The Lakes Distillery: Gin, alpacas and sticky toffee pudding

Set in the heart of the Lake District, next to the River Derwent, the Lakes Distillery is an award winner producer of gin, vodka and whisky – as well as home to some very friendly alpacas!

Last weekend we were invited along to the Distillery to try out some of the amazing food at the Bistro and meet the ‘Alpacaly Ever After’ herd that lives on site.

The food at the Bistro is amazing. We went on a Sunday and my husband and I both had the roast beef with yorkshire pudding. It was so tasty, but the best part of the meal was the warm chocolate pudding with mango salsa and pistachio ice cream – it was delicious.

The girls picked what they wanted from the children’s menu; Izzy chose fish, chips and mushy peas, and Clara went for sausage, mash and gravy (a staple favourite). I liked that the children’s food came well presented with little extras – tartar sauce and lemon for the fish and crispy onions for the sausage. Of course I couldn’t get proper photos of their meals as they just wanted to tuck in straight away!

They both really enjoyed their meals, but made sure they left room for dessert. Izzy decided that she wanted to try sticky toffee pudding and she pretty much inhaled it – I was barely halfway through my dessert when I looked up there wasn’t a scrap left in her bowl! While Izzy was happy to try something new (and add a new favourite to her list) Clara stuck with what she knows best – strawberry ice cream.

Despite being really busy (I’d advise booking on a Sunday as every table was full) the food arrived quickly and the service was friendly. Unfortunately as I was driving I didn’t get chance to sample any of the Distillery’s gin or vodka, but I’ll be sure to put that right on my next visit!

The girls were really excited to meet the alpacas – and luckily we got a break in the rain just long enough for us to go outside. The alpaca keeper told us some interesting facts about the animals, and we all got the chance to feed them. There were some baby alpacas in the herd, including one who was just 2 days old.

Clara was quite nervous at first but after about ten minutes she was getting a bit braver and kept trying to stroke the alpacas – who typically kept walking away from her!

Izzy loved showing them her toy alpaca, which she got from the Distillery shop. When she put it on the ground they were sniffing around it and giving it kisses, much to her delight. I’ve never been up close to an alpaca before and I was probably more nervous than the kids at first, but the animals are very friendly and we were able to stroke them and take lots of photos. I’d definitely recommend wearing wellies for wading through the alpaca poo though, especially on a rainy day.

The Lakes Distillery also runs tours of their working distillery – I haven’t been on the tour myself but my husband and father-in-law visited a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it (they must have – they then became Founder members!) I also got my parents a voucher for the tour and sunday lunch last year and they thought the tour was really interesting. It’s a nice place to spend an afternoon, and Izzy has already asked if we can go back again soon to see the alpacas!

You can find out more about the Lakes Distillery tours, the Bistro and meeting the alpacas on their website.

*We were invited to visit the Lakes Distillery for a complementary lunch and for the alpaca tour, as a local blogger. We really enjoyed it and wanted to share our experience with you – we were under no obligation to write this post.*

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