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Every so often a new restaurant flashes on to the scene, bringing in its wake a sense of presence and certain success. When Simon Rogan set up the business in 2002 at L'enclume in Cartmel he had a very clear vision of the way in which it should be heading, and he seems to be pretty well on target. Described in The Independent as being "one of the five best restaurants with rooms in Europe", it may well be that one of the biggest problems L'enclume will have is retaining its proportion which seems at the moment to be about right.

Simon was named Best Chef by The Good Food Guide 2009 and L'enclume was also included in the final 'top ten' restaurants outside London at the London Restaurant Awards - known as the 'Oscars' of the London restaurant industry, and the AA have awarded him five Rosettes for 2011. Recently, it has established its place among the top ten restaurants in UK, by winning the coveted runner up slot in The Good Food Guide 2012 awards.

For diners who want to make the evening memorable by staying the night, there are twelve individually designed and furnished rooms at L'enclume, together with the cosy three bedroom L'enclume House.

The approach to food is refreshingly unusual. After years of learning the rules we hear that in Cartmel at least, they are there to be broken - with careful research and experimentation, of course. There is about L'enclume an air of determined restlessness, in a wholly positive way as new flavours are found, old ones are resurrected, and due obeisance is made to nature. In other places where this has occurred it has sometimes induced a labatorial frisson into the realms of the kitchen, but this is not apparent in Cartmel, and instead we hear that "subtle herbs, roots and flowers" are to be encouraged to take control. Sounds good.

Three menus are available, arranged rather as a series of inductions within a semi-secret society. The Introduction is an ordering of food that embraces the whole table, what some might term a tasting menu, and starts with vintage potatoes in onion ashes, whey sauce and wood sorrel. Next comes hake fish with chicken skin, spring greens, artichoke and mulled cider, with potted Bessy Beck trout served with radish, fresh cream, dill and rye toast.

Iced yoghurt and wild flower honey, sorrel and hazelnuts precede cream crowdie and a conclusion of Douglas fir and rhubarb. This summons up a whole cacophony of flavours and textures that is wonderfully appealing, though traditionalists may find themselves reaching for their dictionaries. But there's more.

Other dishes could include roasted cauliflower with razor clam, seaweed and oyster, and buckwheat pancake with fresh cheese, leeks and English mushrooms. Desserts include their Coniston oatmeal stout ice cream with apple, malt and sweet brackens, or sweet cheese with beetroot and walnuts.

The sense of restlessness mentioned above means changes from time to time - keep abreast of them by clicking on to their elegant and informative Website.

The Lake District tends to be an expensive area to eat and stay in but Aynsome Manor eschews the normal pricing structure and presents a refreshingly reasonable alternative. Located in the still untouched Vale of Cartmel and with views southwards to the Norman Priory, meadowlands and woods, Aynsome Manor represents an ideal centre from which to explore the richness of the English Lakes or the hidden delights of the nearby coastline with its fascinating estuaries and inlets.

The food is English by description but could include such delights as: timbale of melon and paw-paw in minted champagne jelly served with mulberry coulis and candy floss; Aynsome's smoked haddock and fresh salmon fishcake with dill cucumber linguine and toasted coconut and lemon beurre blanc; hot salad of black pudding, chorizo sausage and soft poached egg finished with balsamic dressing or cream of summer vegetable soup with croutons, and those are just to begin with!

Mains might consist of seared fillets of red sea snapper cooked en-papilotte with Thai fragrant prawns, citrus and vanilla butter sauce; cinnamon roast Norfolk duck breast presented with apricot fritters and pink grapefruit reduction or a fried tenderloin of British beef resting on sweet potato ragout finished with bordelaise sauce - but leave room for their dessert trolley which is justly famed.

Wines from their enterprising and sensibly priced carte offer both good choice and excellent value.

In the delightfully Victorian coastal town of Grange-over-Sands the Lymehurst Hotel has welcomed the arrival of Kevin Wyper, Master Chef of Great Britain, and his wife Andrea, formerly of Jambo in Windermere, which they ran with great success for seven years.

Their new enterprise is centred round The Lymestone Restaurant, where only the best Lakeland ingredients are used and hotel guests or non-residents are equally welcome.

In this pleasant corner of Lakeland nobody is in a hurry and lunch is still lingered over, so worth looking at their brasserie type menu with its platters of fresh fish, home cooked honey glazed ham, chargrilled minute rump steak on little gems, or the noted Lymestone Club sandwich with chicken mayonnnaise, grilled bacon, tomato and egg topped with avocado.

A selection of mains dishes includes a daily special list, grilled fillet of haddock, Galloway beefburger, and tagliatelle. For dessert it's difficult to avoid the choux pastry profiteroles topped with home made ice cream.

Dinner could start with slithers of Cartmel Valley smoked duck breast on celeriac rémoulade, or pan roasted woodpigeon with a salad of pea shoots, followed by butter roasted halibut drizzled with a mango and red onion salsa.

There is a sort of piquancy about not finding sticky toffee pudding on the menu, but the tastebuds could well be tickled by an iced liquorice and lime parfait dusted with sherbet, or Church Mouse cheese from Kirby Lonsdale.

With prices that would bring a smile to your bank manager's face, assuming we had any left, this is a place that commends itself to gourmets and less demanding eaters alike.