The story
The Cartford Inn began life as an 18th-century coaching inn at the historic crossing of the River Wyre. Today, it is a Michelin Recommended restaurant with rooms, held in high regard for its 2 AA Rosette dining. The setting is cosy and characterful, with individually designed bedrooms and treehouse-style lodges tucked away on the grounds.
Head chef Chris Bury has been at The Cartford for nearly a decade. He leads a team of seven, many of them young local talent he is passionate about nurturing. His cooking is rooted in the region: he works closely with suppliers like Wyreside Mushrooms, Crafty Cheese Man, and Farmyard Ales, and grows produce in the inn’s riverside garden. The style is French technique applied to Lancashire provenance – flavour-led, ingredient-focused, and unmistakably Cartford.
Bury’s signature dish is a black pudding doughnut: a Boudin Noire-style black pudding wrapped in choux pastry and deep-fried, served with celeriac and apple remoulade and a tarragon mustard Italian meringue. Food critic Jay Rayner said of it, “it really shouldn’t work, but it does.” The dish captures the kitchen’s instinct for surprising, harmonious pairings.
The menu is described as “more classical in its foundations, more rooted in the region, and more considered in every detail.” Seasonal British ingredients are given a French inflection – think BBQ seafood platters with charred langoustine, smoky swordfish, and scallops in wild garlic butter, or a refined à la carte built around the best of the Fylde coast. The result is a style of cooking that reflects the landscape and the seasons.
Michelin’s Recommending guide recognises the consistency and quality of what Bury and his team produce. The Cartford Inn is not a place for culinary journeys – it is a place where good food, genuine hospitality, and a sense of place come together, as they have for centuries.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
It may only be a few miles from the brash lights of Blackpool but this remodelled 17th-century coaching inn beside the tidal river Wyre is light years away in style and atmosphere. There are tranquil views of the Fylde plain across to the Bowland Fells, and restaurant tables overlooking the river are always at a premium – although there is much more to engage both eye and palate here. To the rear, a small garden-courtyard, edged by a deli, gallery and jewellery shop, is festooned with painted bird houses, trees strung with coloured streamers and sequinned bunting. Inside, the decor is not so much quirky as idiosyncratic, with an eclectic collection of art and craftwork brightening up the bar and dining areas. It might not be to everyone’s taste but it’s fun and engaging. On the whole, the food matches the setting, with a good selection of seasonal dishes served at wooden tables decorated with whimsical hand-blown glass mushrooms. The menu has serious French aspirations, and there's an emphasis on big, bold meat and game specialities such as local wood pigeon saltimbocca, braised pig's cheek tacos and grilled, stuffed lamb’s heart. Prissy it ain’t. The Gallic blow-out entitled 'premeditated gluttony’ needs to be ordered 48 hours in advance and features a ‘grands fruits de mer’ platter that has been described as ‘the best we have had anywhere in Britain or France.’ Concepts are contemporary but avoid falling down too many ‘creative’ rabbit holes – although on our latest visit it was the small things that let the side down (salty and oily potted hot-smoked trout, for example). Our daily fish special, however, was memorable: line-caught wild sea bass from Morecambe Bay, served with vegetables from the garden and a delicate lemony sauce. For afters, the choice might include banana parfait choc ice with hazelnut praline and goat's milk caramel or a ‘croissant’ bread and butter pudding embellished with roasted peach, while the enterprising wine list is noted for its global spread, fair mark-ups and by-the-glass selection.
2 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Location
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