Where to eat well and have fun this summer

Chester Zoo 

Chester Zoo provide freshly prepared meals to their visitors in their Junes, Manado and Bembe outlets. Prepared by an expert team of chefs, these meals are also guaranteed to contain only sustainably sourced fish, free range eggs. Food for Life Served Here menus are always free from harmful additives and preservatives. Refuel with freshly baked pizzas and healthy deli options in between exploring the 125 acre site with 21,000 amazing animals.

Visit the Chester Zoo website.

Leighton Moss boasts the largest reed bed in north-west England and is home to a wide range of spectacular wildlife. Situated in the visitor centre the popular nature reserve is the bronze Food for Life Served Here awarded café. They serve a wide selection of delicious, home-cooked meals available daily. True pride is taken by the RSPB in sourcing high quality, fresh, local produce. You can enjoy the menu with a pot of Fairtrade tea or coffee before visiting the hides, exploring the trails and enjoying amazing views from the Sky Tower.

Visit the Leighton Moss website. 

Edinburgh Zoo

Sustainability plays an important role at Edinburgh Zoo. With a commitment to using only sustainable palm oil, or palm oil free products.  All the coffee cups are completely compostable, meanwhile all of the used coffee grind is collected by Edinburgh Zoo’s garden team and used for compost. Four of the Edinburgh Zoo outlets have achieved the FFLSH bronze award, the Big Griller, Grasslands, Jungle Café and Penguins Café. The Penguin Café serves a selection of savoury pastries, including palm oil free pastries & Scottish Farm Assured Stromboli alongside soups, breakfast rolls and salads.  You can even get a Penguins Kids Lunch Bag to take around the Zoo with you exploring.

Visit the Edinburgh Zoo website. 

Set on the southern shore of the loch, this picturesque nature reserve is a great day out for all. The gold awarded café is perfectly situated for you to take in the breath-taking views, whilst enjoying your home cooked lunch and spotting the wildlife. Apart from their local sourcing and use of organic produce, the café has a great selection of vegan and vegetarian options, including some of the cakes and scones. We were most impressed by the veggie haggis so even vegetarian visitors can enjoy Scotland’s national dish.

Visit the Loch Leven website.

MShed

You can pick from a silver Food for Life Served Here menu all year round at MShed, but this summer be sure to visit Grillshack, a pop up BBQ open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The menu features slow cooked local pork shoulder, beetroot slaw and MShed’s signature BBQ sauce amongst many other homemade dishes. Always on the look-out for new local suppliers to work with, MShed’s bread comes from Hobbs house bakery, meat from John Sheppard butchers, and cheese from Harvey and Brockless, Clifton coffee supply their coffee beans and ice cream comes from Marshfield farm.

Bristol Museum and Art Gallery 

At Bristol Museum and Art Gallery there’s a true pride in the freshly prepared food offer, all prepared using only the freshest ingredients. Sourcing as much as possible from the UK and the local region. The bread comes from Hobbs house bakery, meat from John Sheppard butchers, and cheese from Harvey and Brockless, Clifton coffee supply their coffee beans and ice cream comes from Marshfield farm. All fish is MSC certified and you can enjoy other ethically produced ingredients such as Fairtrade and organic. Take a look at their menus here.

Visit the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery website.

National Trust Lanhydrock

This Cornish gem is the ideal place to have the jam or cream first discussion, with the Stables Tea Room serving up scones, homemade cakes, sandwiches and local pasties as well as a full afternoon tea. On The Park Café menu, delight in homemade burgers and tasty vegetarian dishes. If you’re feeling active you can take in one of the cycle trails through the woodland and take one of the special ‘tag-on’ kids lunch bags with you to refuel.

Visit the Newport Wetlands website. 

We the Curious

We the Curious are committed to sustainability, serving local and organic produce wherever possible. Single use plastic free, the team also compost any food waste, which then gets used on the Millennium Square Community Garden. You can enjoy spectacular views over the garden from the multi award winning café and enjoy their gold standard Food for Life Served Here meals. The We the Curious café has a gold award for Best Fairtrade Café in the Fairtrade South West Business Awards, Compassion In World Farming Good Egg Award and are two star sustainability champion’s for the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Visit the We the Curious website. 

National Trust Sissinghurst Castle Garden 

We often talk of food miles at Food for Life Served Here. However at Sissinghurst the vegetables and salad travel feet, not miles from the organically-managed kitchen garden. You can find seasonally changing menus in the restaurant between 12 and 3pm, as wells as coffee, tea and cake all day – we suggest trying the Lemon Courgette Cake, light and moist, this cake is healthier than your average and delicious too, you can even try cooking it at home, find the recipe here. 

Pulborough Brooks café has beautiful views across the South Downs, set in one of the richest areas for nature in the country. The cafe provides excellent freshly cooked food, including daily specials. With vegetarian options and a choice of delicious fresh sandwiches you can take in the stunning wildlife and enjoy your lunch alongside. Cakes are all made in house or created by a team of local bakers, made using the best ingredients. All eggs are free-range and you will find Fairtrade teas and coffees on the menu daily.

Visit the Pulborough Brooks website.

National Trust Blickling Estate

This Jacobean mansion in Norfolk really is something to behold, but as ever we are all about the food and are more interested in the kitchen garden at Blickling. There’s beetroot, carrots, basil, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and garlic in abundance, which you can sample on the menus or even make a donation and take some of the produce home. With tours running every day, what more excuse do you need to enjoy some of the home made delights in the cafes followed by a stroll in the gardens?

Once home to the BBC’s Springwatch, Minsmere has some of the UK's rarest wildlife. Have a walk to take in the epic scenery or head to the coastal lagoons to see an impressive variety of birds before relaxing in their bronze awarded cafe. The team of chefs here use locally sourced produce in their homemade dishes, with hot and cold meals on offer there is something for everyone to enjoy, whatever the weather.

Visit the Minsmere website. 

Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust are leading the way on provenance, sourcing and home cooking. They rear their own rare-breed animals on Mary Arden's Farm which are organic, they source free-range eggs and organic milk from the Midlands, the bread is hand-crafted and the orchards provide fruit for recipes whilst the herbs are all grown on-site. There are four sites to visit with the Food for Life Served Here gold award - The Shakespeare Centre, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Mary Arden’s Farm and Hall’s croft.