Rockwater in Poole

Lovely location, great drinks! Adriana was excellent, service was over and above!

Friendly service, delicious food, sumptuous ladies room and a view to die for. Anna, our waitress, was friendly, efficient and had a great sense of humour.

I can't remember the last time I had to wait two hours for my food.... The first dish arrived after 50 minutes, we were with two small children... in my case I didn't order starters, it took me 2 hours to put the first piece in my mouth... desperate. It was my first time and certainly my last. Apparently this is a recurring situation... The waiters were friendly but in this situation it was of little use....

Liam was the best, made every drink asked for and offered brilliant service. thank you for a lovely day out!

Thoroughly enjoyed celebrating my husband’s birthday with brunch at Rockwater yesterday. Excellent food, attentive service and what a location!

Service is so slow here, sat down outside to get a drink and waited more than 15 mins with no acknowledgement despite speaking to the person at the host desk who advised us someone would be over to take our order so we just left. Really annoying you can’t just order at the bar like a normal place too. Really nice atmosphere and location tho

Great place for breakfast and lunch, great food, wonderful location and super service today from Anna. Thank you

We arrived mid afternoon on Sunday. No one greeted us on arrival and we were ignored by several passing waiting staff. After I told a waitress there was a vacant table outside, she agreed we could sit there. No one appeared to take our order, so I found a member of staff and asked for a menu to be told only drinks were being served outside and there was a 2 hour wait for tables inside. We left, appalled by the lack of attention and fed up with being ignored! Politeness costs nothing.

We love it at Rockwater , one of our favourite places with excellent cheerful service from Hannah . See you soon 🌞

Staff were fantastic..asked for more blue cheese for my burger & they arrived with slices of. May in particular was a delight.

Disappointing and Unwelcoming Experience I was really looking forward to dining at Rock Water with my friends, but unfortunately, our experience was nothing short of disappointing. There were five of us, and despite seeing multiple empty tables, we were told there was "no space" for us. It seemed like the staff simply couldn't be bothered to push two tables together to accommodate our group. Rather than making any effort to be accommodating, they just turned us away without a second thought. It was frustrating and unwelcoming, especially at a place that should pride itself on hospitality. If you're looking for a restaurant that actually values its customers, I'd suggest going elsewhere.

Great Service by Hannah G, been there a few times and she is always great. Great setting and lovely place. My bug bear and irritation is card payments only and the automatic service charge of 12.5% which I dislike with a passion ...

Would have been a much more enjoyable visit, but almost every table inside had dogs next to the table or under the table. At one stage, there was constant barking from a couple of dogs. There was a horrible doggy smell and I just don’t want to be surrounded by dogs while I’m eating a lovely lunch out in what should have been lovely surroundings. Totally put me off and we won’t be back. Note / I AM NOT A DOG HATER!!!!! But come on….. there is outside seating.

Arrived as a group of 5, young waitress greeted us, muttered something about finding someone inside to talk to and vaguely pointed, then scurried off - making it unclear what to do. We were then awkwardly waiting in the door way for someone to give us further information, I believe 3 staff members walked past us at without even looking at us. When a man in a shirt came over he said he didn’t have availability for the 5 of us even though there were empty tables upstairs and downstairs. Apparently only able to seat 4 at a time - Seems very odd rule? I am disappointed as I had heard good things about this place & it’s in a stunning location. Safe to say I will not be recommending this place.

A Disappointing Experience – Avoid This Place! I recently visited this restaurant with my child, looking for a table inside. Despite having empty tables, the host told us that everything was fully booked. However, after checking again, we saw that this wasn’t true. When we re-entered, we encountered a young woman who had just seated another group without a reservation. She then told us she could find us a table. As we were being led to the table, the host whispered to her that if we were only having drinks, we should sit outside. The waitress then quietly informed him that we actually wanted to eat. We were seated at a low couch-style table, which was uncomfortable for dining. When we requested a proper dining table, we were told it wasn’t possible, even though there were available tables without reservation signs. We ordered pizza, which turned out to be the worst experience—excessively oily, falling apart, and made with poor-quality mozzarella. Being experienced in the hospitality industry, I could immediately tell that the cheese was of terrible quality. The Caesar salad was even worse—a disgraceful dish with only three croutons and three cold chicken pieces, likely refrigerated for days. The table we were seated at was dusty and dirty, which was completely unacceptable. And at the end of it all, they expected us to leave a tip? Absolutely not. Yes, it’s a beachside restaurant, but everything—from the welcome to the service and the food—was a disaster. Avoid at all costs.

