ON our way to an afternoon at South Lakes Wild Animal Park, my partner and I stopped for lunch at Cafe Ambio, which is by the side of the Lakeland Motor Museum at Backbarrow.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to have a look around the museum, but we did enjoy a filling lunch.

From the specials menu we decided to share the potato skins as a starter. The potato filling was mixed with peppers and spring onions, and served with a pot of sour cream. It also came with a bowl of tasty salad.

I then had fish cakes for my main, again served with a side salad, and chunky chips. Aaron had the Eggs Ambio – a take on Eggs Benedict and served with bacon and a balsamic sauce.

We accompanied our meal with a ‘choffee’, a lethally sweet and delicious mix of coffee and chocolate, and a luxury hot chocolate, which had the obligatory squirty cream and marshmallows.

And when we had finished, we shared a traditional lemonade.

Our eyes were clearly bigger than our bellies when we had ordered everything at the counter at the start of the meal, as we had also carefully selected a tiffin slice and chocolate muffin to enjoy for pudding.

The tiffin, which was a dense mix of chocolate heaven and nuts, was enjoyed later at the zoo, while the muffin was halved over breakfast the next morning. All of the food was tasty and reasonably priced in ample sized portions.

The restaurant itself is bright and airy, overlooking the River Leven, and with very comfortable chairs.

While I’m sure the museum is well worth a visit, don’t feel that the cafe cannot be enjoyed in its own right, especially if you find yourself hungry and travelling along the A590.

* Total cost of meal - £22 for one starter, two main courses and two desserts (drinks excluded).