Highwayman, The

The decline of the gastropub as a generic term, to be replaced by pubs and inns, usually selling quality British or brasserie style food, is becoming part of the scene, which makes the quiet re-emergence of The Highwayman in Lancashire, where they do things proper-like, even more welcome.

But the difference here is the involvement of Nigel Haworth, of Northcote Manor fame, who has built up a fine team of local farmers, suppliers and producers that will bring smiles to the faces of the brigade of chefs.

The menu brings a combination of local flavours and textures to the table that is evident from a menu that offers both innovative and traditional dishes in great abundance, such as Shorrock's tasty Lancashire cheese on toast with Cumbrian sweet cured bacon and Worcester sauce dressing, or warm Flookburgh shrimps with blade mace butter and toasted muffin. The Muncaster crab cake with tomato and caper sauce holds good as a starter or sharing dish while the seared tuna salad with butter beans, red onion and new potatoes is another excellent option.

The Highwayman's fish pie exudes local ingredients at every pore, whilst Farmer Sharp's Herdwick mutton pudding with mash potato and black peas will delight the discerning. The roast breast of Goosnargh duckling with buttered spring cabbage, oven baked goat cheese and orange and juniper sauce add a variety of elements to your main course.

Amongst the grills the 8oz Cumbrian fell-fed rib eye of beef, matured for five weeks, with real chips cooked in dripping and served with slow cooked flat mushroom, watercress and battered onion rings makes for a compelling dish.  Nearby Lowther Park provides quality organic chicken, and the sort of seafood that hails from Morecambe Bay is mere minutes away, and Scotland a little further, with shrimps, samphire, sea bass and kipper fillets amongst the delicacies. And so it goes on through a delightful litany of temptation, but bursting with health and goodness, with a special menu for the younger members of your party.

Adding one more point in their favour is the dessert menu, where traditional sweets such as burnt English custard with stewed rhubarb and bread and butter pudding with seeped apricots and double cream serving a sizeable are pitted against more decadent delights such as double chocolate mousse and Lancashire curd tart with organic lemon cream. Evoking nostalgia are their English pancakes with a choice of fillings such as hazelnut and preserved blackberries served with ice cream.

A fun-packed and extremely well annotated wine list has serious competition from the soft drinks, including the wonderful Willow Water from nearby Cartmel, one of the best natural waters to be found in this country, and the local Thwaites ales. On the more serious stuff the single malts and brandies are worthy of the most mischievous highwayman.

This is a place for connoisseurs of the simple and genuine approach to eating and drinking, where enjoyment and a wish to return are paramount. Their Website is a delight, with a wide range of information and some delightful images and information about local suppliers that can only instil confidence, not to say affection.