Sandbanks Brasserie at The Sandbanks in Poole

So-so disappointed, we went there as it was a friend’s birthday and had pizzas but they were as tough as old boots, the knives would not cut through the base, when I tackled the waitress she said it was the way we cook them! I’m 75 so had many pizzas in my time and this is way down my list. The sweet course was nice but at £9 + the slice of cheesecake is the smallest I ever seen and they didn’t even give you a fork so had to use my finger to get it on the spoon. What a let down for a high class area!!!!

We went for a family meal in 2023 and it was lovely. Unfortunately, returned in August 2024 and it took 35 minutes for someone to take our order and get us a drink and then took an hour and a half for our food to come out! It wasn’t busy (at least 10-15 empty tables). When our food arrived it was awful. The adult portion of the spaghetti carbonara was dry, tasteless and looked like scrambled egg even though the kids portion was lovely and creamy. We also had a fish pasta which was dry and inedible. We returned to the outside kitchen the following night to collect a pizza (which our kids love). It took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook!!

Lovely view but the restaurant is very tired and old fashioned. Unfortunately the food was average too, the Chicken milanese was over cooked and couldn’t be chewed. Definitely not wouldn’t return, shame as location great and it could be lovely if modernised.

Night out with my husband. Extremely disappointed. Food wasn’t the best. Tasteless and undercooked. Prawns not cooked properly. Salad was lettuce, one and a half cherry tomatoes and three shreds of cucumber. Had to ask for dressings. Wine was good. Can’t go wrong there. A few new staff, so maybe they needed a bit more training. Maybe go for pizza and it may be better….. Beautiful setting and the sun was shining, so not all was lost.

Delicious food and great views onto the beach. The staff were professional and friendly. We will definitely return

Simple meals, nicely presented, served by enthusiastic staff. popular both with hotel guests and people visiting the area

Appalling, tired dinner buffet more suitable served in a trough. Boring salads and sweaty cold meats. Mash I think our Martian friends made it. Confit of Duck brought a whole new meaning to Rubber Duck. It had elastic properties. Tired lukewarm vegetables were flavourless and unseasoned. Disgusting. Do not eat here. £27 for this rubbish. You have been warned. Typical of the attitude of the management.

Having been to the Italian here on Wednesday eve, we then decided to give the hot buffet a go on the Thursday eve,have to say really dissapointed, not even close to the lovely Italian we had the previous evening, firstly I went for the tomato soup to start with,it was stone cold, as well as all the other food on display that I tried, Salmon and veg and potatoes all stone cold I then tried the beef casserole which was luke warm. Nothing but a disaster, when I looked around me there was hardly anyone in this restaurant, most people had booked the Italian which was packed out. The standard in this restaurant was very poor, and the food looked like it came from a works canteen.I complained to the waiter, who then checked the temperature with a thermometer, within a min the food was removed, we did have a fully refund, which at £25 was vastly overpriced for the standard. If you do go here avoid the buffet restaurant, go to the Italian instead.

An absolutely sublime dog confit the lamb with vegetables. The dining room is so welcoming as the wine is chilled and perfect

Had a great chinese Saturday night here Only issue starter pork ribs had no sauce with them ? Lovely duck in sauce Best pork and beef dishes we have eaten

It being a Saturday night we struggled to find a table elsewhere in the area so returned back to what was our hotels main restaurant. Not had great experiences here before, but found it much improved service and quality of food was much improved. it is typical modern British hotel cuisine in style and I would say a touch expensive but comparable with other hotels in the area. I was quiet with only a dozen or so guess so no shortage of staff on hand. A good experience overall.

Went for evening meal there, but the restaurant was way to hot and the menu was not that great, so ended up going to the Chinese restaurant in the same hotel instead, so glad we did, the food was amazing, we went for the set menu at £27 each there was lots of it and a good choice. The only thing that let them down was when we came to order dessert, it was 9:32, they said the kitchen had closed at 9:30 so could not have any dessert. REALLY 2 mins late! They should have told us the kitchen was closing before 9:30.!! So be warned.... order everything before 9:30!

Catering staff do not seem to have been trained in hospitality skills. Tables are not cleared, no-one seems responsible for tea and coffee orders. Exceptions are Everlina who seems to supervise the evening service and Bruno who is always there, always has a smile and will do anything to make you happy. This is a shame as the food is well presented and of a good standard.

Sitting on the terrance having lunch Great! Food and service excellent. With beach views it is the ideal place to enjoy lunch and people watch.

Well presented food, with decent portion size,tried fish, meat and vegetarian options during stay each was well cooked and delicious.

