An old coaching inn on the road between Penrith and Ambleside, this typical Lakeland small hotel has stirring views over the lower reaches of Ullswater to the High Street range of hills. The menu is quite extensive and includes familiar items to be found in a restaurant where English cooking predominates.

The game terrine, served with Cumberland sauce, is accompanied by a grape and walnut salad and a warm brioche. When the soup of the day slips below the £2.50 mark - £2.25 in this case - you can be sure that there's good value around, though the warm mussel and leek tart is not far behind.

On the assumption you may have been pounding the fells and have developed the appetite of a starving lion cub you could easily be tempted by the grilled fillet of beef, topped with a smoked Cumberland rarebit, accompanied by roasted shallots and a deliciously creamy Dijon mustard sauce. Expect too, to find the local Watermillock sausages on the menu.

Across the water Sharrow Bay, spiritual home of sticky toffee pudding, slips into the shades as the setting sun dips behind Helvellyn - what could be a more appropriate way to finish? Brackenrigg presents some of the best value to be found in the area.