Ladies that Lunch! This weekend we 3 Ladies (no laughing)…read morewent for a drive into Lancashire and stumbled across the village of Whalley. Whilst browsing the shops and buying random things we don't really need we found a Deli called Benedicts. It had a great selection of local produce;chutneys, pork pies, artisan breads etc and attached to the Deli was its own restaurant. Impressed with the selection of produce and surroundings we opted to eat there. After only a few minutes a table was available for us and sat down to peruse the menu. To start we ordered Antipasti to share and for mains we ordered Seafood Linguini, Chicken Skewers with Stir Fry and Home Made Fish Pie. After 20 minutes our drinks arrived and after waiting an hour and asking where our food was our Antipasti arrived! It was lovely but waiting an hour for something so simple didn't fill me with joy. Both the Linguini and Fish Pie were good and sizeable portions but the Chicken (I think it was chicken anyway) was terrible. The stir fry whick consisted of 2 leaves of bok choy on someting beige, was overcooked and 3 tiny skewers of meat. When you've waited well over an hour at this point, it just isn't good enough and we were hungry! My main issue with this restaurant is the service. Its REALLY poor and very disorganised. There were plenty of staff but nobody knew what was going on, tables weren't cleared and the they don't know the meaning of attentive. I don't want someone constantly asking if everything is ok, but just once would have been acceptable. I felt like I lost half of my weekend just on a lunch! Like I said, food (apart from Chicken Skewers with Stir Fry) was good. Just don't pop in and think you'll be able to have a quick lunch!!

Came here with my boyfriend for anniversary brunch (well breakfast technically because they only do…read morebrunch on a Sunday) and had the vegetarian breakfast plate. This consisted of eggs (I chose poached), vegetarian black pudding, beans, toast, hash browns and grilled tomatoes. I opted to swap the mushrooms (ugh) for spinach. It was good overall. One of my eggs wasn't runny which was a shame and the whole breakfast was lukewarm, but the black pudding was really tasty. It had pearl barley in it and really did taste similar for real black pudding which was clever. My boyfriend thought they were a bit stingy on the beans. I had a spiced chai latte with almond milk (nice but not hot enough) and my boyfriend had a luxury hot chocolate which came with cream and a flake (he could have had marshmallows too). The place has a great ambience and feels very chilled out. The service is excellent and it has a really cute deli and shop attached to it. Definitely worth a visit as there are not many great places for brunch in the Ribble Valley.

The eagle has nice warm atmosphere with good service and fresh food. Although it did take a long…read moretime to arrive and the food was a bit mediocre.

What a lovely place, tucked away in the English countryside. Situated between the picturesque…read morevillages of Whalley and Clitheroe, The Eagle at Barrow is a terrific respite with an excellent high-end menu. It's a fairly big place, but surprisingly intimate, with excellent spatial planning and different sections comprising of a fine dining room, bar area and a fireplace and two lounge areas-- one with a grand piano and second bar; the second tucked into a conservatory. Known for their meats and sausages, you'll never be disappointed. But their fish menu is excellent (most often on their daily specials menu) and they have what seems to be a never-ending selection of delectable appetisers. Don't miss the lamb shank or pan-fried bass with parmesan and thyme sauce (a special and absolutely delicious). I'm also a sucker for their parmesan truffle fries-- that's right, peeps; Thin-cut fries as opposed to thick-cut chips (I know, I know-- I'm showing my American). And they have a lovely cheese board with selection of local, Lancashire cheeses. Always crowded, you'll likely need a reservation for the dining room. However, they serve food throughout the pub (same menu) and will send a server to your table to take your order. We actually prefer eating in the bar/pub area as it's more casual and intimate. A new addition is the recently opened deli which sells their award-winning sausages and a slew of gourmet food. YUM.

If I could give this pub 6 stars, I would. Honestly the best meal I've had in the UK since moving…read morehere a month ago. And definitely the best service. We came here for an early afternoon lunch on a Saturday and it was quite easy to make a reservation. The pub sits on the side of a hill and overlooks the lush English countryside. Parking is simple, though I'm not sure how it would be on a busier day. We ordered wine, beer, and bread to start. The butter here is delicate and sweet, but it's topped with salt that cuts the sweetness. The bread was divine, and a lot of care and attention had gone into baking them. We were given complementary amuse-buche, which was a breaded + fried salmon and lobster bite with aioli. Delicious and plated on an adorable shell. Next we ordered the roast pie and duck liver. Hands down, the duck liver was the best thing I tried during the meal. Glorious mix when combining the liver and the jam it was topped with. The pie was a bit unconventional, and perfect that way. Small, rich, and great pastry. For our mains, we ordered the smoked hare and the pork. The hare was perfectly portioned and had a fun combination with apple and other sauces. The pork was very large, but it won a recent UK pub dish award and it was likely one of the most flavourful pork loin dishes I've had, as they're a bit difficult since the pork takes time to capture flavour. We ended the meal with chocolate and vanilla desserts, as well as cappuccinos and espresso. Such a lovely experience overall and I look forward to visiting again in the future!

We had the loveliest day trip out to this restaurant. It's quite a drive from Manchester but well…read moreworth the trip. Luckily the weather was perfect so we took a short walk in the beautiful countryside then settled down outside the pub for a drink. They tables have blankets over each chair to keep any chills away and we happily enjoyed the fresh air. We were then taken to an inside, upstairs table for our meal. The staff were polite and subtle in their service, just the way I like it. No over pouring of our wine or constantly offering more drinks. The menu is short with just a few options for each course but the food is some of the best I've eaten. We had the lamb and duck mains and these were really excellent. Presented with such skill and the flavours were superb. I'm a huge dessert person (you may see a theme in my reviews if you read more than one!) and had chosen this restaurant based on another sugar addict's recommendation. I was not disappointed, they were gorgeous and I wanted to order them all! In the end we made do with just one each. See my photos for evidence of why you should drive up there immediately and try this magical place for yourself.

