About The Horse and Farrier
The Lake District has been one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United Kingdom, and the attractions are pretty obvious. There is the spectacular scenery and the myriad hill-walking activities, but what we’d like to concentrate on when talking about The Horse and Farrier in Keswick is the food and drink, of course, and in that regard they’re worth a visit alone. They offer the best in British and Cumbrian cuisine to Threlkeld, with a menu and a bar that puts the local region front and centre of their business. Reserve yourself a table now.
Opening Hours
- Monday 12:00 - 21:00
- Tuesday 12:00 - 21:00
- Wednesday 12:00 - 21:00
- Thursday 12:00 - 21:00
- Friday 12:00 - 21:30
- Saturday 12:00 - 21:30
- Sunday 12:00 - 21:00
Further Information
On the slopes of Blencathra in the village of Threlkeld, The Horse and Farrier pub has stood for over 300 years. In that time, they’ve picked up a thing or two about hospitality and cooking, and they’ve built themselves a reputation for excellence in both food and drink that goes much further than Keswick and Cumbria. The style is very much informed by the region – a full range of Jennings Lakeland beers are there behind the bar – and the menu is rooted in British traditions and the local ingredients that are readily available.
Start your meal at The Horse and Farrier with a few British pub classics – we’d go for the breaded garlic mushrooms or the Farrier prawn cocktail – before moving on to something from the grill. Traditional Cumberland sausage is always a favourite in Keswick, as is the Lakeland beef burger, and for vegetarians, there is a bean and celery chilli or a mushroom stroganoff. Book a table at The Horse and Farrier in Threlkeld and make the most of this Cumbrian institution in the heart of the Lake District.
73 Reviews
As always good experience. Good quality food,friendly staff and efficient service.why we keep coming back to the horse and farrier when we visit the lakes
Lovely welcoming environment, always busy but never unfriendly. Well kept beer and good enough wine list. The food is quite outstanding from regular but delicious fish and chips to mouthwatering slow cooked lamb shoulder and chive mash. If you are in the vicinity of Keswick you must try it.
Wonderful food & service as usual! Definitely worth a visit! 😊 We go every time we are in the area & so do family who we have recommended it to.
We stayed in Threlkeld for a week and had a couple of meals here.. We thoroughly enjoyed it, friendly staff and excellent food. We booked ahead and it does tend to be busy
En route to Keswick theatre we booked a table for lunch - a really straightforward procedure immediately confirmed. Parking is easy. This is a lovely cosy historic building with tables well spread out and with friendly staff. The food is delicious! Our friend chose a brie and bacon baguette which was overflowing with bacon and cheese and served with tasty accompaniments - the portion was such that you couldn't still be hungry after eating this! Chips here are always good and "home cooked." Steak and ale pie was delicious as was lasagne. We were too full for desert but coffee was declared very good by us all. We were originally recommended to visit here by friends and now we take other friends to enjoy with us.
I booked a table for lunch to have a meeting with colleagues driving up from Leeds. The food and service were excellent and the surroundings, inside and outside, were conducive to productive discussions. We were under no pressure to hurry and sat outside to finish our meeting. The Horse and Farrier is a great ambassador for Cumbria, both of my colleagues said they planned to come up with family and stay for a weekend. Thanks.
We have been periodic visitors to The Horse and Farrier for many years. On this occasion, as previously, we received friendly and efficient service. The food was well-cooked, plentiful and reasonably priced. The surroundings might benefit from a little upgrading, but not at the expense of their undoubted character and history. Well worth a visit for the food. Have never stayed there, so can't comment on that aspect of the service.
The food was good although the fillet steak did not need goats cheese and aubergine. Would have been better as a steak Rossini in our opinion. Kids food was fine, but stingy on the beans and peas. Service was excellent, very quick and efficient with a friendly staff on the whole. Although when my daughter asked if she could order desert for her and her brother she was firmly told that she could do after everyone had finished in a very stern way. We were actually fine with them ordering their pudding as the person still eating had very little left to eat. She made my daughter feel very embarrassed and uncomfortable which was not appreciated. It has been a few years since we ate here. It used to be a really special place to eat and it now feels like just another good pub. Don't get me wrong, it is very good but it has lost its shine for us sadly.