Brilliant service by May (unsure on the spelling), she was very helpful, funny and attentive. Food was very nice and atmosphere was great, very nice by the sea.

my boyfriend and i had a lovely meal at rockwater on a sunday eve, lovely atmosphere and great food, as was the service! we were served by may (not sure on the spelling sorry!) who was wonderful and catered to our needs perfectly 🥰 she was very helpful and friendly, we couldn’t have asked for better service! thank you :)

I recently visited Rockwater in Bournemouth on a busy Sunday, and unfortunately, my experience was very disappointing. After queuing outside for 20 minutes, we were told there were no seats inside, despite being able to see at least five empty tables. When we asked about sitting on the roof terrace, we were informed that it’s only available for drinks, which wasn’t communicated anywhere, not even to those waiting in the long queue. The restaurant advertises a breakfast menu, but we were told we could only order pizza. It would have been helpful if this was either posted on a sign or mentioned by staff while we waited. The location is beautiful, and it has the potential to be a great breakfast and lunch spot for those enjoying the beach, but it’s clear the place is disorganised. Things took a turn for the worse when my friend kindly asked if they could inform people in the queue about the limited menu, only to be met with a dirty look from a young blonde lady. Frustrated, we decided to visit the takeaway hut for a break, but the coffee was awful. It was supposed to be a latte, but it was more of a burnt, frothy mess. The pastry was dry and unappetizing too. Overall, there seems to be little care put into the quality of food or service here, and I won’t be rushing back.

Good food and great service, Ben was great!

Poor menu choice and expensive, poor quality food, bad service and over priced cheap wine , all in all a very disappointing evening but very expensive I will not be returning to eat again!

Unfortunately my meal was rather disappointing, I chose the shepherds pie at £20, guess what that’s all it was? Looked somewhat lonesome, so added to it with green salad a few sprigs of lettuce and Chinese leaves, minimal, & not worth £6. Back to the pie, slow cooked lamb several chunks, 30% tender 70% tough & fatty, inedible, poor quality. The only reduction was they half priced the pie, still tooo expensive at £10. This place tries to be classy but fails on all counts Service was slow, very limited selection but I would expect better because of that. So keep on ripping of the tourists as they come & go can’t imagine going back if I were a local.

The coffee is amazing in there will be back to try the food as looked amazing to .

Had a great lunch today with a good friend. Thank you to our lovely waitress Katie 😊

Great food and service (thank you May), was very quiet when we visited. A very pleasant walk from Bournemouth

Lovely place with gorgeous views. Looking forward to going back and enjoying the sunshine on the terrace with delicious food and a drink.

Wow! This place is awesome! Firstly we want to give a big shout out to Hannah. In a busy, selfish world a lot of restaurants have lost their dedication to customer service. It was a joy to be waited on my Hannah and all the team at Rockwater. They are so focused and full of cheer and so attentive ! The food is absolutely gorgeous! Pizzas and Wings next to the ocean, a dream! Thanks Chef, chefs! 🧑‍🍳 Thank you guys, sorry can’t remember all the waiters, waitresses names.. Can’t wait to return soon! Claire & fam & friends 🙏🌊🥂🍕🌞

Great food and atmosphere and Ben was amazing and a credit to the place

Came here for breakfast and service was overall lovely. We were looked after by the crew. Daniella our server even made sure my mum's birthday was extra special with a birthday plate and her service was warm and personable all together. It will be interesting to see how lunch and dinner service is, will be coming back!

I had a great experience at Rock Water. Ben provided fantastic service—he was friendly, attentive, and really knew the menu. The food was excellent, and the atmosphere was relaxed. I’ll definitely be back!

I had a great time at Rock Water. Ben's service was top-notch, he was friendly, attentive, and really knew his stuff. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was just right. I’ll definitely be returning!

