If you’re looking to grab some casual food in the daytime, but want something that feels modern, is affordable and built with good quality ingredients in mind, then Grain Ambleside ticks pretty much all of those boxes.
Grain is a modern, busy café in the heart of Ambleside, just on the corner of the road that heads up to the famous Stock Ghyll Force walk. I think Grain gets the balance right: their grab and go options are perfect if you’re short on time, and their menu board opens up a lot of other options if you have a little longer.
For me, the café has an ‘elegant but informal’ feel. The interior of Grain, Ambleside is fresh, warm and bright, which compliments the style of food and drink really well. This also means that if you do want to eat in, their seating area doesn’t feel like a cop out option.
In terms of food, the variety they offer is on point: they’re known for their ‘Grain to Go Ambleside’ counter which has sandwiches, pastries, bakes and decadent cakes (the chocolate fudge cake is one of the best).
They also have a breakfast and lunch menu including salads, ‘hot pots’ and filled flatbreads made to order. Their coffee, smoothies and juices round out their menu really well.
If you’re deciding whether or not to visit Grain in Ambleside, my review below covers everything you need to know before you go: if it’s worth it, the best times to head there and what I’d recommend ordering.
Grain, Ambleside Review: What to Expect
When you first step into Grain in Ambleside, the ornate exterior is replaced by a warm and welcoming café that feels both built for purpose (get served quickly and get what you came for) and homely.
The counter area is the biggest focus, with all their grab and go options on display and easy to choose between, like sandwiches, bakes (savoury and sweet), cakes. There’s also a soft drinks cabinet with lots of options, including packaged fruit juices, sparkling drinks and some sugar free options.
Behind the counter on the board is their breakfast and lunch menus which are available depending on when you go. Here, you’ll also see their coffee, fresh smoothies and juices menu too.
I personally don’t think the coffee is the strongest option here and I generally much prefer ASAP Coffee just down the road specifically for coffee in Ambleside. But I do think their fresh juices and smoothies are really, really good!
At this point I’ve tried a lot of the different food options at Grain. Including the hot bowls (that they refer to as hotpots), flatbreads, sandwiches, sausage rolls and cakes.
What I love is that everything feels fresh, flavoursome and well seasoned. The cakes and bakes are exceptionally high quality and feel indulgent: exactly what you want from a sweet treat!
There’s plenty of different options to choose from in terms of the hot bowls too, so you could very easily visit Grain in Ambleside a few times in one trip and not feel like you’ve exhausted everything.
There’s also not so much to choose from that it feels overwhelming either. What they do, they do really well.
It feels modern in terms of the food they’re creating; it’s imaginative without being over the top. They put their own twists on things in a way you don’t quite see anywhere else in Ambleside for grab and go style food. Like their cheese and truffle croissant, which has with truffle custard and onion jam.
Grain is one of the few cafes in Ambleside that nails something difficult: its modern and its cosy. It feels equally like a space you can run in to grab a bite to eat or sit in and it doesn’t seem like a cop out.
If you do want to sit in, there’s high stools all around the windows in the main café space, so you can look at busy Ambleside and surrounding fells as you eat. However, I don’t think these kinds of stools work well if you want to actually feel like you’ve had a ‘meal out’ and talk to whoever you’re with.
To the right of the main counter is a ‘nook’ area, which has a few simple benches and is pretty cosy to sit and eat in. You can actually feel like you’ve ‘been out for lunch’ here without spending a huge amount of money.
Though it’s not somewhere I’d recommend visiting if you want to spend hours and hours chatting to a friend over lunch as the emphasis is more on flowing customers.
On my last visit, I ordered the onion bhaji flatbread and a slice of the chocolate fudge cake. This came to £14.50 in total (£10 for the flatbread and £4.50) for the cake.
In terms of pricing, I think this is in keeping for the area and considering you feel like you’re eating good food, I’d be more than happy to say I think it was worth the price.
If you are looking to get some food to take with you for the day, the ciabattas and flatbreads available on the grab and go counter are well packaged to pop in your backpack.
The sausage rolls and vegan sausage rolls usually get put in a box, but you can ask for them to use a bag instead which is much better to fit in your backpack.
The hot food isn’t quite as easy, so I’d recommend heading there earlier to make sure you get something, as the grab and go can go quite quickly!
Highly recommended to try:
- Sausage rolls/ vegan sausage rolls
- Chocolate fudge cake
- Main menu flatbreads
- Salads
- Cheese and truffle croissant
Dietary Options at Grain, Ambleside
Grain is pretty good when it comes to dietary options. Firstly, everything on sale, whether it’s the grab and go counter, breakfast or lunch menus has clearly marked labels listing common allergens and dietary suitability. If you’re not sure about something, I’ve found the staff to be really knowledgeable too.
