The Curlew in East Dorset

The first time here for a number of years and it turned out to be a good choice. Came here with some friends for a midweek lunch and, although the place was busy, they kindly fitted us in. The menu offers a good range of dishes - we sampled quite a few between us and all were well cooked and presented. The portions were good and the service was friendly and efficient without being pushy. We felt the pricing was a little high for a pub meal but was justified by the quality of the tasty food. Definitely recommended

First visit here and just wanted a light meal. Good menu and I chose a vegetarian roasted vegetable wrap with a side salad. Very disappointed, couldn’t see any roast veg. I was expecting aubergines, peppers, courgettes, onions etc. Just a lot of salad (already had that on the side), beans and I think hummus. My mini pud on the other hand was delicious and just right. Will visit again and try a Sunday lunch. Staff very nice and worth going back to though I won’t be having the roasted veg wrap!

We came to the curlew on short notice for dinner. After a warm welcome we were shown to our table. We had our order taken in suitable time for us to decide. Great variations of food choices on the menu. the meals we did have were all cooked to perfection. Absolutely brilliant staff and environment. We can never ask for any better after each time we have been in there. 10/10 from us. Also a massive thanks to Lorraine and the rest of the team

The food was exceptional, we were shown to our seats as soon as we arrived and introduced to the amazing Kitty who was friendly , polite and attentive. Lovely place to eat, warm and welcoming

Had a lovely lunchtime meal here. I had a ham hock pie from the main menu, which was a proper all round pastry pie - not one that just has a lid - it came with spring onion mash, carrots, green beans and gravy. My friend had mac & cheese which came with garlic bread and a bowl of salad, followed by sticky toffee pudding and custard from the 2 course meal menu. We both thoroughly enjoyed our food. Very fresh and tasty food. Great value for money. We were served by the lovely Emily. Comfy surroundings, warm and friendly. A very enjoyable treat.

Walked to the pub on Sunday early evening for a few drinks with the wife and upon entering we were told we couldn't go to the bar and sit inside as all the tables were being used for diners! The young man told us we could sit outside in the cold though! I'm sure this used to be a pub not just a restaurant. Very poor really.

Excellent meal, good quality food and very good service

Great food and excellent service from Emily

Claire is such a star and deserves special mention! She went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience, despite a little issue with the food (which she then spoke to the chef and they were able to resolve) and all the while the place was busy and understaffed that day! Thanks for a great evening. Would recommend.

Lunch was amazing, staff were friendly (particularly Emily our waitress who was lovely), nice atmosphere. We will be back.

Emms was brilliant, food was quick and service was great, thankyou!

Emily was really professional and great for our service, did a great job! Will be coming back

Great place to eat...staff are great...attentive.

1st time here with my sister Jackie who comes often. Fab food, waitress Kitty brilliant and packed out which proves how good it is. Next time in Bournemouth I will visit again. Malcolm

Emily was very attentive and personable. Food was good, everyone enjoyed the meal.

Good food, great service. Our waitress, Emily, was very attentive and helpful. Highly recommend

We had our anniversary dinner here on the 6/10/24. The food was amazing and the extra additions they made to our night as it was our anniversary was so kind. Our sever Emily was fast, efficient and chatty. I had the roast and my husband had the burger and it was delicious. I really recommend here especially if it’s for a special occasion.

Tasty food. Enjoyed the atmosphere, service is good. There could be more for vegetarian though. Prices are a bit too high for me so I won't come back unless I have a voucher.

Busy late on a Saturday night but lacking character and atmos

Very good food served here by friendly and attentive staff. Always popular.

Excellent meals and great service, friendly and helpful staff. Four people and we all had different meals and all were excellent.

Just returned from a great lunch at the Curlew - Emily was really helpful and welcoming and the meal was fantastic - Nigel had the chicken and mushroom pie and I had the Moroccan chicken skewer and both meals were exceptionally good - please thank your excellent chefs xxxx

Excellent food, quick service even though they were busy. Popular pub for food so you need to book. Cab also sit outside, weather permitting.

The trio of roasts was excellent. Great service as the staff are very attentive. A very good place to come to for a Sunday roast.

Lovely service from Sharon, food was delicious and fresh. Such a lovely atmosphere and very friendly with our dog!

Had my daughters birthday meal there ..food was amazing and staff helpful especially kitty..Will return

Great food and great service. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Had a lovely lunch with my husband at The Curlew. Food was excellent especially my amazing mango and passion fruit pavlova. Kate was excellent making sure I got the right deals from my app! We will return again as we love good service.

