The Boat Shed Cafe in Purbeck - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Cute cafe with a good atmosphere and friendly staff. My oat cappuccino was delicious! Lulworth cove is a gorgeous place for a stroll, I’d also recommend visiting Durdledor while you’re here.

Stopped for breakfast after our early walk from Durdle Door to Lulworth Cove. It was worth it to get there early to avoid the crowds and have a really nice uninterrupted view of the beach. The service was friendly and the food tasted good.

Waited for 55 mins for fish and chips plus crab salad. Had to cancel the order in the end. Plenty of staff and not a particularly busy / full cafe so not sure why they aren’t able to complete orders in a reasonable time. Avoid.

While I had a wonderful day enjoying the beautiful views of Dorset on July 13, 2024, my experience at this café was deeply disappointing. The crab sandwich was subpar, and the service from the staff, particularly one lady, was the worst I've encountered anywhere in the world. It truly ruined an otherwise perfect day. Btw crab sandwich has nothing to do with 🦀🚫🤮

Great location close to the sea. Only had coffee which was very good. Staff friendly and welcoming.

A very tasty breakfast - great quality ingredients. A fantastic view too.

Went for full English breakfast- a bit disappointed with portion size and service was very slow. Not really worth the wait.

Great views and food but really unfriendly staff, sarcastic and rude lady on till

Lovely crab sandwich and yummy crispy fries with skin. Beautiful location on the edge of the beach and full view of the cove. Perfect stopover and a quick lunch.

Lovely friendly lad serving in this little beach front café. Popped in for a brew and cake, a bit of sustenance after the coast path in treacherous conditions! They do take cash payments too, but only if you almost have the right money, as they don't have much change. Due to its location (I'm guessing...) there are no toilets here, you have to go back up the road for those. Kids menu. I think some of the items on the menu are a bit overpriced. I had a hot drink which was OK and a tasty Eccles cake. The cake was sticky and had been put on top of a serviette, so a lot of the paper had to be peeled off the cake's bottom, bit of a mess really. Great location and good service, nice to get out of the rain.

Not very customer friendly lady - quite short about coffee and milk temperatures and lack a sense of humour - couldn’t pay with cash as no change lovely location but she let the place down

Visited today, a very unpleasant stroppy lady on the counter, when we tried to pay in cash, we were told the only change in the was two pound coins, as if it were our fault ! Here for a week won’t go back ! Sadly

Today me and my friend Andrew take a breakfast (full English breakfast) here. Perfect location right on the beach. Quality food and service. The coffee was good. We both had a breakfast and was very tasty indeed. Would recommend without a doubt

Decided to bring my best Swedish friend Joc to the Boatshed, great food we were so impressed. The best breakfast in England or Lidkoping !

Location amazing, staff pleasant, coffees (Latte) pretty good! I wasn’t too hungry and ordered the sausage roll as a light bite snack!.. guessing it must of come straight out the frozen packet!.. dry & tasteless, with very little meat content If they read this… my suggestion (as a great location) would be to make your own!!

Came in today a party of 4, 3 0f us had crab sandwiches, the texture of the crab was watery and tastless, if fact we all made the same comment worst crab sandwich ever and all in our 70s so have had a few. Left the cafe and headed to lulworth Castle, thank god for toilets. Beware of this sandwich from the boat shed cafe.

The staff in the Boat Shed are always super helpful, welcoming and friendly, even when very busy. My family and I go here regularly, and it is our favourite little spot for a light bite and a view. It can understandably get very busy during the school holidays, but the level of service and food always remains the same, great every time. We particularly love visiting on colder days when the beach is a little more quiet, we can sit in here for hours and just enjoy the view (and excellent food / drinks) would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a warm drink or a lunch when next in Lulworth

Amazing location! Very cosy with friendly staff. Food was great! Will definitely go back

Fantastic little place, lovely food, attentive and friendly service. Amazing views too! Good value, and well done! ;-)

Sadly I cannot comment on the quality of the food here as they were unable to serve me due to having no till float! I only wanted a drink but clearly not possible unless I didn't want change. Such a shame as the location was lovely. I do hope that this is not company policy and I just arrived at a bad time, albeit midday, when someone had failed to supply a float. I therefore cannot recommend The Boat Shed Café. I can however recommend Finlay's by the main car park and I would give it a 4 star rating.

