Harden's survey result
Summary
“Big meals” made from prime British ingredients cooked in classical French style, “friendly staff” and a “lovely, sensibly priced wine list” is the winning recipe at ex-Four Seasons exec chef Jamie Jones’s restaurant with rooms – a spacious (much extended) former shepherd’s cottage in the heart of Hardy country (the village of Lower Bockhampton is called Mellstock in ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’). This may be about to be a case of ‘all change’, however – the business was put on the market in 2024 as a going concern.
Summary
“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”.
Summary
This “lovely cottage” in the heart of Thomas Hardy country serves “very good British food with interesting twists” from owner Jamie Jones, a former exec chef with Four Seasons hotels who settled here with his wife Ariane in 2007. The novelist would have known the 300-year-old thatched shepherd’s cottage well – he was born a mile away and grew up in the village. The Joneses also run the Yalbury Café in nearby Dorchester.
Summary
“Wonderful food, service, setting and location in rural Dorset” make this 350-year-old thatched cottage the perfect place to eat (and stay) if you’re visiting Thomas Hardy country – the writer would have known it well, having grown up here in Lower Bockhampton, a hamlet close to Dorchester. There’s a “good menu that changes, so if you’re staying for more than one night you’re not faced with the same food for every meal”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Yalbury Cottage?
Lower Bockhampton, DT2 8PZ
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinner | £55.00 | £65.00 |  |
|
|
| SundayLunch | £40.00 | £50.00 | |
|
|
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £24.50 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 10.00% |
Lower Bockhampton, DT2 8PZ
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 1 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 1 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 1 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 1 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 1 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm |
Best French restaurants nearby
French restaurant in Sturminster Newton
French restaurant in Barton-on-Sea
French restaurant in Nomansland
Best similarly priced restaurants nearby
British, Modern restaurant in Milborne Port
British, Modern restaurant in South Petherton
British, Modern restaurant in Christchurch
