The Italian Kitchen in Purbeck

Excellent food and a great location looking over the river to the Purbeck hills. We had a large table upstairs which had a hardwood floor and no sound dampening, so it can get noisy. The service was very good, we'll definitely go back.

Pleasant service and quite tasty food , neatly making the 4 star but just lacking time finesse. Lovely waitress couldn't do enough to make us comfortable. Good atmosphere

Welcoming, comfortable, delicious food, and very reasonably priced. Made a very special Valentine's meal, thank you!

What an amazing place. Nicely laid out. Lots more space inside than I ever realised, and for once, comfy chairs! Food was amazing. Staff all friendly. Yet prices similar to pubs. Totally recommended. You won't be disappointed.

Myself and my partner Lauretta came in for a valentines day dinner, nice atmosphere, great service, amazing food would highly recommend.

Superb Italian restaurant that fronts onto the Quay in Warham with lovely views of the Bridge and river. Ample parking. Excellent service and delicious food. A real treat all round and well worth a visit.

Excellent quality, service and atmosphere. Highly recommended.

What a find,absolutely fantastic Italian restaurant in Wareham

Great atmosphere with outstanding food and welcoming staff. Alfie our waiter couldn’t do enough for us and was so helpful. The chef was very accommodating of us delaying our mains so we could sample even more of the starters.

Most incredible food and great service

Lovely restaurant and great value for money. Lots of variety to choose from. The kitchen was running behind but the waiting staff did their absolute best to keep the guests happy. However limited options for pescatarian/vegetarian.

Excellent Food and Service for my Wifes birthday meal. I cant fault anything about this visit and we will definitely return.

Not only did they accommodate us, they gave us a private area. The menu was amazing, and let's be fair we ordered everything from it but the food still came out all together. Staff were extremely helpful and friendly.

The Italian Kitchen is the perfect spot to dine and unwind. They serve stunning, high-quality food at great prices. The service is impeccable—every staff member is helpful, attentive, and genuinely happy to assist. We’ve loved every meal we’ve ever had there. They even serve homemade bread while you wait for your starter or main course, which is a lovely touch. Whether it’s for a date night or a corporate works meal, The Italian Kitchen never disappoints. The quality has never faltered or wavered—it’s truly the best Italian restaurant we’ve ever experienced. We highly recommend a visit! Would recommend the squid starter, spicy nduja pizza's and the creamy tuscan chicken are some of our personal favourites!

I eat here regular and it’s amazing! We are both visiting on New Year’s Eve and can’t wait 🙌🌟

Lovely restaurant & food, great service, we live not too close but would definitely visit Italian kitchen in the future when near Wareham

Excellent food, great service. A bit quiet on a Sunday, but it was my birthday, so... we'll be back. 👌

Had an anniversary meal there last night , food great though not much choice on the menu like the last time there, Alfie our waiter was great got everything right first time and always with a smile, only just started he said but would not know m service was silky smooth. Recommend the Italian Kitchen to anyone.

Came here for a nice meal with friends. The friends were great... meal, not so much. We ordered the antipasti (£8.50) and requested that it was vegetarian plus the anchovies, expecting a range of tasty pickled vegetables for the vegetarian bit. We couldn't quite believe what was brought to the table. Yes a small bowl of anchovies, 6 slices of bread, a dish of butter... and 6 very ordinary pitted olives. When nothing else came, we queried it and was told 'no, that's it'. A complete joke, but at least the restaurant had the decency to reduce it to £5 when then bill came. The main courses were, at best, very ordinary. The pizza was doughy and chewy (ive had better from Dominoes), the pasta dish was achingly dull, and the salad (when the correct one was served at the second attempt) was thrown together with very average ingredients. I can only assume that the chef responsible for all the 5-star reviews was on a break, and replaced by someone who has never been to Italy. I eally don't like writing poor reviews, but then I also don't like going for a rare meal out with friends (normally super positive), and us all feeling let down. The waitress was lovely and did her best in a tricky situation... but the signs were there early that things weren't right, so the manager or chef should have come to the table.