Absolutely amazing scenery to enjoy whilst eating food. No service to table but that’s ok as it’s a small team of staff and a very busy cafe. Enjoyed my full English outside whilst taking in the views, not one fault or complaint to give.

I love the Boat Shed, I have my coffee there every Sunday after my run, the staff are always friendly and welcoming 😀😀 I always sit at table five if it’s available 👍

Great lunch today! Good coffee, fabulous toasted ham and cheese sandwiches (piping hot) followed by delicious apple and blackcurrant/lemon cake all in the sunshine sitting outside at Lulworth Cove. Highly recommended!

We had a very nice lunch there. We ordered panini and potato with shrimps. Lovely atmosphere and view

Excelent service, very friendly staff. Lovely food. Would recommend, also very reasonable prices.

No salad dressing, no seasoning in the crab and dry end of loaf used to make a sandwich. Very disappointing!

Amazing views and great service. The chai latte is heavenly on a cold morning :)

Great cafe right on the seafront with great food and indoor/outdoor seating

Awesome people lovely experience

Nice flat white with friendly service.

What a place! Was wünschen Sie sich mehr als eine dampfende Tasse Tee, Kaffe oder heisser Schokolade nach einer Wanderung entlang der Jurassic Coast? Der Wind hat Sie ordentlich durchgeschüttelt und nun stehen zur Stärkung verschiedene Snacks zur Auswahl. Doch der Klassiker sind hier Scones mit Clotted Cream und Erdbeermarmelade! Die geniessen Sie, wenn das Wetter es zulässt, am besten draussen auf der Terrasse mit Blick aufs Meer!

Nice staff and lovely location but food really wasn’t great.

Lovely little shack-style cafe overlooking the beach, with seating indoors and benches outdoors. They offer afternoon tea and a great array of cakes, as well as savoury food, I can recommend the scones and the Dorset apple cake. Staff were friendly and welcoming.

Beach Cafe. Just ok all round. Breakfast ordinary and quite small .

Sausage rolls are £4.90 to take away. The price is not on the board. And the takeaway coffee is a packet mix. One of those ‘add boiling water’ sachets. I burned my mouth on it because it was at 100oC instead of the lower temp that coffee is at once the frothed latte milk at 70oC is added on a properly made latte - which at £3.50 is what I expected. Please be aware. I threw the coffee away and did not have time to return and challenge the staff. If you want good coffee, please walk the few extra steps away from this establishment to order.

£12 crab sandwich . Dry bread, crab paste, lettuce leaf. We’re tourists so who cares.

It costs a bit more than you might think, but it's really worth it. The food is amazing, the staff is friendly, and the atmosphere is great. They also serve fantastic drinks.

Friendly cafe on the beach Good fish Highly recommend the whitebaits and chips Nice staff

Nice food, nice service, nice atmosphere

Thank you to the amazingly kind staff who came to my aid after I was verbally threatened by someone earlier today. So grateful to you all 💕

Popped into the boat shed cafe for a light snack whilst hiking through lulworth cove. The staff were very helpful and friendly and the pouched eggs on toast were perfect Return again soon

Coffee is a solid 5/10 with 1 being dishwater (such as what you can get from national trust properties) and 10 being the best coffee I’ve ever had. Quite drinkable.

Nice place to sit but coffee was wishy washy with little flavour - also they wouldn't take cash which is a little annoying , suppose they will blame it on covid still! Friendly efficient staff.

