Sturminster Newton Restaurant Guide

“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 “small restaurant in Sherborne, owned by an Australian couple”, and where the “good” and “unusual” food pays testament to chef Paul Merrony’s Gallic training with the likes of Albert Roux at Le Gavroche; there’s an “interesting list of well-chosen wines at reasonable prices to match the excellent food”.

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”.

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”.

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.

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.

“In a beautiful setting in the Wiltshire countryside”, Darren Brown’s “most wonderful” venture occupies an eighteenth-century walled garden and “makes full use of the produce grown” there in its “wholesome, creative fare”. “The fire pit conjures smoke, fire and primal appetites” which are ably slaked by the “superb” meats and “imaginatively done” vegetables – limited mostly to lunch, plus the odd Equinox-themed dinner. In summer they also run the ‘Slow Food Kitchen’ from Thursday to Sunday, while you can overnight year-round in their Shepherd’s Hut.

“A treat after viewing the interesting gardens” – this ‘Country House Reimagined’ is a handsome, limestone Georgian pile in lovely Somerset countryside and is the brainchild of billionaire Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos’s (ex-editor of Elle Decoration). Where eating is concerned, the main event is a “gorgeous” panelled traditional chamber (for more inexpensive meals, head for The Garden Café – “a beautifully designed glass box” overlooking the kitchen garden and orchards – ). “Good local produce, much from the grounds just outside” is presented alongside meat from heritage breeds on a three-course menu for £85 per person. One or two reports suggest “it’s good but doesn’t quite hit the heights it’s aiming for” but on most accounts it’s merely a “fantastic” experience – “love the range of Newt ciders” too.

This “superb country pub with fabulous food” on the Fonthill Estate dates from 1740 and boasts a “country-house ambience and upper-crust service” that make it “popular with the local gentry” (and very well commented-on in our annual diners’ poll by the standards of venues in the area). An ivy-clad facade and “roaring log fires” are complemented by a smartly modernised interior, while “seasonal menus mix traditional country fayre and touches of the more exotic” – so there’s “truly something for everyone”.

This “excellent part of the Hauser & Wirth Somerset gallery, garden and cultural centre” was founded 10 years ago, as the opening gambit in the Swiss art dealership’s Artfarm hospitality wing, which now has venues from Scotland to Los Angeles, including The Groucho Club in London. Named after Dieter Roth, one of their stable of artists, it’s a “very attractive location”, with “efficient service, a generally laid-back, happy ambience and good, generous cooking”, using home-produced Durslade Farm ingredients.

This stunning converted chapel (with rooms, artisan bakery and wine shop) was long in the hands of Catherine Butler, but in summer 2022 slotted into the Stay Original Company’s roster of SW boutique hotels and pubs. “For a small town Bruton has plenty of places to enjoy good food” – and, albeit “less fancy than the others”, this remains a safe choice for “straightforward, well-cooked fare” (including “a lovely lunch after a walk round the wonderful Newt” country estate).

“Worth the trip to the pretty, hip rural Somerset village of Bruton for an occasion” – Merlin Labron-Johnson’s “incredible” venue enjoys a massive following out of all proportions to its tiny size; and is one of the most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll this year. There’s no menu at this “very farm-to-table oriented place” – for £120 per person (with a cheaper, cut-down lunch alternative) you put yourself in his hands and the “expertly prepared” results are “exquisite… bursting with flavour”. “Service is light but gracious and the atmosphere, in the small but beautifully decorated room, is lovely if lacking a bit of life…” but all that’s about to change since, in autumn 2023 he successfully completed an oversubscribed £125,000 kickstarter campaign to create ‘Osip 2.0’ in a new space. Details to follow.

The Red Carnation group’s “very comfortable and traditional country house hotel is set in a time warp”, in prime Hardy Country (Evershot having been fictionalised as Evershead by the novelist, who also designed part of the hotel when he was an architect). The “very accomplished food” (“but at a high price!”) has some “nice touches”, with “desserts especially good”.

2023 Review: This “quaint pub in the tiny village of Evershot” – immortalised as the ‘Sow and Acorn’ in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ – offers “beautifully presented, consistently good and interesting” food from Kenyan-born chef Robert Ndungu. It is the more informal sibling of Summer Lodge on the other side of the village, from the Red Carnation hotel group.

This “lovely old pub” with rooms – a thatched survivor from the 14th century – wins solid ratings for its “friendly service”, “great atmosphere and interesting food”, which ranges from standard pub burgers to Turkish eggs and Goan pork vindaloo. Owner Ben Maschler, son of restaurant critic Fay, ran Soho House’s food operations before heading to rural Dorset.

A “beautifully renovated building” – originally an 1860s school, with impressive vaulted ceilings and now a mezzanine bar – plays host to this exceptional outfit on the Dorset/Somerset border. Chef Luke Sutton (ex-the acclaimed L’Ortolan, in Berkshire) oversees the “varied” and “very interesting” British menu, which remains of note for its particularly “good-value” set menu.

2023 Review: “It looks and sounds like a pub”, but this “lively and friendly” old inn opposite Sherborne Abbey “is actually an Italian restaurant providing small plates by the score”. The menu includes a “stupendous choice” (including pizzette and pasta) “using local and Italian ingredients” and it’s very easy to assemble an interesting and varied meal with “dishes to suit all tastes”. “The main difficulty is limiting yourself as there’s so much to tempt!". Top Tip – Rapido lunch for two at £14 per person, served weekdays.