Had an excellent meal tonight with great service, will definitely recommend & return. My only complaint which is not the venues fault is having to fight thru smokers / vapers standing around the main entrance.

Sunday lunch for four - food was tasty, hot and a good size portion. Service was also very prompt and friendly - would definitely recommend.

Lovely welcome for our party and the dogs, the waitress asked the names of each of our dogs, and remembered them throughout our meal. We mainly had the Sunday Roast, i myself had the turkey. The quality and quantity of our meal fabulous, we all really enjoyed the food. Service by Sharon, our waitress, was second to none, attentive but not at all rushed. Desserts were scrummy, I had The Honeypot and it was delicious. All in all, well worth a visit!

It was OK, food was OK service was good

Food was delicious and service by Emily was perfect. Helpful, efficient and service with a smile. Thank you for a lovely lunch 😘

Had lunch here today chicken penang curry. Tasty but expensive for what it was.

Just perfectly cooked food and very friendly service.

Two friends and I visited The Curlew for lunch yesterday, 3rd September. we have visited the restaurant many times and have always been very satisfied. However, yesterday it took 45 minutes for the hot starters to arrive and when they did all three starters were cold. The staff were very apologetic but then it was a further 10 minutes before we received them again. Also the main courses were not up to the usual high standard. It was very disappointing as it was my birthday celebration meal.

Huge thank you to Sharon for looking after us for the evening! The food is always great and staff are very lovely.

Great ambience, meal and service, as always. Several different areas to the restaurant to cater for quiet dining, taking a dog with you or eating out with children.

Sat in the garden for lunch, very nice and the trees and bushes blocked out the main road.

Lovely meal and great service. Only issue for us: when booking a choice of ‘dining area’ or ‘dog friendly’ is offered - having selected ‘dining area’ we expected to get a dog-free experience but this was not the case. This would influence our willingness to return. We don’t have anything against dogs - but would rather eat our lunch away from them.

We had a marvellous time at the curlew. We had an ice cold corona and a lime and lemonade for drinks. Aswell as being a restaurant it’s great to have nibbles and picky bits which were really good. We shared garlic bread, chorizo and chips. All of this was accompanied by a lovely server named Holly who was very funny and a great asset to the evening.

We had a large party of 13 for dinner, on the whole the food was good, we had a few issues with dips or dressings missing from meals, some of the steaks were not cooked as we ordered (as in we ordered med/rare and it came med/well) and when you are now paying up to £30 per person for a steak meal it needs to be great. On the whole food was good but not great.

Extremely pleasantly surprised by how good this was. Had a meal here years ago and when friends suggested we go back I wasn't too keen. But I was wrong. We sat outside in the sun for a quick drink before dinner and then went inside. The young lady who served us was delightful - she was efficient and had both a personality and a sense of humour (rare these days) - and the food was way beyond my expectations. It wasn't all that busy but it should be - it was really very good

Fillet steak over cooked, crème brûlée under cooked no crispness at all. Very good service, staff excellent, slapdash kitchen.

Just been to the Curlew for lunch and what a lovely experience. The food was great but the service from the staff was fantastic. Every team member was cheerful, efficient and so helpful. Well done guys you made a good experience really great 😃👍

Best family meal experience we've had for a while. Great meal and fantastic service from Sharon.

Great food and really nice pub overall, Claire our server was very attentive and loved the service. Recommend this pub.

Such a lovely place to spend a Friday afternoon with family and the pooches

Really nice pub lovely food and very nice staff

Great pub with delicious food, lovely beer garden with very helpful waiting service. Only minor gripe the toasted flatbread could have been toasted a bit more otherwise perfect.

Have visited The Curlew a few times over the last 12 months, breakfast and lunch were very nice, lunch menu especially. And great for vegetarian options. The most recent visit was for Sunday roast, there were 5 of us eating 2 had the veggie Wellington, which went down well. The other 3 had the meat options. The time between ordering and getting the food was a long time. Originally, the server only bought out 1 bowl of veggies to share between the 5. These just about served 3, so we needed to order more. The meat was lovely but, and personal opinion, the veggies were under cooked. 1 of us ordered a cocktail, which would traditionally be a short cocktail. However, it was served in a tall glass, thus drowning the taste of what it should have been. Overall, it was a nice lunch, good service, and value. The staff were all friendly, and the servers were very polite and cheery despite being very busy. Will definitely return soon, especially for the lunch menu skewers.

Emily was very friendly and efficient

Excellent Sunday lunch, roast turkey and veg were delicious. Emily was our lovely friendly waitress. Will come again. 10/10.

