Half Moon Inn in West Dorset

The food at The Half Moon is basic pub food, but really good and well priced. The service was fast and efficient and the staff were pleasant and polite. The pub was quite quiet when we dined so the atmosphere wasn’t as buzzing as it often is but that did allow for easy conversation. All up it was a good visit and one we shall repeat. I recommend the Half Moon for price, quality and service.

Becky very helpful and Hannah cooks a great steak pie!

We have been here before and the food and service is always perfect

We knew we were booking a room above a pub to break up a long drive from Sussex to Cornwall, but it felt like we were staying at a house party. The other guests were loud, there are no soft close doors, the double glazing isn’t effective. We were hoping that once the pub had shut we (and our 5 year old) would get some sleep but we even considered leaving- this is down to the doors and the other guests though. The people above us were noisy, I could hear the guy in room 10 yawning and their TV (to give you an idea of how much you can hear). What was a real shame, and completely manageable by the hotel group was the fact that the room wasn’t clean. There were hairs in the bathroom including the remnants of someone’s shave around the sink- the carpet had bits all over it that a hoover would have easily worked wonders on, and we wouldn’t use the cups as they weren’t clean (brown marks, not generally wear and tear tea/coffee stain). I don’t like leaving negative reviews, but this isn’t the place to stay unless you are a very deep sleeper who isn’t phased by other people’s body hairs and unwashed cups etc. I’m not fussy about much but we didn’t even want our 5 year old rolling around on the floor.

Tables are all dirty and. Sticky

Amazing bar staff, craig especially makes the bar light up and brightens up the atmosphere

Came with friends and little ones. The food was amazing from Hannah and Steve and our server John was brilliant and attentive. He was so kind to our kids. Will definitely return (but please get more than 2 highchairs) Thanks

Friendlyish atmosphere lots of little groups mostly locals I believe, it was clean apart from sticky tables, acceptable cooked breakfast 😋 the room was a little tired but clean and ample sized bathroom the bed was extremely comfortable, I would revisit again.

Excellent food and service from Tracey was excellent.. everyone enjoyed there food..

A Memorable Day at Pack Monday in Sherborne On Monday, 14th October 2024, my family and friends and I had the pleasure of attending Pack Monday in the picturesque town of Sherborne, Dorset. This annual event, steeped in tradition and local culture, offered us a delightful mix of historical charm and vibrant community spirit. Our stay at the “Half Moon Inn” added to the magic. The inn, with its historical charm and comfortable ambiance, was the perfect retreat after a day of exploration. The hospitality was fantastic, with friendly staff who made us feel right at home. Special thanks to Craig and Zophia, whose exceptional service and warm personalities stood out, making our stay even more memorable. The bedroom was cozy and well-appointed, ensuring a restful night. A significant highlight of our visit was the massive Pack Monday Market. The market stalls lined the streets from Sherborne train station, up Cheap Street, and extended through all the side roads. Vendors offered an array of goods, from local produce and handmade crafts to delicious street food and unique antiques. The vibrant market was a bustling hub of activity, reflecting the festive spirit of Pack Monday and providing something for everyone to enjoy. The annual Pack Monday event itself was a vibrant mix of tradition and festivity. From local crafts and foods to live music and entertainment, the day was filled with joyful moments and new experiences. Sherborne’s Pack Monday is more than just an event; it's a celebration of community, tradition, and the simple pleasures of life in a beautiful setting. We can't wait to return to Sherborne and relive the wonderful experiences we had at Pack Monday. The town, its people, and its rich heritage have left an indelible mark on our hearts. The “Half Moon Inn” will undoubtedly be our top choice for accommodation on our next adventure. Mr Colin O’Reilly Ramsgate Kent

We had a great time, our server was great too! I took my 4 children who thoroughly enjoyed the food and atmosphere 😊

Following on from my review regarding the parking fine. I can now say that the parking fine has been refunded, thanks to Katie for her assistance.

Great pub, good food, all staff are friendly, Katie the manager has a lovely attitude and Jan the barman always helpful and smiling.

