The Black Bull at Sedbergh proves to be lockdown 'refuge' for The Times food critic Marina O'Loughlin

After several restaurants she planned to review were forced to cancel bookings due to Covid-19 restrictions, O'Loughlin instead headed for the western border of the Yorkshire Dales National Park to eat at The Black Bull.

She delighted in Sedbergh's architecture, numerous independent bookshops and cobbled streets, and described historic coaching inn The Black Bull as 'the star of the Main Street' alongside traditional ironmongers and fish and chip shops.

O'Loughlin praised the pub for fulfilling its role as a 'community boozer' with pie, ale, quizzes and curry nights, yet she was there to sample its fine dining menu and a wine list that she claimed would not look out of place in fashionable districts of New York.

The Bull's owners, James Radcliffe and chef Nina Matsunaga, whose German-Japanese heritage inspires her cooking ,also own the Three Hares bistro and bakery nearby, and serve dishes such as Lakeland pheasant, Hokkaido squash, wild rabbit and rainbow kale alongside pub classics.

The food writer describes Matsunaga as an 'exhilerating talent' and compliments the hospitality, generosity and comfort on offer at The Black Bull. She was even given a packet of their home-made butter and a loaf of sourdough to take home with her.

O'Loughlin has spent part of the summer and autumn on a 'road trip of discovery', yet was thwarted when restaurants closed suddenly. She concludes by theorising that small towns may become gastronomic capitals of the future as foodies flee the cities, and calls Sedbergh her 'sanctuary, where the pub kitchen is as savvy as anywhere with an urban postcode.'

Read the full Times review here.