Dolce Vita in Poole

The food was really good, very tasty, however the service was really poor. We felt tricked into buying bottled water when tap was available. Got given the wrong dish twice which felt like a hassle to fix and made the table feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately I feel like if we had a different waiter my review would have been different. Also the seasonal vegetables were just some cooked pepper and mushroom.

The food is amazing, very tasty, unfortunately the service was very poor. We felt tricked into bottled water when there was tap available, even the waiter called our water tap water, but only till we had another bottle and double checked we found out. Two dishes were incorrect and instead of correcting it without hassle, we were made to feel very uncomfortable, like we were at fault... until another waiter came to fix the issue. The seasoned veg side was very poor as it was just some mushrooms and pepper, I was hoping for some greens. Anyways, if there was a different waiter, maybe my review would have been different.

Poor value , unfriendly bar staff

Fail to honour booking, a night out planned with friends three months ago was frustratingly disappointing due to the restaurant refusing to honour the booking made. We had conformation emails for the booking, but the staff were rude & refused to help us & find a table. It wasn’t even busy!

We had booked a table for a party of eight several weeks in advance, anticipating a great evening. However, upon our arrival, we were told that our reservation could not be found. The staff explained that they use a third-party app to handle bookings, but this clearly didn’t work as expected. We were left waiting for quite some time while they tried to sort things out, which really put a damper on the evening. It's incredibly frustrating to go through the effort of planning, only for the restaurant to drop the ball due to a faulty reservation system. If you’re considering this place for a special occasion, I’d suggest looking elsewhere unless they get their reservation system sorted out. It's a shame, as the restaurant had good reviews, but our experience was far from positive.

We go here quite a lot for special occasions. The service is always friendly, and the food is delicious. Highly recommended, but not a cheap option. It is fair for the quality you are getting, and home cooked. The Tapas portions cost less, but you get less. The chips, risotto, and prawns are really good. The bar often has live music next door the restaurant, which is great fun for the teens of the party! The cocktails are well mixed, and the Creme Brule was perfect.

Unfortunately our reservation was not honored. This is our second time trying to get in, and both times we have been sent away because the restaurant decided to close early without giving us a call or email or in any other form letting us know we wouldn’t be seated once we arrived at our booked time. It’s a shame, because part of me wants to try again to get in, but the other part of me has a hard time supporting a business that operates with such a disrespect to their customers.

Ate here on a Sunday evening, often a problem to find somewhere decent open on Sunday. Delicious arancini to start, followed by seafood ravioli, with generous crab, prawns and scallops, in a delicious tomato sauce, had tapas portion, more than enough. My husband had meatballs, then beef fillet stroganoff, well presented, again tapas portion. I finished with the best zabione I’ve had in years, whipped by hand as it should be. No.cream added as so often happens, the chef brought it to the table, more than enough for some for my husband to taste. His tiramisu was equally delicious, again made from scratch. Lovely ambience to the restaurant, with good service. We will be back.

A lovely Italian place. It’s the first time we’ve been here and honestly we’ll be coming back. Food and drinks were delicious.

Brilliant service! The tomato sauce is out of this world! Every ingredient they use is authentic and just tastes different. Amazing tiramisu as well

We have a such lovely dinner in dolcevita. Food looks great, test was very good, service was super. Great atmosphere, one bad thing a couple next to us was really rude with young lady server.overall you can't make a deal with stupid peoples. Many thanks dolcevita see you soon next holiday.

Lovely place and really nice staff... Best lasagne Bolognese with I have for all my life 👌👌👌

Our 1st visit in yrs. Very impressed. Excellent food, good wine and beers. Bit noisy, hence 4 🌟 's. After all, it was a Friday Evening 🌃. Deffo return.

We went here for a family meal. Lovely food and the staff are really so nice. Only complaint is some things are a bit slow appearing truly though every person made the visit pleasant the food had great flavour and healthy portions. Drinks were varied and something for everyone. Do think if your going for pizza they were worth a look. Loved the atmosphere, bit busy which is maybe why a few things took time but for taste and welcoming could not complain. Great night and great food definitely would go again. Thanks so much.