The people at the bar and people serving our food were lovely people and we're very polite and our group had an allergy and it was dealt with really well and overall a good evening

Come here all the time - staff is lovely especially Tracey:)

The lovely Tracy served me today ( 11/09/23 ). A more warmer, friendlier welcome, would be impossible to find. 10 Stars. Went for lunch with my daughter (11/10/24). The food was great. Also served, once more, by the very warm and friendly Tracy. Cheers.

On arrival I was greeted by a very friendly face I believe his name was called Jan. Was very polite and assisted me with helping me choose a nice wine I wanted and even asked if I was interested in food with me and my friends were very impressed with this and food was delicious very impressed

Great service from Ollie!! He’s doing an amazing job covering and managing. Would definitely recommend come here, great food and atmosphere.

After a busy day we popped in for our evening meal the food was great and yan looked after us very well

After failing to turn the oven on to cook our lasagne at home and in a rush to get children to sports clubs we popped into the half moon for dinner. The pizza was amazing, and a hit with the children. Tracey and Jan on the bar were great, really interactive with the children which is always a bonus.

Jan provided great service and Mark supplied some tasty snacks for the pub quiz!

Popped in for a quick lunch very nice and the bar team were excellent.

Amazing service from Ollie, food was amazing i would definitely recommend coming here

It was a wonderful experience eating at the Half Moon. Ollie who is covering from another site was outstanding and a credit to the company, no request was too much for him. Would recommend coming here again.

Friendly service and great value for money. Gluten free menu very impressive (although could do with the prices on it)!

My wife and I are regular hotel guests. We considered The Half Moon in Sherborne at £120 per night very poor value. Room cheaply and minimally furnished with the bathroom poorly maintained and in dire need of refurbishment. Bar and eating area very down-beat. In fact the whole downstairs area was so uninviting that we ate and drank elsewhere for all meals during or stay. The menu was also very uninspiring When we arrived there was nobody on reception and no other staff able to check us in. We then went to the bar to wait and were informed that the pub had run out of cask beer.

The bar staff were absolutely lovely but the chef was very poor. Even the bar staff wasn't very happy with him as he got my order wrong. That had a allergy issue even though I've reported it to the bar and on the plate. It even had the allergy sticker on but they still left cheese on the item. Plus they got my original order completely wrong and the service for food was extremely slow

Busy, friendly pub serving good value food.

Excellent place to eat . Food is amazing and at a very reasonable price. Staff very friendly and polite, nothing is to much trouble.

good food nice and quick service, the tables need work other than that its worth popping in for a quick bite to eat

Excellent atmosphere and great beer selection 👍

Brad and Katie were on shift, nicest people to walk planet earth. Would recommend to everyone i ever meet

Brad and Katie were on shift, lovely service, food was incredible and the atmosphere was lively. Overall, a brilliant experience, would definitely recommend to a friend and will be back soon!

Very friendly. Good service. Excellent food. Good price.

Gammon was on point and friendly service 10 out of 10

brad and katie on shift, so welcoming and enthusiastic for their job and customers. Will be coming back here.

I came in for lunch with Bradley and we both had curry’s and it was delicious the cook Hannah is amazing food was great will definitely be coming more often.

Today we came into the pub for lunch and both had a curry it was amazing so well done Hannah in the kitchen

Stayed but did not eat (on basis of previous experience). Room was clean but basic. Hot water fixed since last stay but not bathroom door or fan. The Half Moon is OK for basic accommodation when demand is low, but not when they ramp the prices up.

I ordered Gammon Steak but this was not available, so. Hose Lasagne as an alternative. After a couple of mouthfuls I found I was chewing on a large piece of clear plastic. Possibly part it the packaging. On complaining I was given another lasagne. This one was Ok. Very disappointed.

Really enjoyed our visit. Everything was really good and we are looking to return in the future

Greg who does the quiz every Wednesday is the best quiz master and makes it a very enjoyable night every week!!! 🦖🏎️🧛‍♂️🐸🦎🍗

Amazing team of friendly people here. Come for the quiz on Wednesdays, always come back for Greg. Lovely hearty food for a good price.

Had a great night, the staff are so friendly, lovely atmosphere, food was perfect!