We use this amazing place at least 5 times a year when we are visiting. The food is fantastic the service is fantastic and if you sit upstairs the views are fantastic. Never had a bad visit over the 10 years x

Hidden gem of Wareham. Small plate deal is real deal !!! I love the prawn and ham. So delicious. You also get a beautiful of the river as well. Tilly was a lovely and sweet waitress to take of me. Thank you. Will be back

Really delicious food I can tell special care has been taken and I didn’t mind waiting. Attentive staff and nice atmosphere.

Went to The Italian Kitchen for a special birthday, it could not have been better, great service, great good and a lovely warm welcome, thank you all for making it a special evening.

We bad experiences never go back

Amazing food, wonderful service.

Amazing place to meet up with friends by the river and have a excellent evening meal definitely the jewel of wareham.

I used to think that the birth of my first child and my wedding day were the best days of my life... that was until I dined at The Italian Kitchen. The food would make any proud Italian mama weep with joy and the service was so sensational that it felt like home. My waitress Laarni treated me as if I were her own family, completing a totally unforgettable experience at The Italian Kitchen. My family and I will be relocating to Dorset to be nearer to this restaurant. If you are in the area and do not visit The Italian Kitchen you are a FOOL!

Excellent food and great service in this little restaurant overlooking the River Frome in Wareham. Well looked after by Laarni

Second visit and sadly service this time wasn’t as good as last time. We asked if a dish had the prawns peeled and assured they did only for it to arrive with tails on so disappointing. Apologies given but no suggestion of a complimentary drink or similar. Dessert order incorrect, which was corrected but in general a bit dis organised!!

Always have an excellent meal here when we stay in Kimmeridge for our annual holiday. Nothing is too much trouble and Always have the alcove booth. Impressed because I can have a starter for a main course as sometimes I can't eat a lot.

One of the best places I would recommend in Wareham friendly and quality service

Good food but slightly on the expensive side for simple Italian fare. They had a kids menu in addition to a build-your-own dessert which the kids enjoyed.

An excellent meal and very considerate service. We'll return.

Ask questions before you commit..... High expense with no outcome..... As a family group of 6 on holiday staying nearby, we were looking forward to this meal and had planned our travel in and out by bus. We were therefor time limited. Having been greeted and seated in a polite and timely manner, we waited an acceptable 5-10 minutes to place our drinks order. We then placed our food order within 20 minutes or so......wind on 30 minutes we were provided 'complimentary' breads.....which were admittedly very nice. Fast forward another 50 minutes or so, I approached a waitress to ask how long our food would be (as we had not had contact from any server aside of me having had to go to the bar to order further drinks.) Her reply "oh, what table are you from?" So, off she goes to ask, and returns a few moments later to finally admit that they only have 1 chef on. The top floor is full, the second floor is near to full and our floor....well, there were three tables occupied.... time is fast approaching our last bus so we explain the predicament. The waitress then goes to ask how long the food will be and returns to suggest it will be soon. By now it was too late and due to the complete lack of communication we had had enough and also needed to leave in order to get home. She then offered for our food to go in doggy bags (she didn't say it so many words, but I can't imagine a rigatoni and lasagne in a box....) We refused. We ended up with a £60 bill for drinks (which werent discounted as suggested)....and a "we won't charge you for the food" (which we didnt receive) sweetener! In all, a "highlight" of our holiday and will be memorable for the appalling communication and service - a complete waste of time and I would suggest asking questions about their staffing / bookings before committing. As a side note, the Co-op down the road do nice pizzas and the local bus service are reliable and dropped us off on the doorstep...our oven is currently on 220° Happy holidays!

Terrible service, can't really say anything about food as it never arrived in time, no communication, disappointing experience.

Nice restaurant, clean and tasty food!

Managed to book a table on a wet Saturday evening. Lovely location by the river. The starter and mains were fantastic, the staff are very friendly and efficient. We've just ordered the Tiramisu so the final review hangs in the balance, they say it's home made, we'll see... Well they've smashed it out of the field, that was delicious. A definite recommendation.

Used to be so much better. They changed the menu to small plates which in our opinion was not a great idea. With a young family we used to enjoy being able to come and get dinner or a late lunch in the afternoons but now the menu is limited to mainly fried tapas style food rather than good portions of pasta and pizza. Please bring back a proper lunch menu

Fresh and delicious food. Staff were friendly and helpful. Atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable.

