The Cottage in the Wood

A whitewashed cottage on a steep woodland pass may seem an unlikely setting for Michelin-starred dining, but this restaurant-with-rooms charms both the eye and the palate. Liam and Kath Berney’s former 17th-century drovers’ inn, in Whinlatter Forest, enjoys views to Skiddaw and a rural environment that teems with birds and wildlife. It’s ‘immensely relaxing’, as is Kath’s warm welcome. With the minimum of fuss, she ensures cases are whisked to rooms and will suggest walks should you want to work up an appetite. Rooms have a neat, contemporary style with feature wallpapers, oak furniture and perhaps a brass bedstead. Some are ‘small but well designed’. Modern bathrooms, some compact, have ‘good lighting and a decent shower’. Nice touches include ‘delicious home-made shortbread’ and, for rooms with a tub, ‘bath soak; perfect for easing walkers’ limbs!’ Ben Wilkinson’s set menus offer dishes that are considered but never contrived: monkfish with burnt orange, beetroot and sweet potato, say, or venison with fennel 
and pine nuts. Breakfast includes home-made yogurt granola, omelettes and ‘the creamiest of scrambled eggs’. (HP)