Excellent meal again at the Dolce Vita, great service with a smile and a laugh. Highly recommend this place. As a bonus two for one happy hour also from 4 to 7

We found the restaurant by searching on Google Maps, and what a delightful discovery it turned out to be! The food was amazing. Every single dish we ordered was a masterpiece. The quality of the food far exceeded our expectations.

Really tasty Italian food Highly recommended!

Outstanding meal . Best ever Carbonara as always

All the food is delicious and homemade. We love going to this restaurant as the staff are very friendly and welcoming. Nick is lovely and chatty. The food is very tasty

We've been refused service. The restaurant is open, has guests in, plenty of open tables, the website says it's open for another 5.5h. Walked in, asked if we could have a table and the answer we got was "no" followed by silence and no further explanation. When asked, finally told the kitchen is closed, no details, no attempt at being polite. Made us feel very uncomfortable and awkward.

I had wanted to go here for a while, and wow this did not disappoint! The food here is absolutely outstanding, and the people are lovely. This is definitely a firm favourite now,I would 💯 recommend

Valentines dinner 14th Feb 2024 The starters (Calamari and Shrimp) were delicious as was the two pasta main courses and the Pinot Grigio. However, the pizzas were very poor in terms of taste and texture. the and the dough was very soft despite asking once to cook it longer. The ability to have two tapas main potions is a fabulous idea

Food was amazing staff were very welcoming pizza was divine we will be back again soon xx

Good food, great service and atmosphere!

We had a most fabulous evening; the service and the food was,as always, amazing and made extra special with the nights entertainment.-'The Vegas Sound'. Many thanks to all at Dolce Vita!

Brilliant food. Excellent service. Thank you for a great evening.

Popped in for a bit of late lunch and was blown away with the menu. I opted for the crazy Alfredo it was divine. Food is very reasonably priced. Will be back again.

Delicious traditional homemade Italian food, amazing choice of dishes and friendly service. Thank you for a wonderful meal

The atmosphere was wonderful & the service good. However, the Lasagne my friend & myself ordered, had barely any meat in. It was pasta with a tasty sauce but absolutely meatless. I did mention to the waiter our disappointment but it was disregarded. Such a disappointment so will never go there again. Beryl Collins

£60 for two meal’s apparently specials, value for money non existent three piece’s of ravioli I mean come on! The smallest piece of fillet steak I’d ever seen. Portions were shocking, more like child portions don’t go here if in Ashley Cross, overly priced food small portions.

Nice restaurant in the heart of Ashley Cross. Large bar area, tastefully decorated, lots of staff, part outdoor seating at the front, large accommodating restaurant, nice food. Pay as you go for drinks.

A wonderful meal with my daughter's for my daughter Emily's birthday. Staff were excellent. X

Great food amazing service thank you guys for a lovely evening meal.

Sehr gutes italienisches Essen, nettes Restaurant und Personal.

The food was absolutely delicious, would highly recommend the Linguine Crazy Alfredo, which I loved enough that I tried to recreate it at home! The service was pretty decent, with a friendly family-run vibe, and the atmosphere was lively and bustling. Will definitely come again.

Dined at this lovely restaurant for the first time. Staff were super friendly and food was absolutely delicious, will be visiting again.

Great service and suggestions with option fir vegetarians.

Lovely food, friendly staff. Recommended.

Visited with family, Fantastic place lovely food, great service All staff were fantastic, highly recommend the crazy Alfredo, relaxing atmosphere

Fantastic service - so attentive and polite, we couldn’t have asked for better care. The food and wine was incredible - I will be craving their Alfredo for the rest of my life. Thank you for a wonderful evening - party of 7, friday evening.

Really nice pizza and arancini with a lovely sauce. Great service. Fantastic to see guys who still appreciate your custom and deliver such a warm welcome and hospitality. Thanks to both the bar manager and the restaurant manager, apologies for not getting your names to add to this..