Exceptional service by Ben he was great. Always catering to our needs and made us laugh lots. Food and drinks were also fantastic.

Food fantastic, service excellent, staff all very friendly and genuine, highly recommend fish and chips!

I came in the other day with my girlfriend for breakfast and I have to say i’ve never met such welcoming staff! Our server was Daniella and she was fabulous, attending to all our needs, dietary requirements and questions. The food was also lovely and I think the chef was called Holly, however it is on the pricey side. Overall an amazing experience and would recommend.

I had a bad experience. Services are very poor from start to the end. Manager are very rude. Overpricing for what they offer. Avoid this place!

Fabulous location obviously but it is ridiculously expensive and you just feel like you are being mugged off, their kiosks are a rip off too, it just leaves a bitter taste in your mouth as you know they are just taking advantage of the location. Food is good but the breakfast was a disappointment, my wife was still hungry after and it cost too much to be left hungry

We had lunch here this week. I had the bacon chop and my friend had the fish and chips. Food and wine were really great. Service was exceptional from Andrew the host and Katie our waitress. Such a great place and fantastic location. Will definitely go back.

Had a great time. Tried the margarita minis and loved them all! Ben served us and he was super attentive, friendly and kind. Would recommend.

I was greeted by a bubbly young girl on the door, blonde& glasses & although busy they squeezed me in & looked after by a young man with glasses- very attentive-the food took a little while but delicious when it arrived- Also you views are beautiful-5star

This place is awesome. Service was amazing. We had the best lady serving us. Great location, beautifully decked out and great food. What a special place right on the beach. Highly recommend

Popped in after a dog walk on the beach for coffee. Ended up having a delicious gluten free pudding!! A very large portion! Depending on appetite I would advise to share the apple and rhubarb crumble!😋 Staff were very attentive and accommodating for my dog who even got a little treat❤️. Will definitely be returning to try a gluten free meal.

Been coming here for a long time @ 7am for tea toast and marmalade now all of a sudden it’s we only serve pastries till 8am this makes no business sense because your chef is there already anyway your loss if you want an early breakfast find somewhere else people take care.

Great food, great views, and great interior design. Our server, Anna, was lovely and very helpful!

We stopped by Rockwater for a last minute lunch with our 2 year old grandson today, and were so kindly welcomed by Stacey and the team. We were recommended the Caesar salad, which was 10/10! We gave our compliments to Chef Holly! The coffee was also excellent. Highly recommend!

Hannah is a really hard-working, friendly waitress who goes the extra mile for her customers.

Popped in to Rockwater this afternoon for an impromptu lunch with my family. What a wonderful experience! Our server Rhys was super friendly and accommodating, and recommended a gluten free pizza from Chef Max. All I can say is - Wow! As a celiac it’s so amazing to find such delicious gluten free food. Will definitely be returning! 5*

Real laid back atmosphere with great food. Anna delivered excellent service and could not have been nicer and they were incredibly flexible with the meal “tweaks” for the kids to get everything just perfect.

Really lovely place. We had pizza but will try something else off the main menu next time. The staff were friendly (Stacey I think) really looked after us. Looking forward to our next visit.

Could tell head chef, Adam was in today. The Rockwater burger was amazing!! Setting an example as to how things should be done... Presentation, taste and portion size spot on. Service amazing as always, happy staff, always polite and happy to accommodate. Thank you 👍 🙏

Hannah’s service was friendly and efficient. The toasted banana bread was delicious! So good I’d finished it before I thought about taking a photo so you’ll just have to go and see it for yourself!

Andrew at front of house is always welcoming and charming, whenever I pop in. Rockwater at Branksome is my local favourite place ! All the servers are professional and efficient even when they are very busy. Today Hannah took my order, she is a ray of sunshine, thank you to the whole team.

Hannah was really great and got me cake when they weren’t serving food outside as she could tell I had an urge for it 😍

Wonderful, friendly staff and a surprisingly delicious desert offered by Frankie.