On a terrace with max 20 covers at the time of our visit, to wait 40 min for a nachos and sweet potato fries, as a quick fix for our girls, I find it ridiculous. Maybe not as ridiculous as the large chunks of courgette in the nachos (I am fail to see what they were doing there) or the very shaggy and oily tortilla chips. But then just as i thought it can not get any worse, I asked for some ketchup for the fries, we've been brought a bowl with a mix of dips in sachets (had 7-8 of almost any dip you can imagine) but no ketchup, so when I stood up and asked the waiter about the ketchup again, I've been pointed to where they store the big boxes with the sachets, on the side of the kitchen service line, and I've been told to go and help myself. At this point I started looking around for hidden cameras, as I thought I am being framed on a prank show. I have to add the waiter that tried to do his extra mile.... and clear our girls plates, while they were still eating, but failed to see the table next to us with a 'mountain' of things to clear. Keep doing your "amazing" work, but please don't pretend to be a 4* brasserie/terrace, I've seen takeaways with better service.

Only four choices per course. Expensive. Food was cold, had no flavour. Service also poor. Wine expensive.

Five meals ordered beef burgers, chicken burgers and two pizzas. When I said unbelievable I meant that not one of them was edible, terrible quality and not cheap. Spar wide!

Mi compañero tenía intoxicación alimentaria, la comida era horrible, y todavía nos cobraron! ! ! !

Qué delicia encontrar un restaurante chino muy bueno en un hotel con vista al mar, el personal del hotel y del restaurante era muy amable y la comida era espléndida bienvenida fácil aparcamiento en el hotel recomendaría el Ocean Palace en el mejor hotel de Sandbanks libro restaurante ocupado

Food was delicious and quite reasonably priced, 3 courses £28.95. Staff were very attentive and great views of the beach and sea.

Stayed at the hotel for a conference and had a really enjoyable breakfast, with attentive staff and a glorious window view, to set me up for the day..

Tenemos familia en Bournemouth que pierdas el original Restaurante Ocean Palace, pero estamos encantados de que se ha incorporado en el Sandbanks. Han sido varias veces, normalmente el almuerzo, y sólo tenía un servicio amable y la comida muy sabrosa. Mi marido y yo nos...

Gran lugar para una escapada de té/café bar diferentes y varias opciones para comer, buen servicio y excelente ubicación a un precio razonable

Desde el 6 de julio. Julio 2016 Sandbanks Hotel tiene más de un comedor; aunque no comimos en el comedor principal (debido a las numerosas críticas negativas) pero ahora incorporan el 'Ocean Palace' como una independiente como una experiencia separada de comedor que sirve comida...

We met some friends here for drinks and lunch from the bar area of the hotel, and the food was really underwhelming amd disappointing. The burgers were cooked to death and tasteless. It was the kind of burger you would get from a van at the side of a road, not a hotel by the beach.It really is such a shame, that such a well located venue doesn't capitalise on its prime location, and provide something worth paying for.

Menu selection was good, dishes tasty, hot and well presented. Service in the restaurant was always very attentive from the waiters and waitresses, right up to the maitre d. In addition to dinner service, the hotel should also be commended on the breakfast buffet, which was always hot and well stocked.

Surprisingly good quality food. Good efficient service. Nice range and variety each night. Reasonable value.

We disliked our room but couldn't fault the service of the restaurant staff. Food was tasty and staff at both dinner and breakfast were delightful.

The ground beef burger with fries and salad was delicious, I don't know if I am somewhat out of touch with prices but over £10 for this although very nice was a bit o.t.t.

Good Food- Breakfast was plentiful and a good choice.Evening meals were good also and well presented.Bar meals only had sandwiches and chips. The sandwiches were average the chips awful.

We had a table booked for 7.30pm. We had a lovely table with that seaview.Great menu and wine list.We experienced excellent food,we were not rushed,so we could chat staff attentive,but did not hover,Lovely dining room and settings!Booked again in July.

Limited choice Table D,hote menu. Maitre D with somewhat limited management skills. Could not cope with special requests or deal with allergies.

had a lovely meal. could not fault service staff amazing and knowledgible.Food outstanding reasonable prices for the area

I had the unfortunate experience of eating here with friends who were staying at the hotel. The wine was grossly over priced and the food was terrible. The burger had cheese on and that was it, the pizza would have been better to be a frisbee on the beach. My advice would be to buy your food from Tesco express next door. You even get decent service in Tesco!

we had a light dinner in here, the staff put on fairy lights, the log fire in the centre of the room and it was lovely looking at the sea and eatingThe staff were very attentive to us and very chatty, the food was served up on long plates with ample foodreally nice atmosphere and warm (as very windy outside and cold)

