Cross Keys Inn in East Dorset

What A Gem This Pub Is. Looking from the outside viewpoint, you can tell what's inside will not be your usual weatherspoons type local. The pub dates back hundreds of years and you can tell the charm is in the history - and almost museum like interior. This indeed is not a place where the customer should get the glory, that goes to the owners and their ability to keep this place alive without bowing to populist trends in an ever toughening economic environment. Any hearty pub enthusiasts should have this place on a list of must visit pubs. I've seen some negative comments on here, and was shocked when I actually visited and was stunned by the beauty, character and service I received. Going back to the customer gets the glory comment, I said that because I felt lucky to see, converse and appreciate what was on offer. Today I'm visiting again for evening dinner. This will be in a busier environment, so the comparisons between quiete and busier will be evident. But on a first visit basis, I expect a fantastic meal, in a place we are lucky to have. Happy Saturday!

Had my surprise 21st here, service was great and staff were really pleasant and friendly and the food was lovely, definitely recommend

Tuesday 18th July. Walked across the heath on a sunny afternoon looking forward to a cool cider. Sat in Pub garden as I write this. 16.25 and alls in darkness. Good job we both have a bottle of water to walk back with. .

Stopped going there which is a shame as has potential to be a nice pub. Drinks had stuff floating in it from the pipes, no atmosphere, staff not welcoming, shame.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! The food was disgusting and the service even worse. The old woman who seved us had the worst halitosis and BO. She was rude and insulting and the food tasted worse than the slop they serve at motorway services. It's not even worth one green circle.

We give up! We have visited twice in the last month to eat. On Good Friday at 1.35 but they stop food at 1.30, even on Bank Holidays! On May 1st they opened for Breakfast from 5 to 8AM so we thought another chance was in order. We arrived at twenty to 8 but were told there was nothing left. There was actually plenty of sausages and a few other things and we would have been flexible. Just a sausage sandwich even, but no. We tried, we failed. I wonder what the food is like?

Lovely country pub, good beer, log fire, beautiful food (large portions) and very good value for money, attentive friendly staff, a new favourite for us!

Fantastic place, food, staff and ambience. You would find it hard to get a better rural local. We will be back.

Good pub, Good food, good draught beer, good staff. good landlady, good crack with locals. If you don't get the message, its good.

About 15 others and myself stopped here for lunch during one of our local rural Vintage Tractor runs. We were given a great allocated area to park the Tractors. Food and Drink orders were taken quickly and efficiently. As always, the food was excellent. I had to order Viv's Steak and Kidney pie with Chips, Peas and Gravy. As always it did not disappoint. All of us had a great lunch and decided a repeat visit was needed on a future run.

We visited this pub some years ago and were delighted with the generous portions of pie and the happy atmosphere of a country pub. Unfortunately our latest visit was a disappointment, although the place is immaculately clean and has beautiful grounds there were no other customers than us. This could in part be explained by the landlady’s attitude. She refused a taster of the bitter on the grounds that it cut down on her profits, but was happy to serve my pint with a good one inch head of froth. And it was warm. The pie came in large and smaller portions. I’m glad I didn’t choose the smaller one as the large one was particularly mean. My memory was of a generous wedge of a delicious steak and ale pie. What a pity current economic climate has caused such a decline in attitude. We will not be returning.

Friendly, welcoming service and excellent home-cooked pub food. The Steak & Kidney Pie needs a special mention!

Perfect place Perfect log fire Fortunately my friend agreed to share (home made pie and vegetables) and (curry jacket potato and salad) because I was unable to chose between the two. Both perfect, I had some draught cloudy cider which tasted delicious.

Post-covid the general standard of pub service and quality seems to have taken a nose-dive around the area, especially in the new forest area where we usually go cycling. After going a bit further afield, we found the Cross Keys for a few beers and were pleasantly surprised. Nice big tidy garden, decent beer, polite and happy staff and a really traditional pub vibe inside. Totally different to the sniffy attitude from Royal Oak / Foresters / etc. Next time there's a bright winter's day, I'll be back with the family.