Doretta was 10/10! Fantastic service, and wonderful recommendation for the catch of the day! Definitely will come back again :)

Came here for Valentine’s Day. Ben was an amazing waiter who made our night. Food was excellent as always and the service was top draw

5 of us had a meal on a Thursday- the fish and chips, steak and chips was great and enjoyed whilst overlooking a superb view of the open sea - however 3 of party had the shepherds pie which was delicious but lacked any veg with it whatsoever - it advertised that it came with root veg but this was inside so did look a bit sad on the plate with no accompanying veg - had to order kale 🥬 at the last minute to have any sort of greenery!

was very pleased to be fitted in for lunch our waitress Hannah G was so lovely very helpful a very nice visit will definitely come again

Great service (Hannah G) wad very attentive and helpful. Really good food and really recommend the bread and butter pudding cocktail!

We had a mix fish platter was cold and they not professional staf

Slow service, mediocre food and slightly pretentious. There are better options out there if you’re looking for great food and efficient service.

Lovely friendly staff, great atmosphere, fabulous food

Waitress was really really lovely, though the food wasn't that great. This was my first time here so disappointed. One thing on the menu for vegetarians a cauliflower steak!!! Need to have more variety to cater for everyones tastes.

Visited on 2/2/25 served by Lily O, who was exceptional in her attention to detail with our order, the fish and chips were divine esp as I am intolerant of white strong flour and so this was the first time I have had such crispy batter thanks for being able to seat us at such short notice when you were so busy. Will be back

Fabulous lunch here today, with tasty food, great service with lovely views.

Great food, lovely surroundings and was warmly welcomed by our fantastic host Hanna, who looked after us throughout the evening. Would highly recommend. 5 *

“The staff were very friendly, and the service was impressively fast. The burger was enjoyable, but unfortunately, I can’t recommend the steak—it was disappointing. Overall, a mixed experience with great service but inconsistent food quality.”

Hannah was a rockstar - enjoyed how special they made my birthday meal. Food was on point as usual.

If you've got the cash this makes for a great place to eat. Breakfast upstairs, lunch downstairs is my general rule.

Excellent lunch here with friends today. Very efficient and friendly service from Anna. Perfect way to spend a winter lunch time.

Food was great but the place was very crowded and the background music was a little unnecessary. We'll just have to go back on a sunny day to see if the ambience is better when the sun shines! Staff very friendly though.

Great place for dinner in the kitchen restaurant. Right on the beach so gorgeous view until the sun disappears and really tasty food. Not too pricey considering how good the food was. Waitress was lovely too. Only slight blip to be warned of, is that they allow dogs in the restaurant, which, although we have one, we weren't overly keen on. The people by us were letting them wander under our table! I guess that was the individual though.

Love Rockwater! It's relaxed, great atmosphere and the food is lovely. Visited with friends for coffee, family birthdays and after swimming - never disappointed.

Our waitress Katie was particularly attentive and friendly and gave us first class service throughout our meal. She’s a real asset to Rockwater.

Never been before as a recommdation from a friend. We both had sausage baps, one vegan a little dry but my grandson's was delicious he said. Dog friendly place which I loved as recently lost mine. Love their fire, very toastie on a cold day looking at the sea.

Fantastic place, dog friendly, warm and welcoming. Breakfast was excellent.

This is a very relaxed, easy going place. The food is always excellent (we've been a couple of times) and the staff are friendly and efficient. Last time Phoebe was great and this time Hannah looked after us so well.

Great good, great atmosphere and always clean. Loads of dogs too 😍

We're disappointed as we're hoping for seafood. However that was only provided o the upper floor which was occupied by a party.

Had coffee and my friend was not feeling well and they were very good with helping. Thanks

Love this place. Staff are friendly and great place on beach front. Came with my grandson's lunch. Had pizza. Nearly £15 for soggy half cooked nearly cold pizza. I just can't be bothered to complain as I did not want to spoil our lunch together. My grandson had a bite or two of the pizza and said I should have sent it back. I did tell the girl when we paid the bill. It is just unforgivable to send out soggy pizza. It has to be the easiest thing to cook. Come on! I will not stop going for coffee, just not sure I trust the food again.

Wonderful customer service this morning by Anna. Good menu and relaxing welcoming environment. Some feedback on avocado on toast dish (£10) is that it was a little lacking in size and substance and could be improved. We will be returning nonetheless and think it is a great spot!