Prepared meals NOT amazing staff efficient let down by food quality

Five of us for dinner and we were all very happy and satisfied and Emily our server was very nice and helpful!. We would definitely return and recommend the Curlew.

The restaurant was very busy for a Wednesday night which is always a good sign! Our waitress, Loz, was very friendly attentive and helpful. We were not rushed to pick our choices and there was a nice gap between courses! There were 4 of us eating and we all thoroughly enjoyed the food we chose. I would not hesitate to recommend. Some people may consider the prices slightly higher than ‘pub’ meals but you really do get what you pay for here, so it’s worth the little extra!

Loz was so kind to me and my family. She made jokes with us wich my Grandad loved, so did I. Thank you so much this was an incredible experience.

We stopped in for lunch on Friday 2nd August 2024 and were allocated a nice table inside. Served by Emily who was attentive whilst not obtrusive and very helpful. The service was excellent and our food was good too.

Our waitress Claire was amazing very very accommodating very kind and sincere. Steak came wrong because of other waitress but Claire changed it and was very happy and pleasant to do so So very good meal and experience because of Claire

Lovely pub food, staff are very friendly and efficient. Will be going back very soon.

Lovely meal and great service from Emily. Thank you 🤩

Nice atmosphere, very close to the campsite, good food, good service. Gladly again.

Heard great reviews about poached egg. Menu is premium with niceties like cherry on the vine tomatoes to polish up the breakfast with quality looking for something a bit nicer. It was a standard breakfast though and no cherry vine tomatoes, just basic grilled tomato I’d get at a Wetherspoons. Left having paid 32 pounds for a breakfast and coffee for 2 and I could get that for 22 at Wetherspoons. Poached egg was good. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Recommend adding seasoning to eggs and buying premium ingredients if you advertise them otherwise buyers will feel mis-sold of their premium quality.

Amazing food, very impressed with the Gluten free options , friendly and helpful service from Emily 😄

I have not been for years, but hopefully return very soon. I had a great meal with great service..

Fab meal, great service, definitely recommend

The staff was super polite and the food was amazing the scotch egg was the nicest ive ever had

Sharon was wonderful, attentive and helpful. Thankyou

Had a fantastic time. The food and service was great. Made more special by our waitress Emily... dispite getting everyone singing me Happy birthday. She was very welcoming funny and attentive. Will certainly be going back.

A really nice place to eat, the food is good, the service is good, and the portion size fits your need. It is well presented and has a nice atmosphere and is not noisy - so you can chat without shouting. Nice place.

Great time had at the Curlew on Friday lunch time. Lovely welcome and great food and the whole team are so friendly. Thank you for the great experience 😊

Spent a lovely afternoon in the garden enjoying reasonably priced drinks and the wide selection of bar snacks, which at £10 for three good portions are excellent value. In particular the warm runny Scotch Egg, Chorizo Sausages and Halloumi Fries with dips and if you add the Garlic Flatbread with Beetroot Houmous and you've got a great tasty Lunch for 2 for circa £15. The staff were all polite and efficient, in particular Lauren, who was very professional and made us feel welcome. I'd highly recommend The Curlew.

Only go if you are eating! It's not a pub it's a restaurant. My daughter was at a works meal so we arranged to meet her. We'd had her daughter for the day & it was a convenient drop-off collection point. We went in ok and found the table that they were at. We sat down, and my husband went to the bar to get us a drink. No bar service, table service only. So he came and sat down he watched 3 waitresses chatting & having a laugh. He saw the front of the house manager go over and say something. He'd told my husband that someone would be over to take an order. Eventually, after arm waving, a drink order was taken. My daughter & friends wanted their bill. Eventually, they got up and went over to the waitresses station. They were told to sit down & they would bring it over. Eventually, it arrived, and they worked out payment. Some were paying by cash and others by card. They said the food they had was good. My daughter left, and we decided on a second drink. The Front of House manager came over and said that the table was needed in 15 minutes, and we said that's fine. If we could have the bill, we would take our drinks outside. He thanked us but did nothing about the bill! We decided he/they couldn't be bothered, then neither could we. Eventually we asked for the bill paid and took drinks outside. We won't bother going back for a drink. The menu looked ok and food choice was good.