Walked past the restaurant when visiting Wareham. So pleased we booked a table. The best meal we have had out for a long time. The flavours were amazing, we had the prawn and Dorset crab linguine. The sea bass was just the best. Beautiful food. To start we had the sharing anti pasti platter. The mix of breads with salted butter just so tasty. We will definitely be back. Compliments to the chef. Value for money absolutely.

The food was fine. Not particularly interesting, for any of the dishes we had (table of 3). We sat outside on a not so busy day and got forgotten about lots. Would have bought dessert to try and fill us up a bit more but sat there with empty dinner plates for 45 mins so didn't bother.

Standard high street Italian. Portions are generous, options pretty limited aside from pizza and pasta. The pizza is the sort you'd have typically got in the UK about 15 years ago before the proliferation of proper pizza ovens & more authentic Neopolitan style pizza, and massively overpriced at about £18 per pizza. Kid's menu is good value, pizza virtually the same size as adult's version for about a third of the price! Pasta was fine. The three waitresses were so nice and polite but looked absolutely petrified and seemed over-stretched. Presumably they are all fairly new and / or have not received adequate training, as they seemed to struggle with some basics such as clearing tables and wine serving (wine was just left on the table for us to open and pour ourselves, especially challenging when you don't have a corkscrew!). Overall it was OK but I won't be rushing back, it was a bit expensive for what it is and there are plenty of good restaurant options in Wareham and nearby. As a related aside, the Italian Bakery in Wareham, run by the same people, is excellent.

Lovely place. Bit of a wait for our pizzas but they were extremely busy. However Ellie G our waitress made sure we had drinks and a gentleman brought us bread on the house while we were waiting. When we ordered Ellie G advised me my pizza was served folded but could be done traditionally if I wanted it that way. I was impressed that she knew the menu sufficiently to give me the choice. She also made sure we weren't forgotten about, despite how busy they were.

a really good Italian restaurant! Me and my girlfriend went out eating tonight and had a great time. The team and the food was amazing I recommend it to anyone it’s a better alternative than the old granary or the quay INN in my opinion! Also recommend to book a table instead of just walking in in the evening

Stopped here by chance when on holiday in the area. Fantastic food, lovely quiet atmosphere and a wonderful location.

Absolutely awesome food and fantastic service even got balloons and a candle in my dessert as well for my birthday dinner

We found this restaurant when exploring Wareham. The small plates lunch menu was fantastic. Super tasty and amazing value. If we are in the area again we will return

we arrived at 7:00, we ordered our drinks, food and starters. our drink arrived within 15 minutes and starters within 30.We finished them within 15 minutes and they then waited another 35 minutes to take away our plates. We asked a refill of the same drinks we had previously asked for and they gave us water. We then asked for drinks once again after around 20 minutes and they brought them after half an hour. Around 10 minutes after our drinks had arrived our food was given to us, people who had arrived after us, had the same amount of people as us and ordered more food then us were given their food around 45 minutes before us. I am NOT impressed with the service, will not be going here again and suggest that you don’t either!.

Popped in on Monday evening. Major disappointment. Starter and artisan bread was ok. For mains I had the Lasagna, not great, very burnt on top, filling was so stodgy, I suspect it had been cooked a day or so before and reheated. My partner had the sea bass, way, way over cooked and very dry, how hard is it to cook sea bass? A restraunt staple. We did inform our very good waitress and were given a discount on our bill. But very disappointed food, we will not be returning.

Great food and service at 2.45 in the afternoon !!!!!

4 of us walked in without a booking, wasn't a problem and we were seated upstairs. A limited menu but a good variety and still not stuck for what to order. We were given complimentary artisan bread for the table, had shared starters and various meat/fish pasta dishes for mains. The food was amazing, brought out piping hot and unbelievably tasty. Waitresses were very nice and would highly recommend

A larger restaurant inside than it looks from the outside, the Italian Kitchen nevertheless has a fairly small menu, focused on Italian classics. I visited in a group of six and everyone enjoyed their meals; meaty, veggie and vegan options. My goats cheese pizza was superb. The service was also excellent - prompt and friendly - and I look forward to my next visit

Stunning food, great value The small plates menu is just perfect. The grilled smoky salmon arancini were just awesome. My husband had the pork belly 'burnt ends' which were delicious You have to try the Salted caramel chocolates, we went back for more, lush Topped off with a lovely rose Service was perfect, great atmosphere Highly recommend

The food here was excellent, imaginative and different. We had 5 plates for 20 pounds plus a starter. The wine was good and we had a great table with plenty of room for the dishes. Waitress was lovely too. The only thing we didn't like was the awful music, too loud and spoilt the atmosphere in the restaurant.

