Black Bull Inn & Hotel

After a long walk through Grizedale Forest, we were desperate to find somewhere to eat. Unfortunately we were looking at 5pm, which turns out is the witching hour when it comes to food, with the majority of pubs having 5−6pm as their downtime for food.
After giving up on Hawkshead, we took the short drive to Coniston and ended up at the Black Bull. It was warm and there was a table free, so we were already made up! It was soft drinks all round at this point, though I saw some approving nods towards the selection of beer.
The menu is traditional ‘pub grub’ — fish and chips, chicken curry, nuggets on the kids menu — with one or two oddities… smoked duck breast, anyone? Looking for something hearty, I had the chilli. Served with rice, guac, tortilla chips and sour cream, it was just the right size and tasted much better than I expected (snob, sorry). The fish & chips was super impressive, with a nice crispy batter, and I pinched quite a few of the crispy chips from the bottom of the bowl.
I wouldn’t rush to head back, but it’s good to know what’s out there in the Lakes — it can be difficult to find the right balance between local and open to us out of towners, but I think the Black Bull may have figured it out.

This is local! Really local. There were a lot of people at the bar and in the seats and tables around the the main room. Mostly couples, but two large groups, one hikers and the other maybe school pals. No one was really eating, just having a pint to end the day. The back area has some slot machines, but that area was dark and quiet. Everyone was up front or at the bar. The pub brews it’s own beer, Coniston beer. The oatmeal stout was good and the barley wine was potent. I think 8.5% versus the standard 4.2%. I had a «bat» which is the UK equivalent of a flight, but with only three one-​third pints. Not much in terms of decoration, just a reall old, probably historical building that is dog friendly.

Excellent food, ale and atmosphere. the Black Bull is everything you need in a Lakeland pub.

Lovely looking traditional pub and used to be my favorite pub in Coniston, however on revisiting it recently I was gobsmacked at the price of the ale and food that they served. It seems that they can get a way with charging £3.50 — £4.00 a pint because they know most of their punters are going to be tourists and not going to be in there to drink all night. These aren’t UK prices, they’re European prices!!! What really hacks me off is that they brew their own ale in their backyard. What right have they got to charge such prices. I would advise anyone visiting Coniston to avoid this pub and also boycott their ale. They obviously have no respect for their customers and are laughing all the way to the bank. Fair enough they know how to make a good pint but it’ no better than any other real ale served anywhere else. The Kelham Isl;and Brewery pubs in Sheffield are all far better pubs than the Black Bull, the Kelham Island itself won best pub in Britain award 2009 and nearly all their ales are under £2.20 are far superior to Coniston Brewery ale.

This is another one of my favourite pubs in the whole world, I’ve passed many a very happy evening in here. It is a really big pub inside and so there’s always lots of space if you’ve got a large group with you but there are a couple of open fires with armchairs if you’re just in for a cosy romantic drink. They make the famous Bluebird real ale here which is really good and they serve excellent food which is now locally sourced and really nicely made (it is standard pub fare, sausage and mash, scampi and chips but they also do local specialties like potted scrimp which is worth a try). They also serve mulled wine from a pump which is really really nice after a long day hill walking! I’ve not stayed here so I can’t comment on the rooms but it always seems to be busy which must be a good sign.