The Drunken Duck Inn & Restaurant

Visited for lunch in October, 2015.
Another charming pub to visit in the Lake District. My partner I visited on a slightly chilly day, so, we decided to pick a table inside closest to the bar. We enjoyed the compact coziness of the room, where a wood fire kept us company, along with a few others all enjoying the end of a weekend. (If one could rate a pub based on how comfortable it is to sit and read through The Sunday Times, this place would rank highly!)
The menu featured traditional British dishes, with local ingredients like lamb, cabbage, potatoes, etc. Wine list had some French gems to order, and of course many local brews were on tap. The service was very friendly, timely, yet, professionally done at the same time. The covered porch seating area, as well as the picnic tables across the road, were all lovely little areas to admire the sweeping hilly views.

Beautiful little spot just off the main tourist trap of Ambleside Lake with gorgeous views over the surrounding fields. When we first visited the Drunken Duck they had more of an open-​plan situation with the seating arrangements with big tables and chairs making it feel more roomy. Now days they have booth seating, which I’m really not a fan of, it makes the whole place feel really cramped and you can’t have random chats with other customers in the pub like you use to if you’re eating by the bar. The food quality is fairly good, great chunky chips and traditional meals are on offer but the standards seemed to have slipped in recent months meaning the food comes out a bit warm but not hot and generally a little bland. Worth trying, but I wouldn’t go out of your way.

Love love love it! You can’t book so we just turned up expecting a long wait but got a table straightaway. Always a good start. We went for a pork sandwich, roast beef sandwich & sausage and chips for the kids. It was all delicious. The chips were perfectly crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The sandwiches were both really tasty (as per usual I preferred the pork but they really were both exceptional). And we finished off with a shared chocolate brownie (two brownies in as many days… it might be a favourite). Really nice place for the kids (they even had a proper change table!).
It’s set in the beautiful Lake District so the drive up is gorgeous too and just adds to the whole experience.
I think next time I’ll try staying here as well (if the rooms are anything like the restaurant it’ll be worth it).

Great pub — sits outside of major attraction area, up on a hill. Very good selection of beer, wines and good. I had be eyre with mushroom and it was excellent! It is a great quality dish even by London standard and I think it must be one of the best in the area. The place was recommended by the local chef from lake road kitchen which I believe is another great option in the area — sadly, I did not have a chance to eat there. Must try place, especially for lunch if you are in the area.

This bar and restaurant has a fantastic view and the tables outside are the ones to get. We found the food to be of high quality, much better than what you might expect for a country pub and the staff friendly.
Another review website (they do exist) has a bad review which has skewed its score. I’d safely ignore that and have confidence you’ll have a nice meal.
Worth the trip out.

Absolutely hands down the best food I had in all of Great Britain. That might not sound like it means anything, but the chef at this place can give any US restaurant a run for their money. Besides having such an awesome name «Drunken Duck Inn» the duck is surrounded by one of the most hill type gorgeous landscapes England has to offer. You can grab a beer and walk 10 feet outside and view the English Country side. There are many trails, lakes, and adventures you can embark upon. The rooms are very unique, a throw back to what English rooms might have looked like 50 years ago, minus the flat screen TV. Overall Drunken Duck Inn was a highlight of my adventures in England. I would highly recommend it to everyone. Make sure to ask the staff about the legend of the drunken duck.

The best thing about this place is the view– across the road. There are a few benches for nice days.
If the weather is crap, the pub is not really worth the trip. The staff were a bit snootty, the food so so, the atmosphere was… for want of a better word… bland.
To top it off, £7.75p for a glass of house wine? Faaaaark!

As you drive up the windingcumbrian lanes to this well known, gastro pub you can’t help be get slightly giddy at the prospect of what culinary delights lie ahead.
The frontage doesn’t disappoint, with its vine strewn arbour & basic wooden furniture, and this carries on through the front doors into the bar with its stripped uneven wood floors & chalky white walls. The atmosphere is surprisingly relax, and we felt unrushed about moving to our table despite the restaurant being obviously busy.
The waiter was very attentive & despite being obviously tickled about our ignorance over one of the cited cooking methods, we didn’t feel mocked more included in the joke! The star dish was the seafood ravioli with a bisque foam & pea shots for starters… too die for… my hubby still waxes lyrical about his duck main and the passion fruit jelly that accompanied our coffee (they have a posh name but I’m not posh enough to remember, or was that the rather delicious wine the waiter recommended for us based on our menu choices).
Is this a treat? Yes but not at re mortgaging level
Would we go back? Oh yeah, but this time I would consider a more relaxed attire, jeans & a nice top maybe & possibly at lunch time to see if the experience differs.

After an arduous seven hour journey, flooded roads, storms and diversions, we arrived at our hotel and we were seriously in need of a good hearty meal. So we set off in search of sustenance, travelling down windy roads in the lashing rain and strong winds, we happened by accident on the Drunken Duck. Even though we hadn’t booked the staff were warm and friendly, and said as long we ate immediately we could have a table. The restaurant had a very cosy romantic feel, emphasised by the awful weather outside. Feeling a bit underdressed we ordered the cheapest mains and a reasonably priced dessert from the menu, still coming to over £50, this place isn’t cheap! However, the food is fantastic, elegantly presented, but with generous portions, the mushroom risotto was just what we needed. After a raspberry pavlova that looked like a cross between a clown and a gnome, we left the restaurant very satisfied.
The restaurant at the Drunken Duck is on the expensive side, but the food is of the highest quality and the staff could not be more helpful. On a weekend where 1500 marathon runners had temporarily been lost and the whole area had been flooded, the Drunken Duck had been an oasis in the storm!

This place is a treat. Although it might appear to be a country pub it really is a lot more. Hotel, microbrewery and bistro. I think it won Inn of the Year 2006. It is a quality place to stay; we stayed in the .
The food is not pretentious; it is a bistro restaurant in a country pub clothing; thats all. It also does pub sandwiches /​pub lunches for the more caual diners.
We previously stayed in the extesion block which is lovely and quiet. When cheking in you get a lovely and free cream tea. We took tea by the pond inthe private /​guests only garden and had the pleasure of meeting Kipper the hotel cat

Food a bit pretentious and not family friendly as they had no child menu. We enjoyed our meal but it was a bit too messed around with for our tastes, too many ingredients and not plain enough for my taste. Great location though

Great pub, fabulous warm fire and loads of good ales on tap. They have their own brewery on site. Food is great at lunch times, swanky sandwiches come wrapped in greaseproof paper, it’s not cheap, but it’s cosy. Always full of obviously very rich folk (hence the 4 stars, I didn’t quite feel completely relaxed and at home). Lovely views, but in the middle of nowhere, so someone needs to drive, or you’re in for a long walk! Taxi’s probably pick up from Ambleside for a reasonable fare. And there is always the chance there’d be a room free Usually very full, booking and lots of cash essential for dinner Dog-​friendly in the bar area.