Avanti, 57 Main Street Kirkby Londsdale Cumbria LA6 2AH


57 Main Street Kirkby Londsdale Cumbria LA6 2AH

015242 73500

Avanti is a real find! A very stylish restaurant serving excellent food in a friendly manner in Kirkby Lonsdale, among some stunning scenery on the border of Cumbria and North Yorkshire. It’s upstairs from a bar and has a small ‘gallery’ opening above the bar so it can be very noisy and unpleasant when the bar is busy. On a wet Sunday night in October it was just fine. The first thing you notice is the artwork – on the walls and on the surfaces. Then the cutlery (Sea Drift by Robert Welch). Then the crockery – including sensationally shaped bowls and saucers, all from a local Cumbrian pottery.

The food was excellent – starters included dumplings of fresh salmon, lightly poached, crispy duck in filo with a tangy BBQ sauce and a tomato and basil soup. For main courses we enjoyed wild mushrooms sautéed in white wine tagliatelli, a pork tower on a black pudding base, swordfish bonne femme and the most tender melt in the mouth cannon of lamb served pink on a salad bed with cranberry gravy. The vegetables were plentiful and for the meat eaters the mange tout came bundled in a bacon wrap. Only one pudding was attempted – a lovely, light mousse of dark and white chocolate – followed by good coffee. The wine list was short and not too dear – house wines at £9.50 then 4 or 5 others up to £15. The New Zealand Riesling was pretty good at £13.50.

The bill for 4 without a tip came to £97 but felt like money well spent. Just to confirm the style accolade the loos were spotless and sported two great yellow dishes for sinks. Oh yes, some serious thought had been put into avanti. Number One