Me and my friend rocked up on our horses for a drink and some chips and they were more than happy for us to go round the back on the grass with our horses and then also bring the chips out to us. Was a lovely little pit stop on our hack :-)

Called to request information. Such an incredibly rude response from a woman (not lady) that answered. Terrible way to treat a prospective customer. Should not be operating with such an attitude.

visited this lovely pub several weekends ago good food-nice beer garden, lovely staff, well priced but the landlady is foul. incredibly rude it was a warm Friday evening and the pub was deserted (it should have been heaving) i can only imagine it is because of the dreadful landlady-no idea how to talk to people- i wont be hurrying back

Popped in here one evening to meet up with friends before going on to an event. Landlady friendly, good range of ales and drinks. British style pub grub reasonably prices and well cooked. Close to Nature Reserve and New Forest. Covid arrangement adhered to. Will...

Ordered a sandwich, chips and sausages for my dog. Lovely garden area and friendly and helpful staff, will definitely go back

Took the family out for an evening meal on the bank holiday Monday. The meal was very good, we had starters and main courses. The menu was a reduced menu because of Covid19 but we all found something on the menu. Service was great, efficient...

Went it for a quick late one at 9.45, door was locked and staff laughing and drinking inside. Rude lady "we're shut that's why the doors locked", so having never been to the pub, I assumed as there people inside I was using the wrong...

Hardly got inside the door and the rude landlady made us feel very uncomfortable. Instead of politely telling us that dogs were not allowed in the pub the landlady and her sidekick grunted at us and said "no dogs are allowed in here", Shan't be...

No welcome in this pub other than "No dogs in here", along with a list of don'ts on the front door. Strange approach if you want a successful business, unsurprisingly the place was empty. Will not be returning.

Such a rude landlady, before I could ask if dogs were allowed I was told in not a pleasant way that dogs were not allowed in the bar. No sign outside, plenty of other signs telling you what you can't do. Gasping for a drink...

Quaint, Olde Worlde pub, clean and comfortable with good selection of beers, wines and spirits (probably more than most other pubs): also varied menu offering good food at reasonable prices. Helpful and obliging service providing a pleasant dining experience. Definitely worth a visit. Large car...

No felt so unwelcome in a pub. Landlady acted as if it was a pain is coming in. No smiles, no manners just plain rudeness especially how she spoke to my daughter. Wouldn’t even allow my wife to use a plug to charge her phone...

Friendly authentic country pub with well kept beers as warm welcome and a very cosy feel. Will be back after our first visit

For our lunch we tried the well known steak & kidney pie chips and peas. We were not disappointed, it was hot and very tasty. Must call again when next in the area.

This pub I passed on my way home in the countryside in a diverted traffic scenario. It looked lovely. Food was lovely and the staff were great. Love this place.

Finally managed to get here for dinner, lovely pub, Viv was a great host, food great, Pie you need to try, can’t wait to try the Roast 😁

I reckon 50pc of a pub’s charm is its staff and the other the location. The Cross Keys has both. The landlady Viv has been at this pub for thirty years and more is welcoming and friendly. A group of nine of us enjoyed standard...

Visited a couple of times for an evening meal. A quiet cosy country pub, pleasant surroundings and a warm welcome. A good selection on the menue, food was served very promptly, piping hot, good porions, and tasted great. Recomended.

The venue chosen, very wisely I might add, was this one. The lady owner and host greeted us warmly as ever and the resulting Three Course Lunch was excellent. Well cooked by any standard, served hot, on hot plates (very necessary) and with extra vegetables supplied if wanted. A meal for hungry men!

We arrived at about 13:50 to be told there was no hot food and the kitchen was shortly closing. Ordering and paying for sandwiches was efficient enough and the food came within a few minutes

The pub was very quiet but that was a surprise because the food was excellent and very good value. It had a very large sunny beer garden and a tasty cider I hadn't tried before.

Nice quiet pub with good food, ale and friendly staff. Been here several times and always leave having enjoyed the visit.

The home-made steak and kidney pie lived up to the recommendations of other diners, landlady Viv and cook Sue were pleasant and helpful. and we would be prepared to return on a future occasion.

Great walk in the snow to a lovely warm welcome in all respects Viv is a great landlady and her steak and kidney pie is to die for. Well worth the 30 min walk in the snow

Having movedinto the area ,I was looking for a local pub without all the "added attrations" that seem to go with corporate themed hostelries.On entering the pub,had a friendly greeting which one does'n't often get in a "country local". Had a delicious meal, Viv's special, and my wife enjoyed her Sausage ,egg and chips brunch. great atmosphere. Will be returning for more of the same.. PC.

This is a must visit the food is homemade and so so good a lovely little pub in a lovely location but the highlight for me was the food the pies are excellent

We couldn't have been made to feel any less welcome if they tried. We decided to stop here for lunch after spending a lovely morning at Moors Valley Country Park. The lady serving was very abrupt and unfriendly, very unhelpful with drink selection for my children we went and sat in the garden which was nice we then decided not to order any food.