Delicious tapas lunch. Very reasonable price. Would definitely recommend

Excellent food in a relaxed environment. The staff were really friendly and service was perfect. A lovely meal out thank you. Highly recommended. One tip though, you don’t need radiators on in July !

Dreadful. Very slow service. Had to wait best part of half hour just for drinks. Two of the four meals were served after approximately one hour, ( without the sides) and some time later the other two meals arrived! The lasagne had half a dozen pea sized meat pieces in the entire dish. The spaghetti bolognese could only be described as a plate of tomatoes. Very poor.

Ordered 2 pizzas based on awesome reviews - a margherita and a chicken. Neither were great. Thick stodgy bases, margherita had minimal basil - more of a cheese pizza. Chicken pizza had dried out pieces of chicken with a few bits of capsicum - threw half it in the bin. Expensive. Not sure where the 5 star reviews are from - maybe the guy serving us - he was personable and polite. Maybe it was a bad night but suggest you try elsewhere

Lovely Bottomless brunch. Staff very friendly. Ellie keeps the pizza and cocktails flowing!

Sweet girls, but very slow poor service. Pasta dishes tasteless, under-seasoned and poor quality ingredients. Apparently usual chef was off. Table behind us also pointed out their disappointment. Save your money and open a bottle of Dolmio, will be tastier!

We had the small plates at lunchtime and the food was some of the best we have had in years. Great service as well, will definitely be back again soon.

Called in mid week for a light lunch. Not very busy, so tabled quickly. Pleasantly friendly staff. Chose the 5 small plates for £15. Excellent choice. Highly recommend.

Loved the food here and plenty of it! Artisan bread and butters, well impressed great value have tried Sunday roast here and it's spot on!

Unfortunately after saying that our pizzas would be delivered within an hour, we called to chase up food. The lady told us that the ticket machine was playing up and had not printed the ticket. Offered a 50% discount, best they can do, but have to wait another hour for a delivery as they have others to send out, so not prioritising. Extremely disappointed as a Father’s Day treat. An expensive meal at £56 for four pizzas and not really apologetic. We continue to wait two hours for pizza. We will see what arrives.extremely disappointing service and attitude.

Loved it, we had a mixture of 5 small plates to share, it made a fabulous lunch & very tasty, staff excellent, we sat outside in the sun, it looked lovely inside aswell, highly recommended.

Love eating at the Italian Kitchen, Wareham. Delicious food, the best staff

My first time in the place the staff today was amazing very friendly and helpful we just had a drink but they was with a lovely smile , thank you keep up clean and stylish I loved

Brilliant brilliant brilliant! Vegetarian family of ours got the best dinner of UK trip. Pizza / pasta / special requests all were done 10 on 10. And what a service. Special mention - Garlic Bread.

Disappointed with the small plates menu as not really italian- might as well have gone to a tapas bar.

Was recommended this place by the locals and definitely wasn’t disappointed. Service was amazing , food was just as good , would definitely visit again if we didn’t live 300 miles away 😂

Good food, good price combined with great service. I had Lasagna and chips which was great 👍🏼

Quite ordinary really. Service good, but food well below par for the price. Carbonara was really awful…..stodgy and no seasoning I could taste.

Really nice meal Very good service Lovely wine

The restaurant was busy, especially given it was mid week, when we arrived at 7.30pm and were shown to our table. There was a good choice on the menu and the food came well presented and tasty. However, the downside was the time we had to wait for the first course to arrive and an equally long time, nearly an hour, for the main course to appear and we had to chase for it. By which time the restaurant was nearly empty. Would I go back ....maybe.

Had the new small plates menu on a Saturday afternoon (managed 6 and a mini pizza) and cocktails with my husband and really enjoyed the whole experience!

