On a recent trip to Manchester, my luvley wife, daughter and I went on a coach trip with a group of…read morefriends to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District. Though it was a cloudy and breezy day, the temperature was quite reasonable for walking the hilly streets and popping in and out of all of the shops. Such a lovely town. With all of that walking, we quickly burned off our light early morning breakfast and stopped in at a patio bar on the main street for a couple of glasses of bubbles and a soda for our daughter while we decided what to do for lunch. I had done some research on the several chippies in town, looking to go beyond the normal fish and chips to scampi and chips. I read that the best scampi is had with full tail langoustine, and that some "scampi" actually contains fish pieces. I asked the bartender her opinion of the best shop in town, and right away she mentioned one that I had read about, Vinegar Jones. In fact, it was right up the street. We made a bee-line for the shop and so had a lot of others as the line snaked out the door. Wanting our fix bad enough, I got in line and ordered fish for the ladies and scampi for myself while my luvley wife and daughter headed upstairs to see if there was seating available, despite the sign on the counter that read "Upstairs Full". They found a table just in time so as I paid for our order, I was told it would be delivered upstairs shortly. The upstairs room is smallish, but had comfortable seating and a nice view out over the main street. Our orders arrived quickly, and the large pieces of fish were ever so gorgeous, piping hot and glistening on beds of chips. It tasted so fresh. But the star of my show was the scampi, full tail tasty nuggets of beauty. With little packets of tartar sauce and a full bottle of malt vinegar in hand, we were in chippy heaven. We had two other meals of fish and chips during our stay in Manchester, but none matched the quality and fresh taste of Vinegar Jones. Cheers!

Friendly, welcoming staff were more than happy to educate an American on the finer points of…read moreBritish chippie offerings. I was well fed and happy! No complaints. Definitely want to visit again next time I am in the Lake District!

The soup here is exceptional. I have tried various soups and the cauliflower & creamy Lancashire…read morecheese is truly divine, it is also something I would not ordinarily order so it was a pleasant surprise how tasty it was. There are gluten free options available which are safe for those with celiac disease including cakes & sandwiches. There are afternoon teas available (I think you need to order these). I have not tried one, however, I have been envious of those who are being served delicious trays of sandwiches & an extensive range of mini deserts. They look so scrumptious. Also has a child's play area which is great IF you have children. If you require gluten free food then this bakery is defiantly worth a visit.

From the owner: Gluten and Wheat Free treatsread more

This is a great example of a place looking like others but with exceptional food! Won't get this…read morekind of food or service in the US. We had two appetizers, baked Camembert with chutney and mussels in lemon grass chili lime sauce. And great cask beer plus draft Peroni beer. Though I use a walker to get around, I enjoyed being in a place where I could eat, drink, and watch families with children and pets being treated well. I certainly would return if not on the meal plan at the Laura Ashley hotel. Harry Reich from PA

We came to eat dinner here on a Sunday night. It was a slow night. The food was good. The service…read morewas slow. Nice decor. I'd say it was overall average. The service was pretty slow for such a slow night. Our drink order took a long time (even long by UK standards). Thankfully we bought a bottle of wine do we didn't have to wait for future drinks. We ordered the pizza with rocket and prosciutto which was really nice. I would definitely recommend it. We also had the chicken teriyaki salad. This was mostly sauce and not a lot of salad. There was also a piece of salmon in it. I was fine with it, but not sure others would be. Would have liked dessert but the servers didn't stop by. I would stop by again when in town to see what it's like on a busier night.

This marvelous grocery store totally surprised me. We travelled by train on this last European…read moretrip, we went back and forth about whether we should drive or train or do a combination of both. We decided on going the train route totally. Driving on the left hand side is not something to choose easily....I have only done it once before in 1982 in Jamaica and it was fine because I was incredibly young and the roads were less travelled back then but it's hard to change. I know many accidents/ deaths that have happened because of this. Anyway we decided to do the train bit. When we arrived at the York train station we had some time to wait so Joe said " Go check out the Booths" I already knew this is a grocery store chain in England and had seen it before But I was blown away at this one and was surprised to find it at the Windermere train station. I spent a good 45 minutes in there and purchased many items for our next destination. Beautiful produce and it also had a whole bakery area and a area with pharmacy type items too. When Joe insisted I go honestly I was a bit annoyed like Why? Lol Great store! Best in town!

