The Sandford in Purbeck

I don't understand. Super-looking pub, great staff, nice food (even if menu is a little short on choices). But only open 3 nights a week? It deserves better!

Expensive for what you got, at least the waitress brought some water over for our dog

Decent food for the price. We wanted a carvery but hardly any meats left so opted for a pulled pork burger and a cheeseburger. £1.50 to add cheese was a bit steep but hey ho. It hit the spot. A good range of alcoholic drinks.

Just had a drink , good atmosphere, friendly staff

Had a wedding here at the end of April. Friendly staff, fantastic location

Lovely Sunday carvery, friendly staff and dog friendly.

Only met with relations on holiday for a drink n chat

Lovely evening at the Michael Bublé tribute evening .food was amazing staff were incredible looking forward to the next one

Need to try and match pub 70 yards away for drinks but food deals are good

Only popped in for a pint on Sunday lunchtime, food looked good but didn’t have time to stop. The only bummer was the weakest real ale they had was 5%, no good if you’re driving!

Be very wary of this place. They will randomly cancel the menu when they have an event, such as MeatLoaf, even if you have booked a table. There was no evidence of the advertised 85 seat restaurant or the games room although one end of the bar had a pool table.

Fantastic local with a menu for everyone. Took the family out for lunch and had a great time. Decent prices all round too.

Visited today whilst on holiday. 4 adult meals and 1 kids meal. All excellent, super service, yummy food and we all left very full. Dog and child friendly. Lovely place ,will visit again

Me and my mum decided to pop in The Sanford for a Sunday roast. It had been a while since I last visited. Good to see the inside had been updated somewhat. Friendly staff and service, a pleasant atmosphere to dine in. Extremely dog friendly which is great! Not the best carvery I've had but it was hot and tasty. One bad point I have to make tho is they charge nearly £4 for a pint of tango which is totally overpriced. That was the only thing that let it down really. Would go back for food, just need to rethink the soft drink prices in my opinion, but other than that, it was fine.

A lovely carvery meal, successfully served on a very busy Easter Sunday afternoon. The food was rustic but in a great way. And the pub was packed full of happy customers. The staff were giving a great service considering how busy it was. And there was live music being performed in the large garden at the rear. Well done The Sandford! We will definitely be back.

Made very welcome and food looked really good. Will try some next time.

Called in for a midweek carvery. Great food, service and value. Definitely will return 🙂

Great pub and restaurant staff very helpful

Went to The Sandford pub last Sunday lunchtime. My friend has a roast and I had a steak. Both were absolutely awful. My friend’s gammon was so fatty and not particularly hot and my steak medium was grissley and over cooked with a very watery peppercorn sauce. Very very disappointing

Enjoyed a lovely carvery there yesterday afternoon, truly delicious. Fluffy yorkshire pudding, a good amount of turkey, delicious riast potatoes and a gravy with meat in it that was fantastic. Followed by a chocolate cheesecake. Exceptional presentation on the sweet. Will be returning.

Called in here after a visit to Swanage and Durleston , we and our 2 fur babies received a warm welcome, we chose the carvery I had pork and my partner had the gammon with all the trimmings and we had a dessert , I had chocolate toffee cheesecake and his nibs had apple and blueberry crumble. The food and service was excellent and we will be returning.

Amazing ambience and staff is really helpful

Had a delicious pre-Xmas meal last night. Great pub and very attentive staff.

Stopped in The Sandford after a wintery walk in Wareham Forest. One person on the bar and one person in the kitchen. The bartender was lovely, smiley, chatty and engaged with us. There was a large table of 8 in as well. We did not feel neglected and the service was excellent. I had the sausages and made. My partner had the open pie. Both absolutely delicious. Good value for good food and a relaxed atmosphere on a snowy day. Recommended.

We stopped for lunch. The pub was beautiful. The food was excellent. A proper pub menu. We had the steak and ale pie. Absolutely lovely. A proper suet pie. Highly recommend this place. Xx

Nice roast good staff recommended.

Big thanks to the sandford and their staff for Saturday night. Second time I've hosted my birthday there now and it was a great success!

Pulled in on spec after a day in Swanage for dinner My wife had the Steak Pie. I had the homemade pie. As a retired chef I would like to congratulate the chef on the pie and thank them for the hot food from the first bite untill the last.very hard to get these days. All staff were pleasant.well done to all

Staff were lovely and welcoming, we had burgers which were great! 😊

Visited on Sunday, the staff were amazing, food arrived fast and was great.

Wonderful staff and lovely food.

Staff were so lovely! Food was fantastic!!

We have never visited this pub before and were on the way home from a day out. It said it had a children's play area so we thought we'd try it out. We had the roast. It wasn't that fabulous to be honest. 2 roast potatoes and some very hard parsnips and peas. No broccoli or Carrots. We did ask for the extra cauliflower and cheesey brocoli but they said they were sold out. We weren't able to have a choice of 2 meats ( for extra money). So my husband came away very hungry still! Also a table who came in after us and ate after us managed to have the extra veg which we asked! Abit odd as we were told they had sold out?! Kids chicken was extremely in the batter also. Nice atmosphere though and probably would visit again but just for drinks!

