The Oak at Curthwaite Review

Situated in the village of Curthwaite, North Cumbria, The Oak at Curthwaite was relaunched in its current form in 2024 by experienced (and tv-featured) chef James Hill. Having been awarded an AA rosette in January 2025, I was eminently hopeful of receiving some high quality cooking as I rocked up with my wife, her parents and our two children for lunch, on a warm August Saturday.

There's a sizeable car park to the side of the venue which is always appreciated after a long journey, and there was plenty of space when we arrived. Externally it's a nice looking venue and that theme continues inside; it's a nice take on a modern village pub and perfectly comfortable for a family lunch.

We were sat downstairs opposite the bar; there is also an upstairs dining room which wasn't in use during our visit (it was a pretty quiet lunch) but I would imagine at dinner that sees plenty of action. On offer at lunch is a good looking three course carte menu, and there's also a three course children's menu too which is always appreciated. In terms of drinks, there's a solid wine list but we just stuck with soft drinks and Hendrick's during our visit.

Lunch began with some tasty (and complimentary) brioche bread, served with chicken butter. For starters, I had the pork belly served with smoked carrot puree, pickled daikon and black garlic. On the whole I enjoyed this; the accompanying elements were well executed and the sizable slab of belly packed plenty of flavour; my only complaint would be that some of the meat was overly dry.

My wife and daughter both went for the tomato and watermelon salad, served with feta, lovage and tomato water. This was a lovely uncomplicated bowl of summery freshness which they both very much enjoyed. My wife's parents passed on starters, while my son enjoyed the cheesy garlic bread from the children's menu.

For mains, I opted for the lamb two ways (loin and braised belly) served with carrots, peas, a macadamia nut puree and a lamb jus. I enjoyed this; the lamb was cooked well, the flavours were good and although not a spectacularly memorable dish, I'd happily eat this plate again any time. My wife and mother-in-law had the pork loin cutlet, served with a pineapple and chilli relish and a crispy hen's egg on top. It was a good slab of pork which was tasty and well cooked, the only issue with this dish was the egg; the egg white was very liquid (as well as the yolk) once the outer breadcrumb layer was cut into. It probably would have been safe to eat, but a runny white can be a bit off-putting for many (including my wife). My father-in-law enjoyed his butter poached cod, served with a champagne butter sauce whilst my son was perfectly happy with just a portion of chips for his main.

After some decent savoury courses, there was little chance of us leaving without dessert, but these proved to be a little bit of a mixed bag. My wife and daughter went for the lemon and meringue, with a strawberry sauce. This was a really good dessert; it tasted great (I was fortunate to try some) and it looked great on the plate too. My father-in-law and I had a bit less luck with the apricot tarte tatin. The pastry and ice cream were nice, but the main apricot event was unexpectedly bitter (as though over-caramelised) which was a shame.

And that as they say was pretty much that. After collecting our bill with no fuss (complete with an automatically included service charge at a slightly odd rate of 10.6%), our lunch came to an end. Overall I enjoyed our visit here, there was some high quality cooking on show although there were one or two issues with some of the dishes.

Service too was good (we were well looked after) and the menu pacing was fine. I did feel the pricing was a little bit punchy for the standard of food served, particularly when factoring in we didn't all have three courses nor much to drink, and the automatically included service charge on top of that. I think that may go someway to explaining why it was so quiet for our visit; I'm a big fan of restaurants offering their full menu at lunch, but perhaps alongside that a cheaper set lunch menu might help get some more punters through the door.

But look, regardless of any little niggles and me being tight, I have no issues proclaiming this is a very good restaurant and one I'd have no problem revisiting in future. I wish the team all the best going forwards and look forward to following the progress here.