow I opted for the Sunday roast, served all day, now there's a first, in all my time eating in restaurants around the UK, never have I come across a restaurant that serves a Sunday roast beyond 6pm. The gravy was in fact worthy of being offered as a soup starter in itself, a sentiment obviously echoed by others in the restaurant at the time who were busy soaking it up with pieces of bread from otherwise empty plates. My partner opted for the Steak and Ale pie and after managing a glance up from the mesmerising contents of my own plate I became miffed at a talent for magic she had kept from me in all our time together, a disappearing act. No sooner had her meal arrived than it was consumed with the speed of a hungry croc feeding on wildebeast at an African waterhole.

I would encourage anyone, families, couples, romancers or chancers, to visit this little gem in the heart of Wordsworth country for a superb, value for money meal, served and cooked with a passion by a delightful and courteous family who will undoubtedly receive more plaudits for their efforts. With a bottle of Pinotage and a glass of lager our meal was £42.