Visited here on someone’s recommendation, and I wasn’t disappointed. Lovely atmosphere in the restaurant by the seaside. They do have inside and outside tables so you can sit wherever you prefer according to your preference. The staff here were great, and the food was good. I had good old fish and chips which was really nice. Food was served hot. There’s also quite a lot of ice cream stalls on the walk down to The Boat Shed should you wish to try some unique ice cream flavours. I would definitely go to Boat Shed Café again.

Friendly staff and very nice Biscoff cake at a very reasonable price considering the amazing location. Well worth a visit

Perfect location right on the beach. Quality food and service. The coffee was good. We both had a breakfast and was very tasty indeed. Would recommend without a doubt

Ok if you want a cup of tea and piece of cake! Food is a rip off. Menu sounds great but £14 for 10 mussels is extortionate. It’s not even a starter size. Salt n pepper squid bought in Costco- highly processed. By the sea we were expecting slightly fresher squid.

Firstly, the staff were lovely. There were plenty of options for food, however my panini was not fantastic. Small portion and not worth the £7.50. Coffee was also just okay.

Avoid this cafe. We walked out as they do not accept cash. This is not good. Everyone should have the choice of how they pay.

This little cafe looks promising from the outside in a really pretty location but sadly the food did not meet expectations. I was looking forward to a tasty breakfast with some local Dorset produce but sadly it tasted far from it. Sausages were hard and rubbery and tasted bland and the bread much the same. So disappointing when it could and should have been great.

Small cafe right on Lulworth Cove, perfect for a beach stroll followed by a hot mug of tea. Fantastic vegan options added for Veganuary, the friendly staff even said they might keep them on permanently as they have been so popular. I would definitely recommend the raspberry croissants with your tea!

Slow service, but pleasant enough, a little expensive, like everything else in this area. The food looked nice but small portions did disappoint. Could have been better but also could have been a lot worse. Prices have made me think to prepare a picnic in future trips to this area.

Stopped in for lunch after a long hike and was pleasantly surprised by all the vegetarian/vegan options! The staff was friendly and the falafel platter hit the spot. The coffee and cakes are a must! Definitely check out The Boat Shed Cafe if you stop by Lulworth.

First I must say the staff are lovely. We arrived too late for a late lunch so had coffee and cake instead. My good lady had a vegan 'sausage' roll. All very good! Beautiful view of Lulworth Cove at sea level. Quick visit but most enjoyable. Recommended+++

Good size portions, good quality, friendly service, good location

Beautiful setting, highly recommended place to sit and enjoy the view, had nice cup of coffee with service being quite efficient.

Great view of the cove on a gorgeous day with a Latte..

I ordered the mussels for lunch. They were okay, but a small portion. The prices are accordingly with the ideal location of this cafe. It has a lovely terrace. The staff is welcoming.

Quick & friendly ordering - took a while to get the food but they were busy. Food was very tasty.

Lunch with Lulworth Cove view, the crab sandwich is so good that you don’t want to miss it!

Vanochtend een ontbijt gegeten. Roerei met zalm. Was erg lekker. Lekkere ongedwongen sfeer binnen. beetje alternatief.

we had Cod & chips and it was awful! The cod batter was hard and fish small & dry, like a frozen cod fried in a fat fryer, lots of chips but dry, probably warmed up. Visited our first day and did not go back again! Silly vinegar in sachets, hard to open!! a terrible cup of tea.

The place itself is nice with a very beautiful sea view. They have outdoor and indoor seating. Unfortunately we did not like the food. Tried cheddar panini and crab sandwich. Both came with salad in the side. Nothing special in terms of taste. Crab sandwich was not tasty at all. Cheddar sandwich was just ok.

Good crab sandwiches. It's a lovely spot right on the bay. Would benefit from a bit more shade outside. They have big doors open so interior is safe from Covid point of view.

Nice food, had a wait for 20 mins due to weekend rush. There is seating arrangement inside and outside the restaurant.

