Dorset, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

Michael Trawicki’s “popular thatched pub” serves particularly “good pub food in a nice sunny dining room” and there’s also a beautiful garden in summer. It’s not an especially ‘foodie’ operation but attracts consistent praise in our annual diners’ poll as one of the area’s better eateries.

“A gorgeous, sunny room attached to a medieval priory on the banks of the River Frome” is the “delightful setting” for “always interesting and very good” cooking from Loire Valley-bred Stephan Guinebault, head chef for the best part of two decades at this independently owned hotel which oozes “old-world charm”.

All diners award high ratings this year to Red Carnation Group’s classic country house hotel, which enjoys a fine countryside situation set in 400 acres. Its most ardent fans claim the contemporary cuisine in its rather old-fashioned looking dining room is “as good as at many Michelin star places” and it’s certainly very consistently well-rated this year in our annual diners’ poll.

“The Acorn Inn is a must-visit” – a “charming” and “atmospheric” spot immortalised in Hardy’s ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ as the ‘The Sow and Acorn’, and whose dining room turns out “exceptional food that celebrates the best of local Dorset produce”, balancing “hearty classics and creative dishes”. The “burgers are highly sought after”, but “guests particularly love the Exmoor venison and line-caught cod, alongside the indulgent desserts” – and there are “great local beers” to accompany the “beyond average pub fayre”. The venue is linked to the nearby Summer Lodge Hotel, both being part of the Red Carnation hotel group.

2023 Review: This “brilliant thatched country pub” has “lots of game dishes” on its menu – appropriately enough for a traditional establishment in the historical hunting landscape of Cranborne Chase. “Vegetarians and vegans are well provided for” too, while there’s also a “well-stocked bar with local ales and a reasonably priced wine list”.

2024 Review: “Great modern European food using locally sourced ingredients at very reasonable prices” again wins praise for this local fixture. Chef-patron Sasha Matkevich grew up in south Russia but has lived in England for 30 years.

“A remarkable place, not even in the centre of a country town” – a converted pub-with-rooms where Australian husband-and-wife team Paul & Tracey Merrony run the show, “she front of house, him in the kitchen”. “A wide range of French-style classic dishes are chalked up on the board” and you’ll find “different variations on these dishes when you visit again”. The “top quality ingredients, deliciously cooked” offer “extraordinary value for money at £28.50 for three substantial courses. What’s not to like…” – indeed a couple of best meals of the year are reported here.

“A real gem” – “hidden away above a real fishmonger on the historic Weymouth quayside” – this “inspired spot” serves “super-fresh fish, straight from the boat”, “brilliantly and creatively cooked” on a “superb tasting menu” that changes with the seasons and even the tides. Already a hit under former chef Mike Naidoo, regulars are hoping it will be “even better” under locally born chef-patron Ben Champkin, who arrived in early 2025 after working at L’Enclume in the Lake District and the Newt in Somerset (where he was head chef).

2024 Review: This “newly refurbished family-owned pub with rooms” – originally a mid-Victorian cider house – in a “lovely village” near Sherborne, makes for a “perfect stop-over en route to Devon or Cornwall”, with “agreeable service” and “reliable food including interesting fish dishes”. Co-owner Doune Mackenzie-Francis has a foodie background as a former marketing manager for Leith’s School of Food & WIne.

2022 Review: “A friendly and welcoming atmosphere” marks out this thatched fifteenth-century gastroboozer, where the “high-quality fresh local produce” (but also more adventurous sourcing, including from Paris’s famous Rungis market) leads to some “interesting variations on the traditional style”.

“The view overlooking Poole Harbour makes this a romantic location” for an Italian meal – although it’s “very much a good-weather venue”. The hotel is at the heart of a long-running planning dispute, with vocal locals opposing a plan to convert it into an ‘aparthotel’ under a £300m redevelopment of Sandbanks.

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.

“Just heaven”. “You can’t get more idyllic than a meal here sat in the most beautiful walled kitchen garden” of Darren Brown’s Wiltshire destination (est. 2016) – “out of the way (but handy for the A303)” – “it is so relaxing, and such a treat and the surroundings are so beautiful with their mixture of flowers and vegetables and herbs”. “On the Cote d’Azur it would work fine most of the year. In Wiltshire it is often cold and wet at which time you eat indoors in Spartan conditions (at which times ambience 2/5 at best)”. When it comes to the cooking (much of it over an open fire), they “really make an attempt to be green with lots of own-grown stuff, retired dairy cows for meat etc. you can even pick a bunch of flowers to take home!”. But what is plain “magical” to some, is more nuanced to sceptics, who say: “problem is, the food’s not that good, with relatively little choice in practice and combinations that are seasonal but don’t always work”. Likewise service can be “enthusiastic but not always knowledgeable”. Still, mostly the vibes here are positive. Top Menu Tip – “They bring you a non-alcoholic fizzy wine to kick things off and it’s the best thing – not sweet but deliciously refreshing. Some good bread and a dip to kick things off, then the main event, you either pick meat or veggie; then all the sides, with veg straight from the garden all so fresh and beautifully accompanied with herbs and butters”.

2022 Review: Cass Titcombe's “small, cosy and friendly restaurant overlooking the village square” offers “just the perfect balance of everything”, say fans – whether that’s the much-foraged, Mediterranean-style food, or the fine interiors, courtesy of partner Louise. The duo also run an excellent shop, Brassica Mercantile, across the road, mixing homewares, foodie books and gourmet treats (including from Borough Market).

“The stunning building” – a school built in 1854 that looks like a church – underpins the appeal of this bar-restaurant deep in the West Country (part of the swish rural group incorporating The Woodspeen). Reports lacked the inconsistency of last year’s feedback, with stronger all-round praise for its high quality, if rather ambitiously priced, fare.

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.

“Always worth a trip”, this nautical 1930s building in a “wonderful location” right on Dorset’s famed Chesil Beach (there’s a “nice mix of outside dining options” to make the most of the setting) is a sibling to Hive Beach Café in Burton Bradstock and The Watch House in West Bay. In early 2025, they embraced a more relaxed menu and, while seafood remains the star of the show, there are now steaks and small plates on the menu. All reports rate it well.