Sunday Roast Diaries: Billy's Barr & Restaurant, Hawkshead

Welcome to a well overdue Sunday Roast Diaries blogpost. It’s the FIRST one of the year, and I have so many more to publish too! Today’s Sunday Roast Diaries post is from last weekend’s Sunday Roast when we were visiting the Lake District. We booked a last-minute trip to the Lakes and managed to book into a place called Billy’s Barr & Restaurant, located in Hawkshead. We used to visit the Lakes all the time, but actually haven’t been in FOUR years. But we’ve never come across Billy’s before, and it looked amazing.

Billy’s Barr & Restaurant is located in Hakeshead, just around the corner from the main car park in the village. I love Hawkshead as a place, so it was a great excuse to visit. The Little Ice Cream Shop is a must-visit! We managed to book a dog-friendly table at quite short notice, but not until late afternoon. We got there early, so we managed to have a drink whilst we waited for the table. The dog-friendly area is a couple of tables near the bar. The whole place is just gorgeous, very modern and airy.

Once we were seated, I treated myself to a Guinness! I know, GET ME! One trip to Dublin and I’m a Guinness drinker. As always, we were there for the Sunday menu, which featured an array of starters, but we skipped to the main course, which was a choice of Treacle-Cured Sirloin of Beef or Pork Loin, both of which were £23.50. There was also a nut roast option and Fish of the Day if you weren’t fancying a Roast Dinner. I decided to go for beef as I usually do, and Stefan got the pork.

The beef was served with a horseradish cream, but I decided to have it without. The pork was served with Sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce, which I think may have been the selling point for Stefan. Both dishes were served with a Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, swede, sauteed green beans, cauliflower cheese and hispi cabbage. So you really did get a fair amount of food.

The food was amazing, and whatever they did with the hispi cabbage was incredible. It was chargrilled but nothing we’ve had before! Top marks for the Yorkshire Pudding and the cauliflower cheese was some of the best we’ve had in a long time. My only note is that I’m never keen on having swede on my roast. I’d prefer carrots or mash. Stefan did enquire whether they had any sides of mashed potato, but they only had enough to accompany the Fish dish.

Billy’s is an excellent choice if you are looking for excellent food and are looking for something a little different and fancier than the traditional pub setting. Billy’s would be lovely for special occasions too. It was also lovely that there is a dog-friendly area, meaning we could bring Walter; it seemed very popular with dog owners. I’m glad we discovered this place. It was a gorgeous Sunday Roast and one that filled us up after a day of exploring the Lakes.