Pulling into Arnfield Fisheries, you expect rods, reels and trout rising on the water. What you don’t expect is the aroma of kaffir lime, lemongrass and chilli drifting across the 40-acre lake. Yet that’s what greets visitors at this hidden corner of Tintwistle, where a traditional fly fishery has become home to one of the most unusual Thai cafés in the region.
The story starts with Steve, who opened the fishery in 1992 after spotting the unused reservoir while cleaning windows nearby. At first, he served up the standard angler’s fare – English breakfasts and bacon sandwiches to keep people warm on the water. But things changed when Au, originally from Thailand, and her husband Tom, from Hong Kong, began working with him. Au brought with her a library of family recipes learned from childhood, the kind passed down at home rather than written down, and slowly wove them into the daily routine of the café.
It was a leap. A trout fishery café doubling as a Thai kitchen is not something anyone would plan on paper. Yet here, it works beautifully. Walkers stumble in for coffee and leave raving about their first tom yum. Anglers tuck into plates of pad kra pao after a long day casting. There’s even a customer the team laugh about who eats the same stir-fry almost every day.
The dishes act as anchors to the story rather than a novelty. “They’ve been passed to me, generation to generation,” says Au, always eager to go through the shopping bags when her mum returned home from the markets. “My family are all good cooks, and I learned from them when I was young.”
And she’s right when she says that the tom yam soup – an absolute classic version of one of Thailand’s national dishes – is ‘very gorgeous’.
It’s sweet, salty, sour, packed with flavour and made with king prawns and mushrooms, served up in a heated contraption at the table, so you can keep filling up your bowl (you’ll not want to stop).
The dish has become the runaway bestseller – even among those who once hesitated, fearing Thai food would be too fiery. Pad kra pao, as Au explains, is the Thai equivalent of fish and chips: an everyday staple, quick and satisfying. Khao soi, a coconut curry noodle dish from Chiang Mai, brings in regulars who want something comforting with a bit of flair. The Arnfield platter, a mix of satay, spring rolls, wings and Issan sausage, is a crowd-pleaser that sparks as many conversations as it does appetites.
But it’s not just the food that makes this place special. The setting gives it a rare kind of peace. Boats drift across the lake. Wildlife skirts the banks. From the decked veranda, with a bowl of noodles in front of you, the Peaks look like they’ve been staged for the meal. Steve jokes that fly fishing is harder than skydiving – no small claim from someone with nearly a thousand jumps behind him, and at 73, he still beams at the challenge.
Inside, the hospitality is as memorable as the food. Au presses rice into heart shapes, a small but lovely detail, and greets newcomers with a hug as if they’ve been here before. Tom keeps the rhythm of the room calm, while Steve leans on stories from three decades at the lake. Everyone leaves smiling, which seems to be exactly what they’re aiming for.
Arnfield is a special place. It’s a working fishery, yes, but it’s also a family-run Thai restaurant set against one of the most scenic backdrops you could wish for. A day out here can mean casting for trout, learning to row, or simply sitting back with a platter of satay skewers as the water changes colour with the sky.
It’s a hidden gem in the truest sense: unexpected, quietly brilliant, and truly memorable.
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