The Engine Room in West Dorset

I normally come here for biscuit decorating in the school holidays which is a free thing and ran by a lovely lady and my daughter loves ! Done inside so it’s easy to get a coffee and some lunch while my daughters entertained with her friends. It was really unfortunate to come today and find it had been moved outside … although sunny the weather isn’t warm and unable to get a coffee . The lady did a fantastic job with the kids as always offering a lovely holiday activity for free! It’s just such a shame to have been moved outside which I can only presume was decided by managers … the area was in the shade in a car park where cars are parking during the activity … uneven grounding where a child fell on the drain, and unable to get some lunch and supervise my daughter which normally makes it so much better. However again the biscuit decorating is a wonderful activity for the hoils which could bring the buisness extra cliental from frazzled parents

An excellent restaurant/cafe. Staff friendly and helpful. If it's good enough for Chazzer (KCIII), it's good enough for me 😉.

Pre booked thinking it would be busy for Mother’s Day. On arriving not very busy, had to find someone to confirm where to sit, no menus on table but greeted by an ant. Ordered food, staff friendly and helpful. Roast was inedible, also noticed food left on other tables. Maybe good for a sandwich!

Pre-ordered breakfasts for 14 for our every month or so family breakfast get together. It was our best yet, every aspect (food service and atmosphere) perfect. It will become our regular gathering venue.

Nice cake, lovely chips, good staff.

Most enjoyable lunch in beautiful surroundings.... before plant shopping!

We had an excellent lunch here. Our first visit and had the most delicious food. Would recommend the mushroom omelette. One of the best I've had. Look forward to visiting again soon when we move to the area.

The Garden Centre is quite lovely but the café is disappointing in a number of ways: the coffee is disappointingly flavourless and I would say not of good quality especially considering the Americano has no crema top? When I queried this they didn’t even understand what I was talking about. The staff are cold, unwelcoming and uninterested. When you meet with friends or family it’s to chat and socialise, so I am confused as to why there is a radio blasting in the background? Come on guys you are in the hospitality industry… Surely a smile, a friendly chat and a helpful gesture is not too much to ask? Very, very disappointing service.

Very good place to meet friends for drinks and snacks. Good selection of nut-free cakes and very nice hot drinks. Also not too noisy with a relaxing atmosphere.

I visited recently for lunch with friends. I had the vegan chicken salad and a coffee. There is a really nice atmosphere inside and it’s set up really nicely. There were a few things that need improving however: It wasn’t clear whether it was table service or if you had to order at the bar. This can be confusing and should be made clearer, or someone should greet you as you come in and explain the deal. My vegan chicken salad was so plain and boring and tasted like nothing. A few bits of lettuce, a scattering of pepper, some tomato and huge chunks of cucumber that I had to cut up myself with no salad dressing. One of the worst salads I’ve ever ordered and definitely wouldn’t come back.

The only down fall was they bought out a toasted tea cake 10 minutes before the hot drinks. Should really all come together as when drinks arrtea cake cold. But would definitely go back as food looked great.

A midmorning coffee and bacon bap during my visit went down well. A coffee shop within a traditional old farm outbuilding. Spacious and airy with plenty of tables. A fair selection on the menu and some nice-looking cakes on the counter. The establishment could do with an extra couple degrees on the heating as I noted many customers still sat in their jackets (especially by the draughty entrance in). Toilets are a bit of a hike and deep in the neighbouring garden centre. Overall, not too bad, some minor improvements to get the golden five stars.

Good food and service. Would be really great if there was a menu online to view.

A pretty bad experience. We popped in for a drink and a snack. They was not particular busy but all the tables were dirty with used crockery etc. they appeared to have plenty of staff. We sat at a table and moved the dirty plates to one end to give us room. We grabbed a passing member of staff and asked him if he could clean the dirty table. He returned with a cloth (no spray) and wiped about a third of the table. He then walked away without making any attempt or comment about all the dirty crockery etc. my wife walked up to the counter and asked for a menu, the young lad looked up with a look that could kill and handed her one without a single comment. At this point we decided to leave and go in similar place next door where we was greeted with a smile and served excellently. I don’t do a lot of reviews but as I am in the hospitality business I was appalled by this service. The engine room is a very busy place that does great food and is always busy. Maybe they could talk to thier staff about customer service as they might not always be busy in the future.