Lovely food. Pleasant staff. Food arrived in no time. Had giant steak and kidney pudding, very tasty. Nice and clean pub if a little sparce in decor. Would definitely recommend

Had a lovely roast chicken, my only criticism would be that you only get carrots and parsnips cauliflower and brocoli cheese is 3.50 extra and was not cheesy at all. Some peas or cabbage were needed and not extra as £12 is quite alot

Lot of money not much veg or meat

Food wasn't what we expected, staff were very friendly and helpful .

Overall nice place... Don't know what fake grass over pallets in garden area is about,,buts it's a H/S risk Food was nice but portions was on small size... Your onion rings are delightful would have loved a few more on plate.. or a extra option..

Food was lovely. The service from both the bar and wait staff was top notch. Will definitely return in the future, really enjoyable evening

It's a family pub. The best chicken burger, nice drink bar, free top up water and ice, Carvery on Sundays but make sure you pre-book. Food can be also delivered into nearby 'Holiday In'. Overal experience, great atmosphere, delicious food, nice staff. Disappointed that they don't do takeaways for visitors on the beach🥲

We passed the pub and decided it looked good to find some food on our way home from a weekend in Dorset. They had a special event on with live music in the garden and it was fairly busy. Lovely atmosphere and helpful staff who showed us somewhere to park when the car park was full. We had 4 adult meals and 4 kids meals and whilst not being the cheapest, it was a fair price for the good food the turned up. We would happily return if we ventured down this road again and needed some lunch, lovely pub!

Me and my mates that met online rented a place near wareham and we wanted to grab some food and drink a few pints, we ended up staying there for a long time due to the immense hospitality that the owner provided for us, not to mention the entertainment. We got invited a couple of days later for a night at this same place with live music, amazing food, amazing staff, amazing and gorgeous building. Thank you so much Jamie for the time.

Nice venue and lovely food although the service was a bit slow.

Good sunday roast. Nice play area for kids and friendly staff.

Fantastic food and great service!!

Very limited menu but food was lovely

Greetings from the german dude, really nice landlord, good food/prices. Also has awesome events!

The Burgers were massive and the roast was nice but the staff get ten out of ten

Great pub with live music. Great food and facilities. Very good welcome and large variety of gluten Free options. Kids friendly. Good stop on way back from Wareham/Swanage etc.

Very friendly service food reasonably priced and of good quality. Can eat both indoors and outdoors. We chose outdoors so the kids could play in the good kids play area

Stopped there on the off chance and was pleasantly pleased. Happy staff, clean and tidy , spacious, good ale and the food was very tasty. Would go again

Initially uncertain after another customer very loudly voiced their disappointment but our evening improved. Starters were very nice and the staff were amongst the most friendly and welcoming we've experienced - they couldn't do enough for my wife, my son or myself. The food was reasonable, not the best if I'm honest but the atmosphere (live music, my son's first experience) was good and the overall experience was very nice. A personalised waffle for my son was a wonderful touch and very nice too (unfortunately he wasn't keen on the ice cream!) When we polished it off! I would probably return, and just have something different from the menu, though the nacho starter was absolutely delicious!

Food was warm, not hot and roast potatoes so hard I couldn't cut them!

An ok sort of pub. Nothing special.

Terrible meal in the Sandford 30 quid and now off to get fish and chips mushroom was burnt to a cinder chips was not edible onion ring had a dandelion on it so disappointed and never going back

Nice clean pub, friendly staff. Food was good.

Came here from camping. Felt too hungry and this place was the nearest one. When I sat, nobody came and I started to reading comments on Google Reviews. People were complaining about late services & non tasty food but nobody mentioned that u have to go to them & grab the menu. That was kinda unexpected but still ok for me. Not looking for best service to me. Just looking nice & kind people who can make ur day & thats what i found in there. For starter I’ve ordered Garlic bread and it was delicious. For main I’ve ordered beef burger & that was okay too. Service was fast, didnt wait 30 mins or 45 mins. Just to letting you know, staff was not bad as they mentioned. They asked me few times if I would like anything else. What im trying to say is, dont read bad comments when you wanna go any places. Go there & Check by yourself:))

Never met ruder staff, we ended up leaving without ordering food and going somewhere else! Don’t bother going here.

Drive past very fast,I DO NOT RECOMMEND WAITED 1 HOUR AND A HALF FOR OUR FOOD TO COME,WAITERS ANNOYING! DONT BE FOOLED BY THE FOOD, MAKE SURE U DONT EXPLORE! ENDED UO EATING THE 8 PACKAGES OF SALT I GOT I WAS THAT HUNGRY I ONLY ASKED FOR ONE KETCHUP AND GOT 11!

Would be a good place to go if the staff actually cared about their job- rude staff and no food after 1 hour 40 - seems locals come first- the staff and kitchen staff are not doing the owners justice as can imagine they have worked hard for the restaurant- will not return or recommend due to our experience

Lovely food a one service from the waitress

Popped in today on the way past..we all had the burgers to eat..absolutely delicious and big portions..really friendly and helpful barmaid/waitress..will definitely go again

Great food, great prices, great staff. What's not to like !