Mitton Hall is a 15th century countryside manor converted into a hotel, event venue, and restaurant…read morewith plenty of opportunity for luxury and elegance. It sits in Ribble Valley and still holds much of the original foundation. There are frequent events, such as themed teas and dinners, workshops, Christmas festivities, and wedding showcases. There is plenty of parking and a lot of space for weddings, large events, conferences, etc. We came here for a Saturday night dinner with friends. There was a wedding going on which seemed to take up much of the foyer and bar area, but luckily we came right after they moved into the large event space joining the bar. I'm not sure why wedding guests are mixed with the general public bar/dining areas - that seems to be a flaw here. Dinner was very much ~okay~, but I was kind of expecting a lot more given how luxurious and historical this venue is. The service was very slow and inattentive. Food was average. A few staff were hard at work while others just stood there chatting. When we were given dessert wine instead of port, we were told we were wrong and had to essentially convince the server to switch our incorrect drinks out - which should never happen at a nice restaurant. I give this venue a good rating due to the ambiance, but I certainly would recommend vast improvement in service.

What a beautiful place the Ribble Valley is. And Mitton Hall is no exception…read more Built hundreds of years ago in the era of Henry the Seventh, it is a grand old Hall/Manor house that offers a lovely setting, individually decorated Suites (the Mitton and Ribble are my favorites) that have views over landscape ahead, a highly rated restaurant downstairs that serves delicious, wonderfully prepared dishes made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients from the markets and butchers, along with a fantastic little pub that offers locally brewed beers and a wide array of wines and spirits served by warm, friendly, genuinely helpful staff. We will be back. Often.

Lovely impromptu night at Northcote. Ribble valley is such a nice county in Lancashire with…read morewonderful restaurants and retreats, and Northcote is a great addition to that. We didn't stay the night but we did have dinner here. The service was pretty good from start to finish. They were knowledgeable about wine and pairings and kept plate progression at a consistent pace. The service team seemed to be distracted towards the end of the meal and placed a lot of emphasis on cleaning (way before we were finished with dinner). I think that shouldn't be obvious to those dining so that took a hit on the quality of the meal. The food was overall very tasty. The maran egg and scarlet prawn were my favourite dishes, especially the egg/potato chip combination, which was one of the most creative ideas I've seen in a while. The bartender needed a bit more knowledge on spirits I think, and ran out of the spirit we selected. I would say I don't love the location of the hotel, as it's right off the main road and it takes away from the ambiance. Also there are two very large dumpsters right in front of the hotel. Seems like very poor placement. All in all however, this is a great night out in Ribble Valley, and likely a nice stay as well!

This is not a Michelin Star restaurant nor a Relais and Chateaux level property…read more Not even close. Michelin Star? You must be kidding me. Hiramatsu in Paris is a Michelin Star restaurant. This is a joke. I have never left 3 of my tasting dishes uneaten before in any restaurant, let alone one with a Michelin star. This time I barely touched my meal. For a location surrounded by great local goosnargh poultry, game, produce and supplies that England and Scotland can provide - for some reason the entire menu was Japanese infused, and not in a good way. At all. Everything that came after the 'Wagyu beef tartar with Sticky rice' was disgusting. Neither my wife nor I ate it. Not a thing. Scallops in Japanese miso broth with seaweed? No. Boney fish wing on fermented mushroom paste? No. Cold Venison that came with a piece of Liver so old and overcooked you needed your wine to get it down? No. Then came dessert. We ate the dessert, but at this point we had saved ourselves for this meal, hadn't eaten since noon and would have likely paid you 20 quid for a Big Mac. Now, when you send 3 uneaten plates in succession back to the kitchen barely touched - normally the waiter/ess or chef make note and comment. Especially at the better restaurants. Its a matter of pride to the chef. Not here. They didn't ask and certainly didn't care. I would have washed my sorrows down with the wine pairing, but at mostly 2014/5 vintages - it would have taken a few bottles since its barely been more than grape juice for more than 3 or 4 months. This was 320 pounds for two, and a complete waste of a weekend, a dinner and the money. Seriously, it was a total loss. Breakfast? Meh. Substandard and prepared by someone who likely worked at the Services off the M6 before he came here. Again, even with Bury black pudding available - these folks went with Irish. In a tube you squeeze onto your plate. Michelin star? Again - go eat at Hiramatsu, another Michelin '1 Star' restaurant, then come back to Ribble Valley Ginza Ward and tell me the Northcote deserve theirs. They don't. The Hotel? 350 pounds a night for two single beds pushed together, a tiny TV, a view of an overfilled dumpster in their parking lot and bed sheets more akin to a Premier or Holiday Inn, and you get my drift. They dont even have down pillows, ffs. The bathroom is lovely, so is the shower - but the fact that this place somehow got accepted to the Relais and Chateaux brand speaks volumes for the desperate position the french must be in, for this is no Relais and Chateaux. Not by a wide margin. The Ellerman House in Capetown is a Relais and Chateaux. The 'Le Manoir' in Oxfordshire is Relais and Chateaux. I have no idea where this belongs but this is a substandard brand imposter yet priced similar. Go stay at the Ellerman or Le Manoir, just for a night. Then tell me Northcote is Relais and Chateaux. It's not. The fact that we picked both this hotel and the Ribble Valley as a destination, then travelled all the way to rural England to experience this only made it worse. The fact that we paid 320 pounds for a disgusting dinner, followed by 350 pounds for a mediocre room with a badly prepared breakfast only added insult to injury. We had a two night reservation for the Christmas break, but cancelled it the very day we got back to the US. Never. Again.