The Coeliac Blogger: I've eaten in this cosy cafe before and as a Coeliac they can provide a good range of gluten free options, sadly like many places have no proper gluten free cakes available unless it's in a tiny packet, selling the usual chocolate options which I don't like, they need to have a couple of gluten free sliced cakes available. It's worth going and nice coffee on offer. Definitely room for improvement,

Veggie breakfast was disappointing, atmosphere great, staff member was friendly, cakes looked lovely.

I must say, for a quick travel-home lunch, this was fantastic. You can clearly see why for such a little spot why they're so busy! For £15.95, a simple roast dinner with ample flavour. Homemade treats and lovely coffee. What a pleasure to have popped in on a whim. The staff were very attentive, despite being ridiculously busy, they made such an effort to be kind and helpful to all. Especially the older gent who was doing front of house, clearing tables and welcoming guests... rushed off his feet but was SOOO friendly which was lovely.

Nice meeting place with a nice lunch.

Beautiful setting and the best eggs Benedict I have ever had.

So disappointing. We had the Brie bacon and cranberry baguette. The cranberry was so sour we couldn’t eat it. We did raise it at the time and the waiter acknowledged and said sorry but offered no recompense even though we couldn't eat it. As they were so busy I didn’t make a fuss. I emailed the manager after and she acknowledged the batch of cranberry sauce used was very sour. She offered us two free drinks and 15percent off our next meal. We paid 30quid for lunch we couldn’t eat. This offer was insulting.

Sorry to write had a negative experience here..found the staff unhelpful Don't go there between 11.30 and 12. Breakfast menu ends at 11.30 and they don't take orders for lunch until 12..

Brilliant place for a light lunch or hearty breakfast

Really attractive orangery style area with nicely spaced tables for 2, 4, 6 and 8 diners. Somewhat loud background noises due to the lack of soft furnishings but made up for by the lovely outdoors feeling. Would have loved to have a choice of outdoor seating as well. There were few tables to chose from as it was fairly busy when we arrived. We chose a table which still had previous diners crockery which sadly wasn't collected when our order was delivered to the table. A welcome selection of cakes and long menu of meals that look even better. The ginger cake was a little dry but enjoyable.

Delicious food. Good quality yes and Coffee. Cakes.....spoilt for choice.

we have been here a few times and I really want to be more positive and give them a glowing review - but 25 mins for a coffee that was so hot it tasted burnt? They were not even busy - but all the staff seemed stressed and disorganised - not very helpful and certainly not very friendly either - what a shame! The atmosphere is ALL about the staff - if your staff are not happy - nobody will be.

Nice Restaurant with easy parking around it. Good food and lovely cakes.

Excellent full English breakfasts. Glad we went for the standard size as none of us would have managed a bigger version. Good quality ingredients - proper doorsteps of bread, not the flimsy cheap bread you sometimes get served in other cafes. Very impressed.

I enjoyed my first visit but the numbers of staff serving on the floor was very small - and the wait for food quite long. The food itself was fine and worth the price paid for it. Though generally I felt the restaurant lacked leadership.

Garden centre with a restaurant. Good combo and the restaurant itself is lovely. The food was good having the clubhouse sandwich which the chicken was just 'too dry' but had taste. The restaurant is kid friendly and they had burgers that looked amazing. Tasted good too. Lovely place to eat in Poundbury.

Nice atmosphere, lovely cakes but was very disappointed my friend who was visiting from Yorkshire and a celiac didn't benefit from the array on offer. Just a bought in selection of very ordinary gluten free options. I'd been recommend your cafe & coming from Australia where we have a great choice I expected more. Coffee was excellent though.

Enjoyed a gluten free caramel shortbread and a coffee at this lovely restaurant. Service was excellent.

Lovely place friendly welcoming great service

Service fantastic staff very polite The roast beef dinner was the best I have had (not including my wife's of course ) Great flavours and plenty of it great value for money highly recommended I will be back for another one

Had a few Breakfasts and Brunches here recently with our visiting family. Good selection of lovely food/produce. Thoughtful, cheerful and calm service. Excellent breakfast today. We left very happy indeed.

