L’Enclume (*), Cartmel, UK, Sept’25

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I'd so been looking forward to dining at L'Enclume but was also somewhat wary of the fact that I've yet to see anyone say something negative about it, so I didn't want to set my expectations too high. I'm very pleased to report that the meal was absolutely fantastic and just as good as everyone else has described. The service and space were so warm and inviting, and we appreciated being in a nook that felt like we had some privacy. We had embarked on a week-long road trip through England and parts of Wales before ending up in the Lakes, and dinner at L'Enclume was the perfect way to top it all off.

Each dish was delicious. Everything was so well-balanced, and with each new course we were blown away again and again. Highlights included the seaweed custard (a play on chawanmushi) that contained a number of textures and delightful charred beans with creamy squid, the onions that were filled with cheese and accented with truffle and pops of acidity from the pickled seeds, and the desserts. The signature anvil was incredibly light but also had a rich caramel flavor that was beautifully offset by the apples. I appreciated that the meal came to a refreshing end after a series of savory and richer dishes. I don't have much more to add here beyond what the many other reviews have said other than to re-emphasize that every dish appears to be hyper-optimized for taste rather than elaborate plating or other theatrics.

For drinks, we opted for the non-alcoholic (or "soft drinks") pairing, as neither of us particularly care for wine. I haven't seen much commentary on the NA pairing, so I wasn't sure what to expect. In general, we found that the majority of the drinks tended to lean sweet. In some cases it was a welcome foil to the savory mains, but in others it was a bit much, and by the end we were struggling to finish them. That said, all of the pairings made sense — for example, a pear juice with miso that was deeply savory on the nose and then gave way to a juiciness that was the perfect complement to the grilled vegetable in a lightly sweet sauce.

Overall, I really couldn't recommend L'Enclume more, and hope that I have the privilege to return again someday.