Wednesday night quiz at Half Moon hosted by legendary quizmaster Greg is not to be missed. £1 per player to enter (teams of up to 6) and an optional £1 Chase the Ace makes opportunities to win cash!!! Great crowd, great drinks, great fun.

We come every week for the pub quiz on Wednesday - lovely atmosphere and nice food!

We come every week, fantastic service and atmosphere each time

Great night out at the quiz, quiz master is top notch and always funny! Would highly recommend

We recently went to quiz night. We had food and drinks before. The food was quick and excellent quality. After, we played the quiz. Greg (the quiz master) was excellent and made the night fun!

Five stars for Greg's quiz night on a Wednesday

Stopped off on my drive home and so glad I did! What a wonderful experience the whole team was lovely:) Nothing was too much for them! Couldn’t recommend the pub enough! What an amazing place😁 Well done!

Food was amazing had Craig for drinks and food it was amazing service recommend to come and visit

Stopped off on my drive home and so glad I did! What a wonderful experience the whole team was lovely:) Nothing was too much for them! Couldn’t recommend the pub enough! What an amazing place😁 Well done!

Amazing staff went above and beyond for my wife’s allergies. Can’t thank them enough. Pleasure to spend money.

Stopped by on a drive with friends.... we couldn't have picked a better spot. The staff were super friendly and accommodating. My friend has an allergy and normally it's always a hassle wherever we go. The team here handled it so well and really made us feel comfortable. The place had a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to be in great spirits. Would definitely recommend!

This review is based solely on the most recent visit, ordinarily we have had a great experience. 2 weeks ago we visited on a Sunday for a family birthday meal. I knew it would be busy as the weather was nice, the market was in town and the football was on. We ordered our meals at the bar and waited, and waited and waited and waited some more, we finally received our food after an hour and 10 minutes, to be honest the waiting staff admitted that they only had 1 chef so she was completely snowed under. They didn't offer any money off the bill and no real apology was offered. Disappointed by the visit but we will come back.

Great service from Brad behind the bar

Shocking! We made a last minute booking for 8pm table online. We turned up to be told they probably couldn’t seat us as it was a ‘last minute booking’ (don’t accept them then!). Food was taking at least an hour and kitchens close at 9pm so they couldn’t help us. The man assisting us was down right rude, had no customer service experience and had a ‘can’t do’ attitude. Not great in the hospitality industry. Whilst we were trying to explain we actually had a booking, another customer came over and said to him that they had their food but we’re still waiting for knives. We went away and said they didn’t have any knives and he couldn’t help them!! While he was gone, the lady told us they wait 1.5hrs for food and the service was dreadful and if she was us, she would go somewhere else. So we went.

Lovely team!! Never fail to put a smile on are faces. Food was lush!! Very hot but got a headsup! A bit of hair on my fork but overall I would recommend 👌 great if your going for a drink or kids as has a kids menu and kids sort of area . Please come!!!!!

Amazing food cooked to perfection. Mark in the kitchen done an excellent job with allergies

Tuna melt had no butter the cheese was cold the roll barely cooked. hamburger Burnt on both sides and around the edges.. would have sent it back but time was of the essence and they were a long time serving.its a shame the roast dinner we had a few weeks ago was nice

Louie was a spectacular host!! What a man he is!!!

Young man called louie served me and my lovely wife earlier, lovely young lad 10/10 servuce

Bradley behind the bar is just amazing so helpful and so incredible i would totally recommend this pub to my friends in the future and i will be returning thank you Bradley

The bar tender (louie) when I’ve visited is always great and makes me feel welcome 👍

We regularly have meals at the half moon and find Louie especially helpful and friendly

Had an amazing time here the other night food was well above the standard I expected and Louie Elford the staff member I spoke to was very charming and professional. Would definitely come here again!

Nice atmosphere and clean tables. Great service from Louie behind the bar.

