A NATIONAL pub-goers’ bible has named a South Lakeland inn as the best place to dine in Cumbria.

The Punch Bowl Inn & Restaurant at Crosthwaite has made it as Cumbria’s Dining Pub of the Year in the prestigious 2015 Good Pub Guide.

“Accolades like this one on a national scale are hugely important to The Punch Bowl, especially given the incredibly high standard of food and drink in the Lakes and Cumbria,” said The Punch Bowl owner Richard Rose.

Based on recommendations, and backed by editor inspections, the UK’s number one best-selling Good Pub Guide is organised county by county and each section of the highlights an outstanding pub of the year for food.

The 2AA rosette inn is described in the guide as having a “a proper bar, several elegant other rooms, real ales, a fine wine list, impressive food, and friendly staff.”

“You can’t be complacent in this industry,” added Mr Rose. “We pride ourselves on offering consistently top quality, 100 per cent homemade food and friendly, attentive service, and we’re delighted that this has been recognised.”

The 2015 guide also highlights the ‘relaxed and uncluttered feel’, the use of seasonal, local produce to serve ‘enterprising and modern food’, making note of the impressive menu including dishes from as slow cooked beef with roast garlic mash, bone marrow, date puree and sage to yoghurt pannacotta with cinnamon doughnut, butternut squash, blood orange and sesame.

Editors of the guide, Alisdair Aird and Fiona Stapely, believe that after years of doom and gloom, the pub scene is finally booming.

“The pub scene has changed utterly from the days of decrepit boozers with dull beer and freezer-pack food to a thriving industry that’s now finding ingenious ways of pleasing millions of new customers,” they said. “Many pubs now have visionary and energetic licensees and it’s their success that has definitely led to a new mood of forward-looking confidence in the pub world.”

Mr Rose continued: “What makes this extra special is that it’s awarded partly as a result of positive reviews and recommendations from the people who really matter – the regular pub-goers.”

For more information on The Punch Bowl Inn & Restaurant visit www.the-punchbowl.co.uk and for further details of the Good Pub Guide go to www.thegoodpubguide.co.uk