Staying at the hotel for the night and decided to eat here too. What a mistake. Not only will I not eat here again , I won't stay here either. The hotel is some distance away from alternative eating places so they have a captive audience.The food was supposed to be up market fine dining, but it wasn't good at all. I ordered beetroot and feta salad but got salmon, I'm not keen on salmon but don't mind it so I didn't make a fuss and ate it. The portion was tiny and pointless, there was no skill shown in either the cooking or presentation of the dish.The main meal was pork, cooked two ways. Again there was hardly any food on the plate and this time it was barely edible. The belly pork was so fatty it was ridiculous, I would guess it was 10% meat 90% fat. It wasn't cooked well so the fat was oily (no crispness) so the only thing to do was remove it and not eat it.I would give it No stars but this app insists on one!Eat before you get to the hotel.

Used to pass this place when I was on holiday as a kid and fulfilled an ambition of calling in for snack. As anticipated lovely location right on the beach and very comfortable lounge area. I expected the prices to be high but did not mind for our holiday treat. However what I did not expect was to be presented with the bill and asked to pay before they even delivered the food! The management need to learn that this is just not acceptable these days. Staff needed more training as the initial order was incorrect and the coffee stone cold. However the crab sandwich and cream tea were delicious and I do not regret the visit.

bad food , bad room , rude management , dirty out of date , hard to park , this hotel lives off where it is i feel

Decided to eat before long drive home, pizza/burger served quickly outside and average priced. Good quality and served hot.

Although the place was clean, it was not of the feel you would expect from such a high standard place.Preferred the Café next door.

A wonderful place to sit on the outside terrace and have lunch over looking the ocean. Its just perfect. In the summer it has the most amazing vibes and very romantic sitting outside with a glass of vino. You will end up staying there all day.

All glass and chrome, pretentious people, prices too high for mediocre food. It used to be a nice cafe, we want the cafe back!

Loved the kids buffet, although not a lot of food, particularly desserts for kids. 4 star.Food for adults was disappointing (other than fab petits-four).

Ideal location to while away a few relaxing hours comfy chairs and plenty of shared if you want it.Great food and drinks at reasonable prices excellent pleasant staff.

We didn't stay at the hotel but figured a 4 star hotel should provide some decent food. Nope!What could go wrong with a pizza Margarita?? Well slap some tomatoes, cheese and way too much Oregano on a ready bought base (the ones you buy in the supermarket and are dry as a bone) and that's what goes wrong. I left half of it and the waiter asked if I wanted a doggy bag so I told him it wasn't very good. His reply 'Fair enough' and he walked off.My partner had a burger and chips and even that was horrid. The burger was dry as a bone and way too thick. We aren't fussy eaters so for us to classify something as bad, it has to be really bad. Waste of £25 and will never ever go there again.

We are locals and called in for a coffee and scones. It took nearly 45 minutes to arrive, with no cutlery which we found for ourselves. We only ordered 1 serving but 2 servings came which we were told to keep as we complained about the wait.They needn't have bothered, the scones were cold and stale. The manager told us to come and find him when we had finished. Erm no Mr manager, it is not our job to come and find you. Anyway even though we are local we won't be back.

Had a nice walk to Sandbanks and wanted to have a drinks. We ordered drinks and was told that hot drinks would be at least half an hour. How can they cook hot food quicker than they can provide hot drinks.When the drinks arrived the coffees were luke warm and all differant shade of colour.The poor young girl in taking the orders was having to take orders, pour beers, do the cold drinks take monies and tell customers that hot drinks were taking half an hour.It was clear that there was not enough staff available on a bank holiday Monday.

Thursday evening BBQ on the patio to watch the sun go down followed by fireworks across the beach in the bay. Beautiful setting, fantastic atmosphere, great live music and lovely, tasty food. Well done Sandbanks.

What a wonderful place to enjoy lunch on the terrace - what a shame the service and the food do not live up to the beautiful surroundings. Not good at all and this hotel does not deserve its star rating.

relaxing seaview terrace restaurant with varied menu - not cheap but well worth the extra. The addition of the outside kitchen and servery make this a superb place to eat.

Beautiful location, fantastic views and great food.

Had lunch here on a lovely sunny day. Location is superb, food quality does not merit price. Crab sandwiches were padded out with prawns - fine if they were fresh and gadget but they were not. Service was charming and very good but food disappointing.