I visited The Italian Kitchen for the first time on Easter Sunday with my family for Sunday lunch. The food, service and atmosphere were absolutely brilliant. For anyone who has not yet visited this restaurant, you really should give it a try. I very much doubt if you will be disappointed. Well done to to all of the staff for the experience. I will be back again.

We have always wanted to eat at the Italian Kitchen restaurant, as we use the bakery when we visit Wareham and Swanage. The food served was amazing and the staff are very friendly and accommodating. The restaurant is nicely spaced out with the seating so it does not feel crowded and on top of each other. We would highly recommend

Sorry to say but this visit will be our last. We have regularly been for Sunday lunch here and usually been very impressed with the quality and service of their Sunday roast. What used to be 3 slices of prime sirloin is now 2 thin slices of poor quality meat with lots of gristle. Plus the vegetables whilst still lovely quality, portion sizes are half the usual amount. The waitress failed to ask if we had enjoyed our meal (Most was left on the plate so it was clear to see & he meat was awful.) I politely told her how we usually love their lunches but todays was poor, and enquired if they had maybe changed their supplier or chef. She sad she would ask chef then returned saying that all was the same, without offering to put anything right. Whilst bright and very breezy she did not offer any solution. We asked for the bill and paid in full but were not happy as we had eaten one roast potato (Of three) and half a Yorkshire pudding and the vegetables but left most of the meat as it was unpleasant. Nothing was offered to us, a replacement or something else from the menu. We will vote with our feet and not return.

Rarely write reviews but the food and service received on Saturday 9th March was exceptional. As a coeliac was pleased to select from a specific allergen menu. The attention from both the young lady and gentleman servers was exemplary. Just a shame we live in Hertfordshire, otherwise this would be regular visitors. Brilliant!

A good assortment of plates on their lunchtime menu.

Fabulous experience! We were a large party of 14 on Mothering Sunday and everything was just perfect. All the staff were so friendly, helpful and patient; they genuinely cared that we had a nice time and the food was just fantastic. Highly recommend.

Tons of choice, enjoyed a mix of the set menu, the specials menu and the separate Mother’s Day menu. Favourites were the roast beef - luxury trimmings and a rich red wine gravy, the sticky super soft braised beef with mash and the bread and butter pud! Amazing atmosphere in the restaurant from multi-generations was lovely… service was warm, welcoming and patient with our indecisive wine choices! My partner receiving a beautiful homemade cake as a leaving gift was such a super leaving surprise. Thank you for making it such an easy yet special occasion for us.

A little concerned that the a la carte menu for the evening was replaced by a small dishes menu. There was no need for any concern! All 10 dishes were wonderful. The young lady taking care of us was polite, knowledgeable, warm and friendly. The table decoration marking our anniversary was very thoughtful. Thank you. We shall certainly return way before our next anniversary!

Unfortunately a very poor experience tonight 01/02. It was 50 minutes before any food arrived. Fortunately the diabetic member of our party, who was celebrating a birthday, got their meal and we we were told ours would follow in 5 minutes. After a further 20 minutes we asked for our bill and left. We felt sorry for the waiting staff. We have enjoyed many good meals at the Italian Kitchen, the last in January, but we won't have the confidence to return, particularly with friends. If there is a problem with the kitchen, they should serve less covers to avoid disappointment fifvtheir customers.

Regrettably, a very poor experience this evening 01/03. No food arrived until we had been in the restaurant 50 minutes. Finally one meal arrived( fortunately the diabetic member of our party who was celebrating a birthday) and we were told the other 2 meals would be ready in 5 minutes. After a further 20 minutes we asked for our bill and left. We felt sorry for the waiting staff. We have had a number of good meals at the Italian Kitchen, the last in January, but we wouldn't be confident to return now. If there is a problem with the kitchen staff, I suggest that the number of covers should be reduced so not to disappoint customers.

We had a lovely anniversary meal here. The food and drinks were delicious and tasty. The service from the staff was amazing throughout, they were all attentive and no problem was too big for them

A lovely experience all round, fabulous food and lovely staff. A thoroughly enjoyable evening, couldn’t fault anything, thank you.

Excellent customer service and food.