Este es un pub 'real', no de plástico fantástico! Ambiente agradable y acogedor, el servicio es amigable y rápido. Hay mucho espacio para aparcar. Limpio y ordenado dentro y por fuera, y fabuloso buena comida casera. Tuvimos la torta de carne, seguido por apple black berry y pastel. El personal dijo que había elegido la moras. Vale la pena viajar.

Llamamos para pedir una copa, sorprendidos al encontrar un festival de música en la que no habíamos visto ningún publicidad localmente. Las bebidas vino en vasos de plástico. Mi "media pensión" de cerveza y vino en un vaso de plástico de 200 ml, corto de media. Lo señalamos, pero el personal no nos molestó. Mi segunda mitad estaba en una medida adecuada de cristal y sabía horrible -la primera de un nuevo barril. Era imbebible. Nos fuimos poco después y no tienen prisa en volver. No puedo ser molestado con lo tomas o lo dejas la actitud del personal.

We have seen this lovely pub but never managed to get there until today but we will be going back as the food and the beer was just lovely it's a proper pub could be our new seasonal local

Stopped off for some lunch , food was so lovely , good portion size starters an mains , left very happy and will definitely be back again soon , many thanks

Soy un habitual de este pub dirigido por Viv la casera durante 34 años ahora. Es un paso atrás en el tiempo - que es rápidamente desapareciendo. Se siente como si alguien en el salón comedor completo con chimenea. cómoda Su estilo de correr/tradicional; no móviles admiten animales, no música de fondo, sólo el sonido de una conversación tranquila. La comida es barata, casera y abundante.

Como este pub es relativamente local para mí pensamos probarlo. Por desgracia hay poco para alabar este pub para, aparte de una muy buena pinta de la ale local. El personal era grosero, casi rozando en cualquier falta completamente gastar bromas. Una pena, ya que...

En la cara de un agradable pub país buscando, pero no se dejen engañar. Bastante deteriorado y un interior mugrientas. La casera es increíblemente poco acogedora y grosero. A preguntas monosilábico grunts perfectamente razonable y aparentemente perfectamente contento con su actitud. No se admiten perros (en un pub rural y en una zona muy popular con gente! ! No hay instalaciones), para niños y servicio al cliente. Si pudiera el premio cero resultado. Evitar.

Después de un paseo, 14 de nosotros tuvimos una buena comida aquí. . . . . Servicio fue muy rápido con comida de pub abundante tradición justo lo que necesitaba

We went for a meal here whilst on holiday in the area and really enjoyed our experience. Three of our party went for viv's legendary steak and kidney pie which we'd heard about off other Tripadvisor reviews and we were disappointed, absolutely gorgeous! We also thought the interior was lovely. We shall be returning on our next visit to the area.

We have just eaten Viv's special steak pie at the Cross Keys, Mannington, served with chips and peas. Nothing like the modern 'air pie' made in a bowl with puff pastry top rising into a bubble. This was the real thing, shortcrust pastry and cut from a large pie, washed down with Ringwood Razor Edge. A roaring wood fire kept us warm. If you like traditional country pubs, this is for you.

After a long walk it would have been nice to have a pleasant welcome but I and my friends were chastised on a number of counts.The chef was very cheery which made up for it and the food was good pub food

Superb small wayside pub. Home cooking at its best. A little trip back to what a country pub used to be. Lovely food, good local beer and a friendly welcome. Dont expect crowds, just a wonderful " just like mum used to make" meal. Vivs special pie was awesome and the sticky toffee pud was to die for.Give yourself a treat and enjoy the food and hospitality of this lovely pub.

We had a marvellous time on Sunday afternoon visiting this pub. Beforehand, we had a nice walk over the nearby Holt Heath, which has some amazing scenic rural views over Dorset, and we then came across this pub after our walk, and asked if they were still serving food, which they replied "Yes" in a very friendly warming manner. I ordered the ploughman's, my husband the flagship steak and kindney pie, which was absolutely delicious and served very quickly, which was a bonus. My husband commented afterwards and said it was the best steak and kidney pie he had ever had, and we discussed definitely coming back here in the future. The drinks were of a unique niche range, with myself having an unusual fire dancer cider, which was gorgeous, having a splendid strong taste. It was overall a Fabulous experience, and really recommend it for somewhere to visit on a summer Sunday afternoon.

