Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Wareham
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Wareham restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 16 restaurants in Wareham and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Wareham restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Wareham Restaurants
2. Arbor Restaurant, The Green House Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Bournemouth
4 Grove Rd - BH1
A central wood installation of a tree helps add validity to the name of this seaside hotel dining room. Chef Andy Hilton produces a relatively upmarket brasserie menu framed around ‘bay, barn and butcher’ and results are consistently well-rated.
3. Chez Fred
Fish & chips restaurant in Bournemouth
10 Seamoor Rd - BH4
This “fantastic family-run” chippy, now in its 35th year under three generations of the Capel family, serves “some of the best fish ’n’ chips to be found anywhere” – and is “a model of consistency”. Top Tip – head for the “value meals: ‘Fred’s finest’ or ‘Fred’s feast’ are very well priced”, with “endless chips”.
4. The Guildhall Tavern
Fish & seafood restaurant in Poole
15 Market Street - BH15
2023 Review: This gorgeous old tavern on a corner site near the harbour – newly spiffed-up last autumn and with the recent addition of a conservatory – specialises in “excellent-quality” local seafood, served in a warm atmosphere that is “like being in France”.
5. Shell Bay
Fish & seafood restaurant in Studland
Ferry Road - BH19
“Super-fresh fish in simple surroundings with wonderful views” over Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island makes a winning deck of cards for this waterside spot on the Isle of Purbeck, on the beach by the chain-link ferry. “Delicious puddings”, a “respectable wine list” and “friendly staff” complete the deal.
6. Rick Stein
Fish & seafood restaurant in Sandbanks
10-14 Banks Rd - BH13
You can hang with the local mansion-owners and beachgoers at this Poole Harbour outpost of the Stein empire, which has a brilliant location overlooking the water. It inspired less feedback this year than its stablemates, hence we’ve left it unrated.
7. Branksome Beach
British, Modern restaurant in Poole
Pinecliff Rd - BH13
2022 Review: A “beautifully situated restaurant” in an Art Deco solarium overlooking Poole Harbour, and where “drinks on the upper deck are an extra delight”. One or two off reports on the food front this year, but also plenty of plaudits for its “really good breakfasts and lunches”, and “service has improved” of late too.
8. WestBeach
Fish & seafood restaurant in Bournemouth
Pier Approach - BH2
2022 Review: “Top-notch fish, chips and alternatives” plus a “lovely location” not far from the centre of town make this modern seaside café a good choice for breakfast or lunch, with stunning views from the terrace.
9. Yalbury Cottage
French restaurant in Lower Bockhampton
“The food is always reliably delicious” at this 300-year-old thatched cottage across the road from Thomas Hardy’s old school (the author was born in the neighbouring village) – which “must be one of the best restaurants in Dorset”. Former Four Seasons exec chef Jamie Jones assembles a “relatively short menu that caters for all tastes and appetites” – “you know as soon as you taste the canapes that the food is going to be excellent”.
10. Restaurant Roots
British, Modern restaurant in Southbourne
141 Belle Vue Road - BH6
“Still blown away with Jan & Stacey’s ability to deliver top-quality food and service” is a typical report on the Bretschneiders’ very focused small restaurant, now in its ninth year. Berlin-born Jan’s “very personal” tasting menu (eight courses for £95 per person, or twelve courses for £150 per person), which is also available in a “wonderful veggie version”, comes “with notes about his childhood that led to the thought process behind the dish”. The couple have also opened the more casual (but still ambitious) Cork & Lobster next door.
11. The Thimble Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Piddlehinton
14 High Street - DT2
2023 Review: This thatched eighteenth-century Piddle Valley pub with an “enchanting garden” wins solid ratings across the board for its “great service and good food, whether you prefer pub grub or something more ambitious”. Its popularity was sealed by a rave review from The FT’s Tim Hayward a couple of years ago, and you need to book early to secure a table at busy times, especially Sunday lunch.
12. Luciano's
Italian restaurant in Dorchester
1 Dray Horse Yard, Brewery Square - DT1
2022 Review: With no social media presence as yet, and a hard-to-find name (lots of search results for Carluccio's – not helped by the fact that this location used to be one, and even repurposes the sign), we are presuming that Luciano Pierre White is relying on word of mouth – and his famous name – to get punters into his first solo restaurant. He's worked with Pierre Koffmann and the Adria brothers according to press quotes, and his father credits him with a great work ethic. An early-doors visit from a reporter noted it to be ‘very promising’ and another thought ‘the food’s great and the service will only improve’.
13. Captain's Club Hotel & Spa
British, Modern restaurant in Christchurch
Wick Ferry, Wick Lane - BH23
2023 Review: “A wonderful waterside location” is the crown jewel feature of this “relaxed and unhurried” modern hotel dining room – the location overlooking boats on the Stour “makes the restaurant a romantic venue and if weather permits being seated outside is a bonus”. “Lovely food” too – “well presented and reasonably priced”.
14. The Cliff in Poole
British, Modern restaurant in Sandbanks
6 Ravine Road - BH13
2023 Review: This “nice gastropub with large gardens” has undergone a dramatic £800,000 refurb since our annual diners’ poll, to be reborn with cocktail bar-style décor replacing the traditional pub interior, and fitted seating with cushions in the 100-seater garden. The new menu replaces standard 3-course meals with a globally inspired selection of small plates.
15. Lolas
restaurant in Bournemouth
95 Commercial Road - BH2
A “cracking find in the centre of Bournemouth”, this “tiny little restaurant up off the main shopping street” is “worth the climb” for “tasty” and sometimes “superb” tapas and “refreshing sangria”. Top Menu Tip – “our normally carnivorous children demand the aubergine with honey”.
16. Yalbury Cafe (YC's)
International restaurant in Dorchester
Brewery Square - DT1
2022 Review: “An offshoot of (well-known local staple) Yalbury Cottage, run and managed by the same team”, also in tandem with an artisanal French pastry chef – and located in the unusual setting of an auction house. “Lunches are interesting and well presented”, while “the evening sessions are more adventurous and the Mexican ones especially good”.
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