Annual foodie bible The Good Food Guide by Waitrose and Partners, published annually every September, is now out and features reviews of over 1,200 restaurants, pubs and cafés up and down the country, which have met its high standards.
One new entrant in this year’s 2020 guide is Sedbergh’s Black Bull, with a listing recognising the ‘’decent cooking, good technical skills and interesting combinations of flavours’’ demonstrated in the food created by its Head Chef Nina Matsunaga.
Not to be outdone sister eatery The Three Hares Café, features for the fourth year in a row, as a Local Gem, identified as being among the best neighbourhood eateries in the country.
Each year the guide is compiled by combining reader feedback on restaurants up and down the country with anonymous inspections by a team of industry experts. Each restaurant that is included in the list is ranked from one to 10, with one considered ‘capable cooking with simple food combinations and clear flavours, but some inconsistencies’ and 10 being ‘perfect dishes showing faultless technique at every service. An extremely rare accolade.’
Both of the Sedbergh foodie spots feature alongside 16 other fellow Cumbrian restaurants; which include the likes of The Drunken Duck, Barngates, Hrishi at the Gilpin Hotel, Windermere and Lounge on The Green, Houghton.
Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor of the Waitrose Good Food Guide, said: “From yurts to campsites, bike shops to shipping containers, the vessel in which a good restaurant sails is no barrier to entry in our guide. We look for great food wherever we can find it – and that’s sometimes in highly unusual places. With an army of Good Food Guide readers on the ground, and our inspectors scouring the length and breadth of the UK, we check out as many recommendations as we can to make sure that no stone is unturned and no good eating opportunity missed; and this year we’ve found some excellent cooking in some very unexpected places, giving even greater choice to our readers.”
James Ratcliffe, hotelier and owner of The Black Bull, Sedbergh, commented: ‘’We are immensely proud that we have been listed alongside some top-notch company in The Good Food Guide 2020 and that Three Hares features for the fourth year in a row. As a team we work hard day in and day out to deliver the best possible dining experience in our venues. We will continue to build from here and continue to strive to be the best we can possibly be. We are all passionate about the food we create and all about striving to put Sedbergh and Cumbria’s Western Dales on the map.’’