Fab fresh food over looking the sea. The fishcakes were delicious, served with a generous portion of freshly made salad. Staff were really friendly. If your visiting Lulworth Cove I highly recommend this place for lunch.

Horrible food and had to wait 25 minutes for 2 sandwiches!!

Good location, service and helpful staff. Perhaps a little pricey.

We had two breakfast takeaway sandwiches. Had nothing else to eat during the day but my wife developed symptoms of food poisoning! Apparently the sausage didn't quite taste right. Be wary and check the food carefully

This is a great little place to get some freshly cooked food right on the cove side. Staff were friendly and welcoming. You can order food to take away or eat in. There are a small amount of table in and outside. They are a great selection of cold and hot drinks. Payment is both cash and card. I had one of the specials bacon, brie and cranberry panini. This had soft cooked bacon and loads of brie and cranberry served with a side salad. Definitely somewhere to stop when visiting the cove

This little shed is a hidden treasure. Tasty sea food - check out the specials, lovely people, great sea view. You can sit indoors or outdoors. It’s directly on the beach front.

Menu choices limited but amazing quality. What they did, was cooked well. Personally not keen on sauce sachets. Worth a visit.

Cheap processed fast food charged at the price of homemade ££😳. It's a shame that the quality of food has gone down since the Covid pandemic. Not sure why, maybe it has changed ownership. Seafood platter was two shrimp, four pieces/rings of calamari and two bite-sized cubes of cod, all crispy fried, with a salad on the side (fresh out of a bag) at £11.95! Flat white, not included in the cost, was luke warm and tasteless. Very dissapointed.

Lovely old boat shed, now cafe at the waters edge in Lulworth cove. Fantastic fresh, no nonsense, seafood medley on their terrace overlooking the cove. Served by friendly people and good value for money, Thank you guys!

We visited this unassuming cafe on the waterfront at the magical Ludworth Cove. Small but perfectly formed seafood menu, so we all got something different, and each of my party of four were blown away with the freshness and flavour of what was delivered....but I came out triumphant with, ( and I not given to hyperbole) the best fish chowder that I have had in the uk. Creamy silky, generous amounts of smoked haddock; baby squid and prwans, and four slices of fresh bread.By time I finished eating the chowder savouring each mouthful, I knew that although although live many miles away, I would be travelling back to this place in the future just to have this fish chowder. I kid you not this is the first time I have been given to write a review for any restaurant / cafe / eatery of any kind but it was that good I felt compelled to show my appreciation by writing a review.

Lovely views of Lulworth cove, a great place for lunch!

Lovely views of the cove. Very pleasant staff and waiting time for food was acceptable. The food itself wasn't great, salt and pepper squid that came in a heavy and overcooked batter and a mini seafood ploughman's that I could have put together with ingredients from Lidl. I was hoping at least some of the meal would have fresh fish, but This was not to be.

This eatery is in a privileged position on a beautiful bay but the food was amongst the most dull and uninspiring that I have ever eaten! Such a wasted opportunity

I’m sorry to say that my partner and I were left feeling feeling pretty disappointed with our lunch after stopping in because of the generally positive TA reviews. We ordered a crab sandwich and a prawn & avocado salad. The avocado was so overripe that it wasn’t edible, the prawns were squishy and tasteless and slices of pepper were a strange mix. The crab sandwich was served on slightly dry bread and the crabmeat itself, whilst a very generous portion, was very intense as it wasn’t really accompanied by anything else bar a few dry salad leaves. The service from all staff was good, it’s a shame that the food didnt live up to the picturesque location and price…

The food here was not very good at all. My wife and I had the crab sandwich and the crab was horrible and full of grit or shells. My son had sausage and chips and the sausage was inedible. For this standard of food we had to wait nearly an hour to make on a blisteringly hot day. The young boys on the till, while very pleasant, could not remember what the hell we ordered and the kitchen seemed to be chaotic. No wonder the food is so bad!Other people in our party also commented how bad the food was. No one enjoyed it here.Lastly, it’s not as if the prices aren’t sky high! They are! £8.50 for a gritty crab sandwich! It’s a beautiful spot and should be serving fantastic food at a reasonably quite rate. The menu is very small with not much options, so they should be prepared on a busy day to turn out good food quickly.One to avoid!