We had an excellent meal at the Horse and Farrier. We were made most welcome when we arrived and taken to our pre booked table. Our menus were given to us after we had ordered our drinks. The meals were chicken curry and fish and chips for mains followed by ginger sponge pudding and rhubarb and gooseberry crumble. All meals were served in a very reasonable time without them being served too quickly or too slowly. The food was excellent and the ambience of the pub excellent too. The staff were very polite and engaged in conversation very well. Thank you very much for a most enjoyable evening
Bustling even on a cold, sleety March evening with locals and visitors, plus hounds. A warm welcome, assisted by a hearty open fire. Excellent selection of the best Jennings brewery has to offer and a broad wine offering, by the glass or bottle. Reliable, well cooked, pub grub - slow cooked lamb shoulder was succulent & fell off the bone plus daily specials. No surprise it's always busy - booking essential in the evening during the summer months - but our regular trips to the area wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Horse & Farrier.
We arrived early but our table was ready for our party of 7 and 2 dogs. This is a lovely traditional pub serving excellent food nicely presented. The waitress told us that a couple of things weren't on the menu as it had been busy which was fine but the way she delivered this information was as follows 'we haven't got any lasagna and if you wanted sticky toffee pudding we haven't got any of that neither'. We also asked for a list of what cheese was available for the cheeseboard and this took a while to filter through. We do appreciate that it had been a busy day though and the meal was really lovely. Would go back again.
My husband had booked here for my 50th birthday, a weekend in the Lakes. The scenery is so beautiful and we were blessed with the weather. We were staying here for one night. I cannot praise this place enough, everyone is so friendly and helpful. The meal was excellent, service exceptional, we had booked a table in advance & I would recommend doing that. Overall our stay here was second to none and I would highly recommend a stay here.
A warm welcome, a real log fire on a cold and very wet day. Our meal was excellent. really good quality and plenty of it. This is our second lunch time visit, it won't be our last. We look forward to trying an evening meal but will wait until the weather has improved as it is a 40mile round trip to get to you, but well worth the travel.
After being recommended I visited this establishment and was very impressed with the service, the staff were very polite and helpful, and even had me laughing at times with good humor and friendship, and made the establishment a very relaxed place to be, the food was exellant and reasonably priced, the be local tap beer was very good and worth trying. Worth a visit anytime
The Horse and Farrier is an attractive, cosy pub, with very friendly staff. The menu is comprehensive with interesting "specials", and the food is generous and well cooked. Always a very pleasant experience.
Been a few times for food on our annual pre-Christmas family weekend in Keswick. Was very busy so had to wait an hour for table despite having booked. 3 of our party had the roast lamb which was very grissly and had to be left. However rest of food was lovely and the staff were very friendly. Very cosy atmosphere. Will definitely return.
Great atmosphere.. good service. Food was tasty and presented well. My husband didn't particularly enjoy his sea bass but don't think he read the menu properly!! Only issue I had is that your website did not confirm my booking or acknowledge it so I had to spend extra time checking with the restaurant.. don't think they were too happy with your service
Booked the Horse and Farrier for a meal on the 5th March to celebrate my 50th birthday with my wife and parents. We've been here many times and always had a fantastic meal which is the reason I booked it. What a disappointment it turned out to be. The menu was very limited and when we arrived (at 6:30pm) we were informed they had no fish, only 1 roast lamb 3 pork and 2 beef roasts. I ended up choosing the gammon which was very average. My parents had the pork which was okay but so disappointed that the lamb shank was not on the menu as that was what they were hoping for. We then ordered desserts. This is where it got worse !! We ordered the ginger sponge with lime syrup (something I have enjoyed there many times). What arrived looked like sticky toffee pudding, in fact the waitress even thought that is what it was. We were then told it was the ginger sponge. We tried it and couldn't taste any ginger and it was covered in a caramel/toffee sauce, not lime syrup. We sent it back and another waitress then came and apologised and said that they buy the desserts in and the lid of the dessert said ginger sponge. I couldn't believe that they bought the desserts in as previously they were home made. At this point we just asked for the bill as we were extremely disappointed with the whole experience. I don't know if the Horse and Farrier has changed hands but it is nowhere near the quality it was last year,and that includes the staff as well as the food. It is such a shame as it was one of our favourite places to eat in the Lakes but after last Sunday 's experience we won't be back.
Good food and service. The Horse and Farrier is our first choice for a meal in the Keswick area, I hope to be back soon.
It was nothing special unlike other reviews I've read. I had curry which came with a microwaved nan bread. It had too much salad with it. The lasagne only had one layer of pasta and had several lumps of mince. Ordered side dish of onion rings, they were like the frozen ones we got in the 70s!!. Burger was average, not the worst and not the best. All the staff were really lovely though.