Baby sized portions; adult pricing.

One of our favourite restaurants in Ashley Cross. Excellent Italian fare

Good food and service. Only down side is that the Drift bar can be a little noisy.

Great food best pata I've had in a long time Staff very attentive and friendly atmosphere

Great food and services! I can highly recommend their current lunch special deal😀 Thank you and I will definitely be coming back 😀

Good food but need more staff to be aroud public when dineing

Excellent quality and nice customer service. We ordered pasta with salmon sauce and chicken salad. It was delicious! Also we had calamari and prawns as starters and they were delicious! The best quality in the town! We had a coffee after lunch and really nice presentation. We will definitely come back!

The booking was made last minute but they had space to accommodate us. The welcome was really warm and friendly. We had a bottle of wine which put the price per person up considerably but Mummy deserved the wine. The food was tasty and homely with the love for flavour and seasoning noticeable. We all enjoyed the food and the experience. Thank you to all the staff for making our evening meal so enjoyable.

It's was lovely my and gorgeous girlfriend had a lovely meal I would recommend it highly it was really nice couldn't thought anything

Omg if you haven’t tried this restaurant you are missing out. Food is amazing. Service is so good. So pls try.

Nice atmosphere at lunchtime . Just had drinks

Fantastic service and food - even when they're busy, the wait staff are attentive and helpful. Highly recommended.

Rude and aggressive Manager. Avoid at all costs unless you like being spoken to with distain. They don't deserve your money. Better places nearby.

Feiendly welcoming service. Car psrking was a minir issue. Shame they had run out of lassgna which is the wifes favourite. But overall a good meal.

Absolutely delicious food and lovely and kind service. The best meal out we have had in a very long time thank you

We called in for a beer, great early evening offer on bottled beers. Small bar area with a larger separate dining area. Friendly staff.

Great food, great atmosphere. Canwait to return...

Came here for a casual evening meal with a friend, food was ok (I was expecting something more authentic) - we were originally sat at a broken table and the waiter didn’t seem to care when I pointed it out to him. This place could be really good if the food was fresh, and the waiters were a bit more welcoming. I probably won’t go back, but wouldn’t discourage anyone from giving them a go… I could just be fussy!

Very good food was excellent quality and service

Friendly staff. Great with kids. They can make they own pizza and wear chef hats!

Very friendly service and food way better than the typical Italian style restaurant.

Lovely meal great atmosphere Loved it Will be back.for more 😀

Nice Italian with a lovely looking menu and great presentation. My risotto didn't really live up to the hype thou. Staff were nice but Service was a little missing and it was expensive.

Staying in the area we fancied eating out at an Italian restaurant. Reading the reviews of local establishments we chose the Dolce Vita. The entrance to the restaurant is through the adjoining bar. We were warmly welcomed and sat down promptly. We decided to have a starter and main course. I chose the mushrooms for my starter, my partner had the Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella. For our main course I had the Crazy Alfredo and she had the salmon farfalle. All courses came promptly and were piping hot. Portions were of average size. Would definitely return again if I were a local.

Staff really friendly and knowledgeable. Service really quick. Food amazing.

Good tasty food wit no fuss will go again, primitivo was 1st class

There is just no better Italian! My favourite restaurant without a doubt! Authentic, amazing food, great atmosphere and lovely accommodating staff x

Lovely food.great outdoor eating.service good.some foods not on menu but offered ie garlic bread. A wee bit expensive but worth it.and service charged added so be aware.all in all would go again.A bit more attention from waiter wouldn't go amiss.

First of all I have got food poisoning after eating here this evening! I had pasta and I am now quite ill! The food arrived 5 minutes after ordering with one order being wrong and luke warm.

Very lovely place. Pleasant staff.