We had our wedding at The Sandbanks last year and could not fault it, it was the perfect location with great food and great service.We given a voucher to use within a year for a complementary 3 course meal at the main restaurant, which we used a couple of weekends ago, what a disappointment.The waiter staff could not have been any less helpful and appeared to all have just come out of school. No topping up of water glasses or asking how the meal was and it took an age to get anyones attentionI had a steak, medium to well done, which came out pretty much still beating and it was a generally poor all round.People next to us were complaining about the length of time they had to wait to be served their food, I sent back my steak only for a new one to be given to me around 20 minutes later after my wife had eaten hers and no apologies etc.It is a shame are last experience of The Sandbanks was like this after such a great wedding day, we were planning to come back with a large group shortly but this certainly won't be happening now, it will still be at Sandbanks but at another local restaurant there.I'm certainly glad it was free as I'd never of paid!

Went in for a drink, with the intention of a meal, and a possible stay at a later date. Bar service was beyond terrible. Wine was served in the wrong glass, and tho' I appreciate that red wine should not be served chilled, I found that Shiraz served in a HOT glass was decidedly unpalatable. Snooty barmaid informed me that this was the 'right way' to serve red wine ... I was speechless!This was off-putting, and I will not return.

great location and could be amazing..very shabby and staff are mostly disinterested and havent got a clue what the hotel has or has not to offer!!!good to have a drink and chill and get onto the beach.... definately would not stay in hotel and wouldn't waste money on poor quality food.

So you've got a four-star hotel, loads of parking, you're in Dorset's premier beach location, and you've huge patio area with a bar that faces directly onto one of the best and most popular beaches in the UK. Sounds like an opportunity to do something really special, give people a truly great experience and make a ton of money at the same time, doesn't it? Well, you'd think so. I had lunch there en famille a couple of weeks ago, and can honestly say I've had more fun, eaten better and had quicker and better service in a motorway service station. It's one of these places, sadly by no means unique in Poole and in general in the UK once you've gone outside the M25, where the staff act like you're a nuisance, and you're left to forage for yourself. No welcome, at all. Every spare table full of previous diners' detritus. Couldn't find any waiting staff. Queue of maybe 2 people at the bar but getting served still took over 10 minutes. Surly staff. Pay in advance. Food took an age to arrive and was cold. Then, trying to get the bill and pay it took alf an hour.An utterly ghastly and dismal experience. My advice for a visit to Sandbanks: bring sandwiches and your own drinks.

We have been here a few times and each time it has got worse.The tables in the bar are looking tatty.Given this is in a wealthy part of Poole, it is a letdown.There is very limited parking nearby.The restaurant was empty, yet they said it was booked up and they said they would not serve a full menu in the bar.The food in the past has been OK but nothing specialAgain, given the prestigious area it is located, the service and decor needs to improve.

We had a lovely Sunday Lunch (the last day of Air Show) not hurried and very relaxed atmosphere food was excellant met the chef Marc who was very keen to please the waiting staff were very attentive and pleasant.

We had our Wedding Reception at the Sandbanks Brasserie and the team at the Hotel made the whole experience very special for us. We had a wonderful day, fab food, great weather, good wine and excellent service can't fault it. Would highly recommend the Hotel as a reception venue. The terrace and beach provide a lovely outdoor area and there is also a play area for children. Included in our Wedding package was a room at the Hotel, this was really lovely and the view was fantastic. Thank you very much to all at the Sandbanks Hotel and Brasserie!

We had our wedding and wedding reception at the Sandbanks at the end of August 2008 with the Bournemouth Air Festival as a backdrop. We were very lucky to have a very sunny day and as such the venue was ideal as we had exclusive use of part of the terrace. The Sandbanks team decorated the Peninsula Suite well and it made a good venue for the wedding ceremony with the sea in the background. We then made our way on to the terrace for drinks and a live Jazz band which set a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The wedding breakfast was held in the Brasserie itself where the food (goat's cheese followed by Salmon and Prawn risotto and Chocolate Torte) and service was excellent. Sebastien, the hotel wedding planner proved to be a great coordinator and kept the proceedings moving smoothly along. In fact as he had reassured us beforehand we did not have to worry about anything on the day (the two rooms were prepared without us getting involved - our flourist provided the flowers by mid-morning). We managed to keep numbers down by having a separate creche for the children, which also let the adults enjoy the meal and speeches.We all then spilled out on to the beach by early evening and then were back in the Brasserie and on the terrace for and evening of live music and dancing. Guests enjoyed relaxing with their drinks on the terrace between sets and the lighting, furniture and Old Harry Rocks made for an atmospheric setting. We both loved the day and would recommend the venue to others.

Lovely views, good menu, hot manager!

I havent eaten here since it has been refurbished, but have heard good things, great location, right on the beach