If you’re looking for veggie or vegan options, there are several options, both savoury and sweet. There’re usually vegan sausage rolls (which are delicious), sandwiches, flatbreads and a hotpot. They also have chocolate fudge cake which just happens to be vegan. It’s one of the best chocolate cakes ever, vegan or not.
If you do need to get something vegan to eat, I’d recommend heading there earlier as some of these options can get snapped up pretty quickly. For veggies, most, if not all the cakes are veggie friendly, as well as the vegan savoury options and some further veggie options at the counter and on the menu board being available too.
There are a few gluten free options available too. These are clearly marked but do go quickly. They also have things like oat milk, soy milk etc for coffee, matcha and smoothies.
Grain, Ambleside: What to Know Before You Go
Here’s a few things that I think are worth knowing before you visit Grain in Ambleside:
Grain Ambleside opening times: They are currently open from 8am until 5pm every day of the week. However, this can of course change, so it’s always best to check the Grain opening hours before you visit on Google Maps.
When to visit: If you want the best selection of grab and go items, the best time to visit is earlier in the day. They do run out of pastries, cakes, sandwiches and bakes so as the day goes by, options will be more limited. Especially important if you have specific dietary requirements.
Waiting times: For grab and go, there is never usually much of a wait at all, though there may be queues at times. For coffee orders, you could be waiting around 5 minutes, for menu items, and for heated items, you could be waiting upwards of 10 minutes. This all of course depends on how busy the café is.
No reservations for seating: There’s no reservations for the table spaces available at Grain, but there is a good flow of people coming in and out of the café. It isn’t guaranteed you’ll get a seat, but if you can wait a little while, one may become available. It really just depends on the day.
Wheelchair access: Like many older buildings in the Lake District the wheelchair access isn’t amazing. The lower part of the restaurant is accessible, but the section up a step is not, and that means the toilet is inaccessible too.
Toilets: Grain has one main toilet for all visitors to use.
Dogs: Grain, Ambleside is dog friendly.
Walks Near Grain, Ambleside
Ambleside is right at the heart of some of the best walks in central Lake District. Around the side of the building that Grain is in, you can take the road from there to one of Ambleside’s most iconic walks: Stock Ghyll Force.
This is a very short trail, but from here, you can also head up to Wansfell Pike which is a steep, but brilliant fell walk from right outside that gives you beautiful views over Windermere, Ambleside, toward Grasmere, Kirkstone Pass area and honestly, for miles (these are all some of my favourite routes). You can also continue down the other side of Wansfell Pike to Troutbeck and get a bus back to Ambleside from there.
You can also get onto the Loughrigg Fell trail from Ambleside too, which is a fantastic walk that sits just above Rydal Cave, another beautiful walk in the area.
Another good walk that accompanies Loughrigg Fell and Rydal Cave is the Rydal Falls to Buckstones Jump walk. A little further up the road still, I’d really recommend the Alock Tarn from Grasmere walk.
There’s also Helm Crag from Grasmere, Easedale Tarn from Grasmere, mountains like Rydal Head, Raise, Helvellyn and Dollywagon Pike to name a few, so plenty of options to choose from.
A tiny bit further are all the options in Elterwater, like the Elterwater to Skelwith Bridge walk, Elterwater to Cathedral Caves and walks like Stickle Ghyll to Stickle Tarn slightly further along the road in the Langdale Valley.
Everything that’s linked above, will take you straight to the specific guide we have for that walk. The others: we’re working on it!
Grain, Ambleside: My Honest Review & Quick Take
Worth it: Yes! Good value for the price, filling, satisfying just good food.
Who’s it good for: If you want a quick bite, grab and go, food for a walk, indulgent sweet treats, need a gluten free option or if you’re veggie or vegan.
Who should skip it: If you just want to go for coffee or want a full sit down meal.
Wheelchair accessible: There are steps from the street into the building that mean Grain in Ambleside is not a wheelchair accessible café.
What to order on your first visit: Sausage roll / vegan sausage roll, chocolate fudge cake.
When to visit: Earlier on in the day if you want to have the best selection of grab and go items.
If Grain sounds good, you’d also enjoy: ASAP Coffee, Chesters by the River
About the Author
- Based in the Lake District, Fay Doyle is also co-founder of This Expansive Adventure
- Walks these routes regularly
- Writer and photographer specialising in the outdoors, with extensive local hiking experience
- Focused on firsthand experience walking guides