Great toasted sandwiches, good prices and nice to see real ale. A friendly welcome would have been nice, but as so often these days it is not common. A shame . We won't be visiting again in a hurry.

We ordered 2 hot meals today from the bar & being a fine sunny day sought a shady table outside to eat. Only 2 tables had any sun shades, the one in the garden had a group of customers , a party of 6 of us occupied the other at the front awaiting our order. After 15 mins. the landlady appeared with our meals saying that they were now cold because she was unaware that we had been sitting at the 'smokers' table by the front door. Other members of our party had similar offhand comments made about their choice of seating arrangements which only confirmed what poor level of customer service is being offered.We shall of course never use this bub again for our walks on the nearby heath.

I took my daughter, partner and her son to this pub and the place was very unfriendly. When asking the barmaid if they had a high chair for the toddler - she was answered with a resounding "NO""This place was here long before children were allowed in pubs."....My daughter then asked if there was somewhere where the toddler could be changed and they just said NO...- sorry would have been nice...Why then are there children's facilities eg climbing frames and swings (covered in bird extrement) in the garden where we had our meal. The food was slammed down on the garden table and it was microwaved (so called legendary steak and kidney pie) small portion and dry... chips were greasy and fatty. Rubbish..To be quite honest we couldn't wait to leave the place - it was a dreadful experience. Think someone said that it may not be there for long... best thing for it...Avoid!!!

first time we'd visited, food was average but owners didn't put themselves out at all to be friendly. Felt a bit cold.

My husband and I came across this pub by accident Sunday, we asked if they were still serving food and yes they were happy to take our order. I had a jacket spud and homemade beef curry, absolutely gorgeous and a nice amount, my husband had scampi and chips, again a fantastic amount and he loved it! Lovely range of ciders, some I've never heard of, fab atmosphere, lovely staff, enjoyed a bit of a laugh with some of the locals, will go again ASAP.

This is what a rural pub is supposed to be. It is owned and run by a lovely lady and not a chain. It steers clear of the modernities of chrome and pop music and sticks to its 16th century roots. You will find low ceilings, old wood beams, a lovely inglenook fireplace and lots of brass.It is a small pub that after the food service finishes becomes cosy place where the conversation becomes the pub conversation where everyone tends to end up interacting. This I find is a rarity now in England. Although their may be a local in with their muddy boots sipping away at a decent ale after a hard day in the fields, it is not one of those that doesn't like strangers. They welcome you in and greet you with a smile rather than a dirty look.One of the things we love about the place is the landlady is an avid collector of spirits and hence has one of the best stocked bars in the county. The shelves are packed full of rarities and collectable gems that you simply won't find anywhere else. It is a drinker's heaven with local ales, proper scrumpy cider, fine single malt whiskies, explosive vodkas, to the downright weird from the far east. They also do what proper pubs should do and sell locally made pork scratchings and home-made pickled eggs.If you want exquisite dining, a thumping party, trashy lager or a late night bus service then go somewhere else. If rather you want to experience some home cooked food, a good drink and experience a genuine rural pub atmosphere then this is the place to go.

Having recently moved into the area, we spotted this lovely looking pub, so we visited on Saturday 5th July at 14:10, and it was closed? Even a phone call prompted no response? No opening hours sign anywhere to be seen, most disappointed so we went on to the Three Legged Cross! May be worth displaying your opening times? Also get yourselves a website!John & Jill (Ex Publicans)

Probably one of the smallest pubs tucked away in the East Dorset countryside. Excellent home made food including their renowned steak and kidney pies.

A lovely landlady who accomodated the Hashers well. Good Beer and Food. A must visit for May day when the Morris dancers celebrate around a May Pole and good full English is on the menu at daybreak.

Great food for a very reasonable price. You might just drive by as the pub generally looks quiet, but it really is worth a visit. They have a nice beer garden and the staff and friendly.

The Cross Keys Inn is situated between Wimborne and Tricketts Cross just after Holt Heath. This formerly lovely heath has recently unfortunately been urbanized by townies with myriad traffic signs. The Inn itself is tiny but has its own unique atmosphere as a result. The food is home made, good quality and very reasonable. We just wanted a snack - from amongst an extensive range - and the delicious back bacon rolls were only £3 each. We sat in the garden on a sunny lunchtime wondering why we hadn't popped in before. One tip is that the Cross Keys is famous for its May Day celebrations which commence at sunrise.