A great afternoon for a lovely man

Music was blaring...wherever we sat! Chicken curry was very small portion.. only had two pieces of chicken! Chicken burger tough as old boots! Polite service though...!

Staying local for the weekend. Been in the Sandford a few times.ordered a round of drinks.asked for a Archers and lemonade and got a orange juice! Didn't say anything properly didn't understand my accent ! Food looked nice though..

Great place to meet up and enjoy good company

Warm friendly atmosphere, very welcoming

Had a Sunday roast and it was incredible, friendly service and reasonable prices

It took a while for our Sunday roasts to come. The vegetarian wellington had soft/undercooked pastry and the brocolli and cauliflower cheese was watery and not much of it for £3.50. The roasted veg and yorkshire pudding was nice though.

Stoped here for a quick pint, friendly bar person. Clean, will stop if passing again.

Lovely food and really friendly staff!

Perfect grub, great beer, lovely people! Always welcoming and a great laugh.

Very impressed. Food and service were both excellent. Will definitely go back.

Absolutely great tasting food and a pub with a great atmosphere. Jamie, Zanda and Amy always make you feel welcome.

staff work hard here and very friendly on arrival

Passed by from Wareham to Bournemouth / Poole, saw this lovely & crowded pub / restaurant, decided to pop-in and it was nice! Good ambiance and freshly made food! Delicious~ Friendly staff & efficient service!

Only went for a wedding menu taster but the food is amazing. Jamie is a top guy and I would recommend to anyone that wants some quality food 👍

Friendly and helpful staff the let down was the fact we were the only people in the restaurant and easily waited up to 45 minutes for the food. Then when it arrived it was a let down, out of the 3 meals only 1 person was happy with the meal. Not worth the expensive prices, especially the steak as it was mostly fat.

Top family establishment with friendly staff. The food I have always ordered there is always fresh, hot and delicious. Good selection of beer and wine. Great children's play area. Would thoroughly recommend.

My wife and I found The Sandford while passing, and had a wonderful meal. Being vegetarian I was pleasantly surprised with the choice and the staff where friendly and helpful too. Next time we are down that way we will most certainly be trying the Sunday roast. Well deserving of 5 stars, well done and thanks to the team and management.

Food arrived 45 minutes after ordering although pub did not seem busy. Roast potatoes cremated and shreds of carrot & parsnip burnt, loads of red cabbage but even that was tasteless. Told broccoli and cauliflower were £3 extra on top of the already overpriced £12.95. Roast pork meat was nice but would not return and advise you to try elsewhere where you can get a decent traditional Sunday roast.

Good food, dog friendly and helpful staff.

Great Sunday roast in a busy and bustling pub. Good service from a very helpful staff.

Beautiful tasty food, and lovely polite, helpful staff. Thank you so much.

Great pub for all the family. Friendly staff and welcoming vibe. The place is always very clean and tidy. The outdoor space is beautiful and large, good parking and lovely food. Brilliant place to finish a forest walk!

Sunday Roast adult portion size, would be ample for a 2yr old!! Not good value at all.... You can see that it is a popular "Local" for locals, but as for visitors & tourists, I wouldn't recommend going.

We had a great Sunday roast dinner, catered for GF too. Very friendly service, a must if you are staying local

Service excellent food very good

4 out of 7 of us opted for steak, big mistake. Never had so much gristle and fat on rib eye. Drive on to Wareham for much better value and choice.

Nothing to write home about. Customer service is lax at best. Local pub for local people 😒

Terrible service, moody and unapologetic waiting staff. Drinks order was incorrect. Nearly 40 minute wait for barrel to be changed for pale ale. Well over an Hour wait between ordering and lunch arriving. Gluten free option not remembered Sunday roast served cold. It wasnt even busy. Not sure why they were open for food when quite clearly they can't manage. Sadly, would not return.

Friendly staff but not the best roast dinner, the meat was yummy though.

Lovely pub and dog friendly. Service was great and the food lovely. Visited after a 7 mile walk, in the rain, through the forest opposite and my daughter and I arrived tired and hungry. Warm, welcoming reception; prompt service, will definitely be returning.

Nice place. Had the chilli con wasn't the best not alot of flavor. Quite expensive for what it was .

Never again!! The food was awful! The fish was over cooked and small! The was 8 of us and only one meal was nice! The drinks where flat and over priced! The curry was horrible wouldn’t feed it to a stray dog. And the customer service was not great when we told them our meal wasn’t nice. Don’t waste your money on this below average pub.

A good traditional pub menu with well presented good value food. Very friendly service.

There was 12 of us all together and got a table booked the day before which was great service. Food the chips were big but hardly any middle in them and very greasy. The hot dog was not a good choice unless you like herbs. I found it to be very strong tasting which I cant remember if it states this on the menu. Great location though nice pub and food was large. The nachos came out but no sour cream or guacamole? is this not part of it? wasn't offered any either.

Lovely meal and friendly , welcoming staff. Will definitely visit again

By far, the best burger I have had, period. Amazing burger, Amazing food and good selection of alcohol