We booked for my 30th birthday, and whilst it was over the phone, there wasn't a way to speak to a human, instead it was an automated service to book a table. I gave an average score for the food, as whilst my steak was decent enough, the other food was mediocre and overpriced for what it was. The worst part was being told we had 15 minutes left on the table, despite having JUST cleared our plates and not even finished our first, and inevitably only round of drinks, let alone thought about dessert. Don't get it wrong, we weren't chewing at a slow pace (we were really hungry), and the majority of the time was spent waiting for food. We didn't get starters, just main meals. Personally, I think this is awful for a food establishment, especially with a booking. Funnily enough we weren't told at any point that we have a time limit, and frankly I didn't appreciate being made to feel like a cash cow. Would've been nice to have a birthday dessert, or a second round of drinks. You're better off going to harvester or somewhere else, where you'd know what to expect and not have to pass on puds. Dear management: People don't eat out because they can't cook or order online, they do so for the experience. And if you charge as much as you do for the level of food you serve, it's paramount that the experience makes up for it. What a disastrous disappointment and waste of a birthday. Regrettably, you've lost a local foodie and pub lover.

Great quick service. Delicious food

Excellent Staff friendly and helpful, food was excellent really great atmosphere! Can’t wait to return

Excellent service and a buzzing ambience, even on a Thursday lunch time! A good wine list is always a good sign of good quality of food!

Had a lovely evening out. Food was tasty and generously portioned. The atmosphere was warm and the service was great. Thank you Liz

Nice food but staff all looked like they’d rather be anywhere else this evening. Won’t rush back.

Great food with lovely service in a welcoming setting not much more needed or could ask for highly recommend.

Sunday roast was tasty and a good portion.

The vegetarian Penang curry was far too chilli hot and the accompanying rice was congealed. Wrong choice of dish as others looked better. I was offered a replacement but had no time

A great breakfast with my family and good service too.

Easy to get to location with great parking. Nice outside space and a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside . Tables well spaced out. Service from the staff was excellent- very attentive but not intrusive. Excellent menu choices and really tasty food. The penang curry was superb!

The service was very friendly and cheerful. Full marks to our waitress. The food was generally very tasty, I was impressed with the feta salad side to the prawn skewer it was plentiful. The crab cake starter was maybe a little on the small side for the price or lacked accompaniments. Our friends commented that the fish (with chips and sea bass) was as bit tasteless. We were unhappy that two groups of people with dogs sat near us and yapped at each other. One table had put their dog on a chair! Not really acceptable where food is being served. We also found the "bottle bank" annoyingly noisy. Staff would come in from the garden with a load of bottle and slammed them into the receptacle with a crash. It was not very pleasant to hear this repeatedly, really they should carefully put them in.

We popped in on the off chance we could get a meal and they were rammed with customers but we were given a table swiftly. Fish and Chips were fantastic

Lovely atmosphere and really friendly service from Emily 🥰

Had lunch with 15 other ladies. Food was OK but the service we received was very good. Interior of the Curlew very nice indeed

We had Stacey as our waitress & she was marvellous very helpful in every way.

Our server was Emily and she was phenomenal. It was so busy and stressful in here and she served everyone with the biggest smile and amazing attitude. She deserves the best!

good choice of menu, served by a very friendly waitress. comfortable surroundings with a good atmosphere

Excellent venue - very friendly & welcoming, with great food

Came here for father's Day brunch. Fantastic service and friendly, helpful staff. Three of our party had the full English breakfast. Superb and very good value for money. My daughter had her usual, eggs Benedict. Everything was beautifully cooked. We all left with very contented bellies! We will definitely be back.

We are very keen to book fir Christmas Day, a total of 16, 12 adults and four children. Your manager was very helpful and advised me to get back in touch towards the end of July when the menu and prices should be available. Is there anyway we can book anyway and confirm as soon as venue etc is out. We don't want to miss out as we know we are a bit group and hard to accommodate. We were shown an area which would be suitable over 3/4 tables so everything crossed 🤞 Many thanks. Moira

we came here for Father’s Day lunch. they were offering a set menu for just under £30 for 3 courses. food was lovely, I had the 3-meat roast dinner with extras, my brother has the veggie roast and our dad had the fish’n’chips. HIGHLY recommend the lemon tart for dessert 🍋🥧 lovely service, they managed an obviously busy Father’s Day very well. PLUS 🐶 friendly which is always a plus.

Nice little pub, good food and nice beer garden

I was only there for a beer. I didn't have any thing to eat but it did look good

Really enjoyed our meal here. Very busy, so I’d recommend booking if you’re going any evening, but they managed to seat us and service was very quick! Great quality food which I think is worth the price

Every mouthful was a tasty delight. Fantastic Sunday lunch with gorgeous food. Emily our waitress offered exceptional service was so friendly and happy in her job and disposition. Thank you for a wonderful experience all of the team . Felt a fully welcomed guest from moment I stepped out of my car to when I left. Bravo & will be recommending the food and excellent value for money & tasty super food .

Food is not particularly good and very expensive. You can get the same quality, if not better elsewhere.