Update: tried the place once more today and service is even worse! Or rather complete lack of it! The boy who is supposed to be doing hosting can't be asked to do his job on offering a table to customers and prefers to say anaemic "nooo, we are fully booked" rolling his eyes, even with several unoccupied tables present. Really, even the coffee area? Here is my review from the previous visit: "Nice place but appalling service! Place is run by a bunch of spotty teenagers who get confused easily or just can’t be bothered to do their job. Management really ought to invest in some staff training." Notuch changed I see. Good thing you are based in small town, this business would never survive in London with such attitude.

Fabulous location. Super staff, v good food. Well worth it.

One of the best cafes on the beach, service and food was very good.

Lovely Pizzas, coffes, and really lovely waitress, bless her x, will most definitely re visit😋😋

Great food, great service, fab location,

Grt location and gd menu choices for breakfast etc..

Just had lunch at Rockwater Branksome Beach. My wife and I only wanted a light lunch so we shared a burger and fries. It was excellent. But the real star of the show was our server, Linda, who zoomed between customers efficiently dispensing food, drinks and smiles. Linda was having to work very hard, but did so with cheerful good humour. Thanks.

Had a lovely breakfast, Hannah was great!

Lovely food, amazing service from a lovely lady called Linda, she couldn’t do enough for us, very responsive and although very busy she still had a big smile for all her customers.

Visited over the Christmas holidays and had an enjoyable breakfast with family. A lovely atmosphere, great food. Very welcoming and friendly staff, would like to give Anna a special mention. Thank you.

We called in after a walk from Flaghead Chine. We often call in the summer - and this winter visit was just a good. Friendly, prompt service, food suggestions, lovely coffee, Fast, attentive service. The new breakfast menu is great. 3 of us had the (recommended) banana bread which was excellent. 1 had the scrambled eggs - again very high standard. Thanks for a great experience again - especially to Hannah G who was a star!

We love coming here. Food and service is always fab and the views make us instantly relax. We were looked after by Hannah today and she was brilliant and most importantly, made our doggies feel very welcome 🥰

Excellent fish and chip lunch, and very friendly staff. A popular place so can be quite busy (not hard to see why) but they've always been able to find us seats for coffee, cocktails or lunch.

I don’t often eat dessert, but the chocolate fondant was the highlight of an excellent meal, all made even more enjoyable by Ben’s exceptional service. I find that in hospitality some people are able to chat and engage enthusiastically with guests in a way that seems effortless while clearly working hard to provide efficient and high quality service… Ben is certainly one of those people. Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

We had an excellent meal at Rockwater Branksome. The food was great and Ben H was brilliant. He was diligent, quick, attentive and friendly. Exceptional service!

Great lunch for 6 of us with attentive staff with excellent timing with respect to delivery of drinks, food and the bill. All staff were very helpful with Hannah G looking after the table who was so thoughtful and made the meal particularly pleasurable.

Some good some bad. An amazing location and about the 5th time I have been. However I’ve noticed some changes as times gone along that are negative. Portion sizes have got smaller. Eggs on toast with avocado expensive and I expect more than one slice of toast and more than half of the avocado! Still good quality ingredients but the portion of food is too small for the money. The 12.5% option gratuity is automatically added to the bill. Only on one occasion I’ve paid this in the early days. However more recently I booked for a large table and we didn’t feel it required a £25 tip, became awkward as the waiter appeared to have understood that we hadn’t paid the total bill but then realised. Same again recently at breakfast each couple gave a tip but it wasn’t quite to the mark of the 12.5% and there waitress stood behind us whilst we and then left it without a goodbye clearly disgruntled. All this said it’s a wonderful location. But probably just have a drink in the future

Beef Brisket Croquettes: 10/10 Ox Cheek Rigatoni: 10/10 Service from Adriana: Impeccable Definitely coming back!

Food was fab, and service from Adriana was superb. We’ll be back very soon!

Honestly such a lovely place to eat. We sat outside in the winter but the sun was out and it was just really nice to people watch. They did have blankets if you need them! Lovely food and great service. Our waiter Ben was absolutely lovely, so cheery and even when it was busy, was always happy to help.