I arranged for a coffee stop on our motorcycle ride, having booked for approximately 15 riders, we actually arrived with 26! We were welcomed by the staff, and everyone who ordered food and drink were served in a quick and friendly manner. It's a big thanks from me.

Good service, have been here before will come back again, lovely Coffee ☕.

Thought we would pop in for a drink and cake mid morning and we were so disappointed, coffee didn’t taste like coffee, the tea was so strong if you diluted it with milk it would have been cold and the lemon and lime tray bake was so thin, a slice was less than 1/2 centimetre thick and the only flavouring was in the icing, and at £3:15 a slice not worth the money. Will not be going back in a hurry. My husband said the only good thing was the cookie!

Lovely cafe, fabulous food, great to visit after a browse in the garden centre

Lovely café. Food was delish ( we had cake) service was quick and welcoming. Our dogs were also allowed into the café which was great. I would recommend coming here if you wanted a quick bite to eat or drink. I also had to take some of my cake home so they provided a box for me to do this. Nice touch.

Waiting by the sign at the entrance for a table to come free, but was told to leave because we were 'blocking a fire exit'. In the event of a fire, we'd not be standing there preventing anyone from leaving, we'd be first out! Whereas that sign could be a real problem. Just give an honest reason.

Enjoyed the mushrooms on toast, but would have preferred field mushrooms as the shitaki type were a little chewy. Nice chap serving

Called in this morning with a few friends, friendly place good staff highly recommend.

Food that was full of flavour and huge portion too. Stopped here on our way back to sussex and was so pleased we did. The staff were friendly and catered to people's needs. If I'm ever passing again I will be sure to go back.

Overpriced and not nice food - maybe we were unlucky with the bacon rolls - bacon was fatty yet still as tough as old boots. Mentioned it to one of the staff and all we got was "sorry about that" then they scampered off sharpish. That said, it was very busy with lots of reserved tables. We won't be back...

Really nice place to stop for lunch

Great service good homecooked food

Had a free Sunday lunch after moving to the area which was very nice. Update review 5 years later, still a lovely place to come for coffee and cake.

1st visit. Very impressed. Dogs allowed. Food popular and professional.

Love this spot. Dog friendly, vegan friendly. Team are nice there and the food is comforting.

Lovely cup of coffee and a cake ☕🍰

Waited 15 minutes just to get to till to order. To then after the ling wait to be told its another 30 min wait at least for food. 2 other people left after being told this. How difficult is it to just tell people this before they sit down or have it written on thw welcome board? Staff didn't care at all.

Am sure the portions are getting smaller

Rather cramped especially for people with mobility aids likewise toilets some distance from restaurant

Didn't even get as far as ordering. The lady who came over to our table to clear it as we sat down was so unfriendly and abrupt that we promptly left again. If you don't like people, maybe choose a job that doesn't involve working closely with them?

Nice burger and chips with everything in. Busy hence service a little slow but not too bab. Nice garden centre attached

Have used this place numerous times and have to say recently it’s become very poor all round. Service is awful, cakes are good, but food presentation and quality again poor. It’s a shame as once was enjoyable experience now frustrating

Poor service ! Food came before drinks. Very busy with not enough stuff. Very stressed staff.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a good experience. Service was bad, the cake had egg shell within it and hot chocolates took over 20 minutes to make. In the end I had to go up myself to bring our items to the table because the staff were so slow-moving.

Excellent coffee and selection of homemade cakes. Very popular place.

Outside temp toilets not very nice.

lovely cafe - visited for lunch -nice homemade cake

Excellent as usual. A favourite cafe of mine.

Staff not very friendly! Won't be going Back

Always good food and excellent value. We're egular visitors.

I've been here for breakfast twice now with my wife, great food, staff are always polite and welcoming.

Nice, niche restaurant/cafe in a garden centre, nice atmosphere and great range of lunchtime food, it seems a bit expensive but the value, quality taste make it ok.

It was actually an engine room and has been converted.

Fabulous food, drinks & staff Xxxx

Lovely (simple) and we'll presented food. Very friendly staff. Great for gluten free too.

