Inn At Whitewell - Ribble Valley

The food here was amazing. The attention to detail of every dish was perfection. The staff was attentive and professional. Will be returning soon.

Over the past 8 years we have regularly made the hour or so journey to the Inn at Whitewell, for either a Cream Tea or lunch. Both have always been of a very high standard, the legendary, oversized and freshly prepared, warm scones, rivalling those offered by the finest Tea Rooms, being a particular incentive. I am glad to say that along with the unchanging beauty of the location and timeless architecture, the service has remained very good. It makes it all the more disappointing that the past two occasions we have ventured out, the scones have been very poor. The first of these 2 trips, we thought there may have been a batch that had gone slightly wrong that day or a new recipe had been tried and failed, without any evidence of quality control. And today we hoped the quality we had enjoyed in the past would have been restored once again. Sadly, this was very much not the case. The scones were exactly the same as the previous visit: dry, crumbly to the extent that it was impossible to butter without large chunks of it breaking off, and the bottom was slightly warm and the top cold. Bought in? Frozen? Certainly not freshly baked on the day, warmed thoroughly in the oven, and worse than that, more like an over-baked, dense sponge cake than a scone. This definitely falls into the realms of a First World problem, I know, but it is disappointing when any respected and reliable institution falters. I don’t know that much notice is taken of any negative reviews on this platform, but I can only hope that some sense of pride might lead to the kitchen once again perfecting this quintessential British staple.

Had weekday 3 courses for lunch. Lovely building. Friendly efficient staff. Food nice but not up to the hype sadly. One of us had the famous fish pie and apart from the very nice cheesy mash top the pie was a big letdown. Some of the fish was very hard almost chewy and the grey bits were still on. There was nothing extra in the sauce (like capers for example) it was perfectly edible but just a basic fish, plain white sauce, cheese mash fish pie expectations were too high! The other lunch (lamb) was also nice enough . Both meals lacked vegetable in the right balance imho . (Fish pie had none at all) I think we could have probably added peas for an extra £5! So yes a nice place for lunch. Not somewhere to go out of your way for. Good staff. Lovely view.

Pleasant welcome and service throughout meal. Good choice on menu with interesting specials. Our two starters were squid and an excellent plum tomato soup. Main of sea bass with lobster bisque rated excellent. Choice of ploughman’s may not have tested chef’s culinary skills BUT the home-cooked ham plus the home-made chutney and pickled vegetables really were memorable.

Came in to the Inn at Whitewell half hour early. They welcomed us and git a table even though they had a 130 booked in. Food absolutely excellent as always. Just been a while since we were here which was three years ago. But as I say food excellent as always. Love this place.