Good service very tasty, thanks

A lot of people seem to love this place, so I'm not sure what happened the night we went but it was truly awful. When we got there our reservation hadn't been passed on by the person that took our booking over the phone, so we had to wait in the bar for half an hour. We are pretty chilled and this wasn't a big deal but as the evening progressed it became obvious that the restaurant was overwhelmed and had taken too many bookings and couldn't cater for customers. The menu was not the same as the menu online but was instead a handwritten, photocopied A3 sheet. No pizza, no vegetarian options for my niece who is veggie - just a few set meals like chicken and sea bass and overpriced seafood pasta. The weird thing was that people (their mates presumably) who came in after us were served before us and had pizza, even though we were told it was off the menu! Starter of garlic bread was burnt. I had the spicy pollo (chicken) main which took an hour and a half to arrive and when it did (after many waitresses coming to our table trying to give us the wrong order) it was just a massive piece of chicken with 3 small potatoes. I had to ask for extra veg. All meals took an age to arrive and were mediocre. Sea bass and pasta dishes also v small. I felt sorry for staff who were obvs overwhelmed and stressed, but no-one came to talk to us or apologise for long wait. They gave us some money off and a voucher but we still paid £18 per head for poor service and very average, overpriced food. We won't be returning I'm afraid.

Went there last night with friends food lukewarm portions disgusting same as service won’t be going back Thankyou very much and will be telling every one not to bother 🤬🤮🤮

Incredibly delicious food, much thought has been put into making it so flavourful. The pasta, pizza and steak were so good, service was good, nothing to fault!

Table service here goes above and beyond. Pizza was good, the dough was just right. The steak was cooked perfectly. I had the linguine with scallops and king prawns from the (handwritten 👌🏻) Specials Menu and the scallops were cooked just right as well. Love the general atmosphere in this cozy Italian restaurant and the quotes up on the wall!

The most fab pizza's but now called the Drift

Food here is spectacular. Has become a favourite Italian for my friends and I. Cocktails here are always banging and staff/service is always spot on. DJ usually on a Friday night so nice to finish dinner with a 'seated' dance

The 2 stars are because my husband enjoyed his wine. Where do I start.They forgot our starters, they brought our meal out to another table then took it back and 5minutes later brought it to us. I had watched them do this with other patrons. The meal was tasteless. Others had their orders mixed up. Our waiter didn't really know what he was doing and their were too many maitre D's none of whom could wear a mask correctly, they were too busy squeezing customers into tables that didn't have that recommended space between them. NEVER AGAIN

Service was excellent, selection varied, presentation good, food ok - lacked the finesse I’d hoped for.

Unimaginative menu. Not the best of protection from the weather if seated outside.

Excellent food! Keep an eye on your wine bill!!

The food and service is absolutely incredible highly recommended!

Great food and the owner is really great

It's a good option if you want to have a drink and a "substantial meal" Good for sitting outside.

Great service and lovely food. Would recommend.

I came for food and live music.

Good virus regime, good food as usual.

Had a really good evening, the staff were very nice and there was excellent customer service. The food also tasted amazing 🤗

Excellent food and Matt Black was excellent too

Visited tonight whilst staying in the local area and we really enjoyed our visit. Pasta dishes were very good and staff friendly and looked after us well. We'll worth a visit me thinks.

Absolutely beautiful visit. Friendly staff and wonderful atmosphere

One of my favourite restaurants. Love their food. Unusually this time we had to return the main course of sea bass fillet. It didn't taste fresh. Lost our appetite and just had a dessert and left. They were too busy to even deduct it from the bill. Had to remind them to correct it.

Pleasant staff but expensive drinks

Great food, very clean and staff very attentive.

Delicious food, friendly staff and good service

We had a wonderful meal here on my birthday, food was hot & so tasty.....Fab atmosphere xx

One of the best restaurant in pool!! Pizzas is just insane 🤤 I love it!!

Myself and my husband went for a meal there last night 24/8/2020 we both had fillet steak it was the best steak I have ever tasted and was cooked to perfection would highly recommend this place

Food was very cold however well presented. Not impressed at all. Was overcharged on both occasions. Monday by 50% and today by £5 ish. Just not great. The saviour was the staff were pleasant. Just felt something not quiet right there. Never again there are a lot better places to eat.