We booked today for our Sunday lunch which we ordered cost £15:50. When the meal arrived it was a very small serving and had a strange taste the potato’s were very greasy the meat was tender what we got of it, I had 3 small thin pieces of pork. The veg was a small amount of carrots, leaks and roast potato’s. I have never left a restaurant hungry but I did today. We have had good meals there but not today not sure we would go back for Sunday lunch again. Sorry poundbury if you serve up portions like this don’t expect return visits.

Very nice food! Staff very friendly,

Just the job after a hospital visit. What a pick up.

Sadly, the breakfast size has shrunk, and my egg order was wrong. Staff are friendly and the atmosphere was nice. Edit, breakfast size seemed better the next time.

A really good place to enjoy a snack in a relaxed atmosphere.

Great food, comfortable surroundings and great staff.

It was a dodcial charity night so service was not sm issue

Great place to stop in for a very good breakfast/ lunch staff always very polite and cheerful the grandchildren always like going here when we are in poundbury

Very good food with variety of choice including Sunday roast. I've never seen such a wide range of cakes before. The staff are very helpful. Dogs are welcome too!

Nice little restaurant inside the garden centre. Enjoyed the food and the staff were nice too.

A good cup of coffee and good service

Friendly service..reasonably priced.

Breakfast served luke warm on cold plates. Sausage appeared to be reheated from previous day . Very disappointed won't be going there again !

Visit here regularly with my parents. Staff always welcoming, polite and friendly. Food is always lovely and it was a nice treat to go up today and find gluten free fish and chips on the specials board. Both myself and my mum are coeliac and sometimes end up choosing the same thing on our visits. The fish and chips were delicious, good portion size and hopefully something that will remain on the menu at some stage.

Lovely food bit of a wait but it was packed

Popped in here for a bite to eat. Not been in for a while. Parking was a bit hit and miss as there is no designated disabled area. Food was tasty, but the elderflower drink was incredibly sweet and really saccharin! That was very disappointing. Had a lovely bit of cake to make it for it

Small menu. Hot drink cold before meal comes.

Looks lovely and welcoming but random set up. Wait at the entrance to be shown to your table and then you get up and join a que to make your order. Annoyingly we felt hurried to leave because they had decided to close early. The coffee and cake was nothing special the experience didn't make me want to return. The toilets are mobile toilets located outside.

Poundbury is kind of a weird place - the fantasy of someone who never actually lived in the kind of place he dreamed up - but this place was good and normal like good places are back in the big world. So do break your journey here, for it is an excellent place to do so.

Had a lovely lemon gatteo. Mmmm

Lovely food. Polite staff. Will return again. Nice place for a chilled coffee and snack

Such a lovely place to go for a quick catch up or a chilled lunch. The staff in there are fantastic. Especially the customer facing staff. One lady in particular is lovely and always smiling and cheerful and chatty. Makes my sisters day everytime. Food is amazing and freshly made everytime. Great value for money. And good size portions. Seating is good and spaced out. Nice atmosphere and gorgeous decor. Come often and will continue to.

Again went with my sister. We hadn't booked a table but we were soon seated and we both had the Omelette, Omg so much came with it, a portion of chips and a mixed salad with a dressing ( even catered for my dietary choices) supered Service and fantastic place to eat, strongly recommend anyone to go.

It's ok if you've got no where else to go

Very busy Sunday breakfast but very attentive staff and excellent scrambled eggs.

Went on a Thursday lunchtime. Parking was terrible. Exceptionally busy. Should have booked. Service great. Food great.

After confirming with staff the hot chocolate was milk free due to my daughter being lactose intolerant, we specifically asked for oat milk. Ten minutes after drinking the hot chocolate she experienced all the pain associated with consuming cows milk. Although the pain will subside withing a week or so I'm grateful at this point she is not allergic to milk. Your allergens knowledge needs to be filtered through and understood by all staff working on the till.

Excellent food, plenty of staff. Great place for lunch.

Had lovely lunch there last week

Lovely cafe/restaurant inside garden centre

Food and service good.The place is let down by the fact that the gàrden çentre is being prepared for Xmas so the usual toilèts are out of use so they have a portocabin for toilets . Ñot very welcoming for restaurant customers.