Fantastic dishes in a beautiful setting

Dine

Dining at Poets House

The dining room is perfect for a simple catch up with friends and family or a special occasion! Sample A La Carte menu. Should you be looking for something a little lighter, our Sonnet Lounge & Garden menu is available throughout the day. Our Bookings must be made either online or directly with the hotel with any dietary requirements.

Book Now.

Dining for
All Occasions

Our Dining Room, Writing Room, Courtyard Garden and Sonnet Lounge restaurant are the perfect places to catch up with friends or colleagues. We are open daily for dining with food being served from 9 am - 8.45 pm, and drinks until late.

Whether it's our breakfast menu, weekday lunch, or dinner, The Poet's House stunning decor, wonderful dishes, and first-class service guarantee an unforgettable dining experience. Click here to download our sample wine list.

Summer A La Carte

Breakfast

Kick start your day with a delicious breakfast at
Poets House.

Our breakfast menu offers a wide range of tasty options, including cooked and continental breakfasts, porridge, fresh fruit, and cereal, accompanied by our great coffee and a selection of fruit juices.

Sunday Dining - Served From 12 til 3pm

Whether it's a family occasion or a simple Sunday treat, join us for Sunday Lunch served in our beautiful dining areas.

Sample Sunday Menu

Drinks in the Sonnet Bar

The Sonnet Bar & Lounge at Poets House is the perfect destination whatever time of day you choose to pop in. A relaxing space where you can sink into the sofas while catching up with friends. An array of choices are available, from good coffee with homemade cake to a light lunch with a cheeky cocktail.

The Sonnet Bar
& Lounge Garden Menu

The Sonnet Bar is the most perfect place to relax and unwind, and we are delighted to offer you our lunch time menu which is served from 1200 until 5pm daily. Why not try one of our cheeky cocktails? Maybe a classic Negroni or a beautifully hand-crafted house special such as our Smokey Sour, all made with passion from our skilled, friendly bar team!

Sonnet Lounge & Garden Menu

Afternoon Tea

Experience a little of England's heritage with a delicious traditional afternoon tea from £25 per person.

Enjoy a selection of finger sandwiches, cakes, and warm scones with clotted cream and jam, all lovingly prepared and served in beautiful historic surroundings.

For a little extra indulgence why not add a glass of chilled bubbly?

Please note that afternoon tea must be pre-booked and full pre-payment is required on booking.

Call us on 01353 887777 or get in touch.

Book Now Sample Afternoon Tea Menu

Our Food Gallery

What Our Guests Say

Excellent Food, Perfect Service - Four of us enjoyed an excellent lunch on a Saturday after visiting the cathedral. We hadn’t reserved, but were offered a table in the restaurant (the bar looked lovely and stylish but more casual). Everything was perfect. The food was superb - I particularly enjoyed the scallop with smoked mackerel and avocado purée, but the other starters of whisky smoked beef carpaccio and goat’s cheese looked equally delicious. Main courses also impressed, as did the cheese selection. We also enjoyed an excellent Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Service was spot on - attentive, helpful, knowledgeable and unobtrusive. We would all happily return.

"An amazing atmosphere - Wonderful food. Had a sandwich from the lunch menu and couldn’t fault it. Great service and very plush surroundings. Would definitely recommend for any occasion. Generous portions and priced as you would expect for the type of establishment"

"Afternoon tea - I took my Daughter in law and 7 year old granddaughter here for Afternoon tea as a birthday treat. We were very impressed with the size of the portions especially the childs. The service was fantastic and the food was delicious. Would definitely recommend this lovely hotel"

"Pleasant Date Night -Took my better half here for our payday date night. Lovely service. Even when the waiter bought the wrong wine over it was swapped immediately without any fuss. Staff were very accommodating and the food was super tasty. Plenty of free parking around the establishment and this was on a Friday night at 7pm. Right opposite is a walk way through to the Ely Cathedral which is worth a visit but unfortunately wasn’t open at this time, however, it is during the day I believe"

"We booked a day in advance as I have my parents come up to visit us, what a lovely place is the Poets House Hotel, We had an afternoon eat in the bar area, it was nice ambiance around with the views of the garden and the sitting area was comfortable, light, funky and energetic, the section of tea was good, nothing special of strength and taste, but the sandwiches and cakes were delicious, Would recommend to anyone, I would book in advance as you don't want to be missed out"

Christmas Day Lunch
Thank you Poets House for making our Christmas Day lunch so wonderful. Everything was perfect from our splendid welcome, table setting and decorations, friendly atmosphere and amazing cuisine. It was the best Christmas Day restaurant lunch we have ever had and nothing could be faulted.

Fabulous Festive Food
Excellent menu for both lunch time and evening. We have just tried the lunch time offering and were not disappointed with anything.
The food was superb, the staff are really friendly, the dining room was decorated beautifully and we couldn't fault a single thing.
Already looking forward to our next visit to work our way through the rest of the menu!

Faultless
Went here on Saturday evening with my wife and have to say the whole experience was faultless. Food was exceptional, wine (Sancerre and a Californian Cabernet ) were both superb and the service was spot on. Genuinely cannot fault the entire evening and despite the new restrictions in place it still felt ‘normal’ and thoroughly enjoyable.