Sheila’s Cottage

Myself and my husband were looking for somewhere nice to eat in Ambleside. We were sure what we wanted and stumbled across Sheila’s Cottage.
We hadn’t booked prior as we just thought we would see what we could find. The staff were lovely and happy to seat us.
The interior was decorated really nice and had that homely feeling.
The food was brilliant! Loved it all.
I ordered the butternut squash risotto for mains and sticky toffee pudding both were lovely I would recommend these!

Great food, in a town without a lot of great choices.
We ate here after a long day of hiking — our original plan was to have dinner at a pub but none of the pub options in Ambleside looked remotely appealing and Sheila’s Cottage did. It was a great decision.
The lamb was the best I’ve had in a long time (be aware it takes the kitchen about 35 minutes to prepare), and my partner’s risotto was excellent too, if almost too creamy. Someone else in our group had the penne pasta entrée, which I didn’t try, but they were happy with it as well.
Service was friendly too.

This visit was not an accident! Two friends were having birthday and we were looking for some place to have a nice dinner and I suggested Sheila’s Cottage. While shopping, we stopped in and made a reservation. The food is good and it is a nice atmosphere, but unlike some places in Ambleside that will charge you every limb and your first child for very nice food, Sheila’s doesn’t. It isn’t extremely cheap, but I find the price reasonable for the quality and amount of food you get.
I ordered the soup of the day to start with: broccoli, bacon, and thyme with some bread. It was good, minus the bits of thyme I was chewing on. Other starters ordered were the Goat’s Cheese Tart (delicious according to the person who consumed it), and the Westmorland ramequin with mushrooms and a cream sauce (also delicious according to those that consumed it). For the main, I had the haddock with an herb crust, creamed leeks, and lemon and ginger roasted potatoes. The haddock was lovely, but I could’ve used with less crust, in fact I thought it was a bit much and scraped some of it off. The creamed leeks were nice and the lemon ginger roasted potatoes were heavenly. Wished there had been more of the potatoes. In addition to your main, they bring out large portions of veg and some braised red cabbage. Other mains ordered: salmon with cous cous (again delicious), Cumberland sausage and mash (plate was squeaky clean), and spaghetti with flakes of smoked haddock and cream and parmesan (too much to eat).
Then it was time for dessert. Really I don’t know if any of us had room for dessert, but it was happening. I wasn’t sure if I could handle a stodgy pud, so I went with the soft baked meringue with homemade Rocky Road ice cream. I love soft meringue! There were a few bits of it that were a bit overdone to be sold as soft baked, but it was still good. And I’m used to a chocolate ice cream base for Rocky Road and no cherries, but it was still good. Other puds ordered: sticky toffee pudding (a classic), baked American cheesecake with sultanas, vanilla, and lemon (no complaints there), and a Raspberry crème brulee with an Eccles cake finger (apparently the Eccles cake finger was rather weird as it was not very sweet and just kind of fell apart).
Overall dinner was really good and everyone seemed to enjoy! Minus a couple bits here and there and I think it is safe to say it is still one of the top places I like to dine at while in Ambleside!