We tried the takeaway and had a pizza and a lasagna. The food was okay, with the pizza base being crisp and the pizza itself tasty although the diced squash was a little hard for my taste. The lasagne portion was very large, but my partner found it a little dry, the accompanying side salad was good.

Lovely food and a great selection to choose from. Everything was very tasty and fresh. I really enjoyed the prawns and salad dishes, lots of varied small plates they were great for sharing.

I’ve visited here for Sunday lunch on several occasions and it never fails to impress. The food is always amazing from perfectly rare roast beef to crispy roasties and al dente veg. Excellent wine selection. The service is friendly and efficient, and today was no exception!

Beautiful lunch,comfortable place, staff very nice and knowledgeable about all the food being served. Beautifully cooked.

Great food, staff, atmosphere and value for money

We had the best time here on Saturday lunch. We arrived early to a quiet restaurant and were greeted by super friendly and well informed staff, who made us feel at ease and explained their new ‘small plates’ menu. Our kids were given a nice menu with colouring in and nothing seemed too much to ask for. We decided to let our 4 and 6 year old order from their kids menu and hoped they would try some of our dishes too. The menu really is very appealing, so much so that the 3 adults ended up ordering EVERY dish they had on the menu in the end! I think it was 16 various dishes of meats, fish, veggies and pasta’s. All homemade and with a really modern vibe. Our waitress was soo good at making us feel at ease we had the best time. A few dishes were ordered and came out really fast - we were overjoyed at how beautiful they looked, and the flavours we so well balanced and punchy - we got really giddy and decided to order all of the other dishes and just share them all out. Have to say each dish was a triumph, my favourite was the pork ‘burnt ends’ with sweet and sour carrots and a mustard sauce, my partners was the pointed cabbage dish with sesame, my mothers the beetroot and goats cheese crispy ball. They all were delicious, and our kids tried loads of new things like a crab pasta and a cheesey focaccia. It seems like they really thought these little dishes out soo well, temperatures, textures, colours, flavours, elegance - we’ve not had anything like this outside of London. So, 16 plates in, plus the kids had their main course… we were all full up, felt like we’d been on a culinary adventure. And then we were offered something sweet - okay maybe we were just being greedy, maybe we just couldn’t resist not trying more?! The kids had a ‘build your own dessert’ of ice cream and sauces and sprinkles and cake bits - looked great - but sadly only for kids! We had their ‘sweet things’, kind of like large petit fours. Chocolatey cake balls, salted caramel truffles and tart passion fruit jellies - all were amazing! By the time we left, the restaurant was really busy - and I can see why - we will most certainly be coming again! Thank you!

We were very impressed with the quality of the food and wine. Good value.

The best best restaurant in Dorset. The food 10/10, the service 10/10 and the staff 10/10. I booked this restaurant for my mum’s 70th birthday, we had the most delicious food, the staff were unbelievably kind and nothing was too much to ask. We were a group of 15 adults and 2 children, & we had the room upstairs, it was such a nice area which felt like we had the place to ourselves. They even opened early & decorated for us, it was so special and we can’t thank you enough! Lots of our group had the prawn and crab linguine and heard all about how generous & many prawns they had. I had a margarita pizza with caramelised onions and and it was amazing. Shannon the chef big hugs to you, the food was incredible ❤️❤️❤️ thanks to all we will be back!

Food was great- i had an excellent pizza, my brother ate totellini with crab, we shared arancini to start. Beautiful presentation and service. Shame it wasn't busier- this place deserves to be full!

Such a great find, a wonderful gastronomic delight. A wonderful evening. Thank you.

Lovely looking place from the outside situated on the corner in Wareham. Despite pricing itself as a high end Italian restaurant the food didn't justify the expense and left the whole family feeling dissatisfied and regretting our visit. The general decor was minimalist, again to create a high end ambience though a tad rough round the edges which sadly didn't quite create the feel. The spaghetti Bolognese was an extremely small portion hidden by the over indulgent crockery and in honesty extremely lackluster in taste and seasoning boasting a jaw dropping price tag of £16.50! Sadly I honestly believe a local café could have knocked up better for half the amount. The pizzas were clearly freshly prepared, visually pleasing although a tad rubbery and thus overcooked. Presumably a bad day at the office and at these prices you expect so much more! Sadly won't return.

Really lovely staff, food pretty good too 😋