Whilst staying in west Lulworth, this place became our go to place for a coffee and a cake or croissant. I can highly recommend the Dorset apple cake. Sat outside with a fantastic view of Lulworth cove on a delightful summers mornings- what could be better.

Friday lunchtime visit. Was hoping for the seafood platter, but not on menu that day, so not sure if it is off menu until availability stabilizes? Anyway, I had the Crab sandwich, which was superb! Stuffed with crab. No problem with prices - in fact we looked at a few menus in the village, and this was competitive.

Excellent view of cove and food also quite tasty

Excellent location for relaxation.

Excellent crab sandwich and cake whilst sitting with a view of the cove.

Enjoyed a lovely impromptu lunch after being on the beach for the morning. Great crab sandwich full of crab with a nice side salad, my husband went for the fish finger sandwich which he really enjoyed would definitely recommend

My wife and I both had a fish finger sarnie, chips and a bottle of mint & lime lemonade - each of these was delicious by itself but it was not a good combination (obviously this was our choice!). The service was quick, the sandwich was tasty. The view from a dining table must be one of the best in England - I recommend a lunch-stop here! What also impressed me is that all of rubbish is sorted through and recycled - this does not happen enough!

Lovely place with delicious food. Really enjoyed my lunch & it would have been 5 * if it wasn’t for the wait for the food. The poor staff were run ragged, we counted 3 staff in total for hundreds of people! Anyway, they were very attentive and apologetic. Lovely place though.

Lovely staff and great spot for lunch

Great stop as you are walking along the coastal path - delicious hot food (calamari & posh fishfinger sandwich) that was served quickly and beautiful sheltered spot close to the beach.

Stopped by after a walk over the ranges and down to the cove. Great hot Cappuccinos were welcoming.

On a visit here we stopped for a quick drink and bite to eat before carrying on with our walk. Quick service, food was hot and very tasty.

Shuts at 4pm but last food order is 2.30pm with no mention of the latter on their website or on premise.

COVID restrictions being adhered to, experience not really what we expected mainly due to reduced Menu and weather. Pricing is what you would expect from a cafe in this spectacular location.

Had takeaway latte (1) and 2 small croissants £7. So expensive but I suppose you are paying for the location and loss of Covid-19 earnings

Miserable in there. Woman doing the cooking was rude, forced me to pay for a face mask and then let others go without one! Food is overpriced!!!!! £6 for a egg and bacon role!

After battling through the wasps and flies I collected my Coffee. I might as well drank from the local river. YUK! and way overpriced. Supposedly an Americano. Not quite sure what it was. Why do people pay and accept that crap.

Stopped off here on Monday morning before the journey home. They serve bacon and breakfast sandwiches on panini bread and they are just lovely and very reasonably priced too. Just what we needed. Sadly there were a lot of wasps about, so sitting down at the tables was a no-no. We took a nice walk along the little bit of beach, took a few photos then set off on our way.

We ordered takeaway to have on the beach. The food was very tasty and came quickly. Perhaps a little pricey, £20 for a bottle of coke, a fish finger sandwich and a potion of chips. Food was certainly good quality though.

Nice spot by the sea, lots of outdoor seating. The staff were friendly and service was prompt. We both had cream tea, it looked nice but the scones were microwaved. It was so disappointing to be served a really hot soggy scone! We would have ordered something else if we were told they were not fresh. We did not complain at the time as it was busy and with covid restrictions we didn’t want to be standing around unnecessarily.