Booths by a wide margin is the largest and nicest grocery store in Windermere. Excellent selection…read moreof produce, international and British staples, and a massive wine and liquor section. I made several Thai dishes and Booths had all the necessary ingredients from fish sauce to palm sugar to dried kaffir lime leaves. Prices are much lower and the selection much larger than you'd find in London. Try £26 for a bottle of Veuve, and yes we bought a case for Christmas lunch! If you're self catering in the Lake District and are looking for quality well above your average Tesco Express, be sure to make the drive to Booths.

We had an enjoyable evening at La Mona Lisa when my 8yr old nephew received a Learning Hero award…read moreat school. We had a selection of pizzas, lasagnas, garlic bread style pizza and desserts. The pizza was some of the best we have had with a thin crispy crust, fresh toppings and plenty of flavor. They will also drizzle or soak it in garlic butter upon request. My nephew suggested we try it soaked in the garlic butter and he was right. It was delicious. The ambience is old style Italian and the service was top notch. Efficient and friendly describes it best. There is plenty of seating upstairs and down but I would still recommend reservations at this little gem as it was packed when we were there. Especially, if you are visiting during busier Times such as summer or TT week. One last note, the owner is a kind, friendly, happy man who does a precious 'magic' for the children at the end of their meal if they eat everything. All around a great experience.

I really enjoyed my meal at La Mona Lisa but didn't feel it should have been listed as a top-5…read morerestaurant on the Isle of Man. It was good and reasonably priced, but the food was not life changing. Started with very good garlic bread, which was served like a pizza crust with an excellent almost spicy tomato based dipping sauce, strongly recommend. The antipasto was also a nice starter, with many olives (I don't olives but a friend said there texture was too tough), peppers, salami, ham and artichokes. I had chicken parmesan over spaghetti. The chicken was good and the sauce was relatively complex but the chicken was not flattened as I like in many good parms. The restaurant was also very hot, which made it a little less than perfect. Overall, a restaurant I would go back but not overly memorable.

A great fish house for a sit in and take away chippy!…read more Service is quite efficient and delivered quickly and efficiently to the table ! Food is served very well and fish is very big ! Hardly fits on the plate. Only downfall is that the seating is in narrow booths and can be quite hard to fit a larger family in . Also it can be a bit nippy with the door open ! But I would highly recommend the haddock and chips - also it is worth asking what fresh fish they have in ! If you can get rock then your in luck ! Having won several awards for the fish and chips you know your in luck. They do GLUTEN FREE AND ITS GOOD! Great for a post or pre trip to Freeport ( a designer outlet down the road) a small selection of drinks including alcoholics and soft including hot drinks

The best fish & chips in the Fylde we travel from Blackpool to Fleetwood just for the taste batter…read morecrispy & not soggy on the inside full of flavour.

I can't wait for summer evening's to come and going here for tea. We always park in the car park…read more We have done this for many summer's as the kids were growing up. To be honest one portion of fish and chips are ample for myself and my better half. The fish is always piping hot, moist and delicious and of course the chips are exceptional. As my older two children have grown up, we just go with our youngest who always opts for the kids box and is always quite full after. I highly recommend Arnside Chip Shop for tea, especially with the long summer nights that will be coming our way.

Great fish and chips and fairly reasonably priced. Also jot far from the station, so great if you…read morejust fancy a day out by the seaside without the hustle and bustle of a seaside resort.

Very good food, and they have gluten-free, but you have to ask for I as they do not label as such.read more

Cosy cafe with great sandwiches and cakes/brownies. Coffee is very good too. Very relaxed…read moreatmosphere (roots reggae playing in the background).

From the owner: We are proud to only stock locally sourced ingredients from the Lake District. Our menu includes…read moregourmet sandwiches, brunch menu and homebaked goods made instore in our bakery. We also provide gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options.

Staying in Blackpool for the weekend and was recommended this gem for gluten free fish & chips! I…read morehave to say it didn't disappoint. Gluten free fish is available every day, the chips are gluten free too! The portion sizes were generous and the batter was light & crispy. The staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Whole meal for three of us including drinks came to under £20 (which is pretty unheard of in London!). Very tasty meal & very filling. So glad I came here and will recommend another visit next time I'm up that way!