Really pleased with the value and quality of our meal. Excellent service, Louie went above and beyond when we had a slight mix up with our order.

brad behind the bar was super nice, had a great experience

We had an amazing time at the moon and Louie was very helpful and very speedy

Bradley is incredible he’s awesome deco recomment

i came here for a meal and i was very impressed by the service at the bar by brad

The guy called Louie at the bar is great, very charismatic very friendly very nice guy to talk to

Went out for some drinks and was impressed by brads service at the bar

Appalling service when we entered. Had booked online and specified that we had dogs and when we arrived we were told that they’d couldn’t find out booking. When he spoke to his manager, he said in fact they had found our booking but it was too last minute for them to accommodation even though it had been an hour and they hadn’t bothered to call or email us to let us know. The server was very rude and even told another customer who asked for a fork that they didn’t have any left. That same customer mentioned that the service had been awful, very slow and poor food with half of it missing. She recommended two other establishments, the Britannia and the plume of feathers. We ended up at the plume of feathers and they were able to fit us in, with the dogs, last minute and were very lovely and accomodating! The vibe in the plume of feathers was much better than the grubby, loud and distasteful half moon.

Louie was brilliant, I've never seen someone have things in hand so well, he did a brilliant job when it was so busy

Nice pud. Served by Bradley. Thank you.

Enjoyed my time last week, drinks were very good and were served by Brad. 👍👍

Great service, thanks Craig as ever, polite and friendly. The food was excellent, thanks Mark.

Had an enjoyable visit last Thursday. We were served and looked after by Brad who was a very polite bar man and made us feel very welcome.

Always good quality drinks and food served here it’s the only place I come out to have a drink or 2 the friendly welcome and chats with Katie and Craig when I visit is what I look forward to friendly regulars as well comfortable place to drink even when u are on your own

All good late booking so only had what was available. Difficult to find re Post code ! 1/2 days as travel or business stop all good.

Popped in for a quick lunch. Was served by Bradley who was so welcoming and friendly

Katie has done a wonderful job to bring a welcoming atmosphere into the pub. lovely food and drinks selection, i really enjoyed my meal! thanks team!

I came into the half moon on Friday for food and Craig zofia and brad and the service was really good from all three of them

Stopped in the Moon today for Lunch after visiting some friends in Sherborne. We were greeted by a lovely member of staff with red hair from behind the bar I think the lady’s name was Becky , her immediate interaction with our small child made us feel relaxed and we couldn’t wait to sit down and order . Service was great and Becky even went out of her way to get pencils and paper for our daughter. Food was great atmosphere relaxed and even though the bar area is large and not too far away from where we were seated to eat we still felt welcome to be in there eating with a fidgety child. Thankyou so much for putting us at ease Becky Lunch was delicious and relaxed.

Came for drinks good service and relaxed atmosphere

Food was delicious definitely recommended getting the ultimate Southern fried chicken burger. Staff members very polite and friendly and asked if had any allergies doesn't happen often enough in food places zofia fhe bar staff was amazing

Fantastic pub with excellent customer service, especially from Brad and Kate. Highly recommend for a sunny afternoon in Sherborne

Amazing experience at the half moon, Brad and Katie’s service was exceptional. Lovely place for a couple of pints

John was awesome and food was lovely.. Would recommend,nice food and friendly atmosphere

Very pleased and lovely to have a shady spot to drink coffee and watch the world go by

Fantastic service, lovely place, friendly and helpful staff.

Bar staff were amazing so lovely to talk to Louie was so helpful when bringing out food the allergy was clearly marked. Really appreciated the chef mark

Great value for a lunchtime. Sophia was very helpful. Friendly staff who kept their customers informed how their food order was being dealt with.

Great pub, I come here very often, Katie and Beccy sinar Food is really nice too.. very friendly staff. Good atmosphere .

Very quiet during afternoon However the pub is very smelly like toilets and Smokey from people smoking outside on seating area on all sides. Pie was nice but guessing if I chose chips then that would hide the fact that the veg portion would be acceptable ( see mixed grill)

From the moment we walked in we were welcomed by a lovely guy Chris who we had a chat and a laugh with and we decided to stay for lunch , we were soon comfortably seated and enjoyed a tasty meal, the company the food and the atmosphere were lovely! We’ve already decided to return later in the week , the pub is ideally situated for the shops and local points of interest in the town Thankyou for the welcome !

Just had some snacks and drinks. Chris and Sophia were very helpful.