The Stocks Inn in East Dorset

We have visited the stocks many times over the past 30 years but this was the worst meal we can remember. The gammon was thin, scrappy and too salty, the chips over cooked. We were asked if we wanted both egg and pineapple and then charged £1 extra for the pineapple, which we weren't told about when placing the order. At £18.95 it was not value for money. We ordered lemon & ginger cheesecake, which was more like mousse on a biscuit base, not the consistency of cheesecake. This desert was £7.95 so you would expect better. We told the waitress,who did offer an alternative, but this was declined. She said “I’ll let them know.” . An adjustment to the bill would have been more appropriate. There is a lot of competition in this sector and regrettably the Stocks prices have edged up too much and now sit at the more expensive end of pub food options. In summary a disappointing and overpriced lunch.

Excellent food. Had a lovely evening

Delicious food, excellent service as always

We have just enjoyed a fabulous meal with great service. We ordered a taxi as my wife had fractured her ankle recently and the road is a little narrow, so although not a long journey back to Wilksworth farm we wanted to remain safe. Fabulously the owner offered us a lift now that is above and beyond in my book, I wish I had a local pub near me with great food, great people and a sense of community..... booked again for Sunday roast.

Possibly the tastiest steak pie ever. Friendly service. A Good slection of beers to complement. Lovely olde worlde pub popular with dogs and their owners. Would definitely recommend, and will be returning for more of that pie.👍

Proper good pub grub, always a good meal had here. Highly recommend 👍

Lovely food in a traditional pub setting. Cosy warm feel as you walked in. Friendly staff and huge portions. Roast dinner was excellent.

Wonderful pub, friendly atmosphere.. excellent food, great value

Lovely food, great service and friendly staff

Just lovely service perfect well priced and parked up for the night in the camper with no issue

need to try excellent food and hospitality

Wonderful welcome, great service and meal,

Good all round experience during a busy Sunday lunch service. All requests catered for in a timely and pleasant manner.

Great country pub, very good friendly service large range of well price quality food. Look forward to a return visit.

Had a lovely family reunion. Food and service was excellent and we're allowed to have time in the bar to remake family ties. Not rushed it was lovely

Amazing lasagne.. but don't tell everyone! They'll be none left ..

Staff very friendly and efficient. Ambience always good. Food was excellent.

We were out for the day and decided to stop here for something to eat and have to say it was amazing. We've eaten in a few pubs and always find the food doesn't arrive very hot but here it was piping hot and extremely yummy. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend this place for something to eat. 5 stars in my opinion. We were actually going to try a different place in the area in the recommendation of several customers that my husband had given lifts to (he's a cab driver,he doesn't just give random people lifts) unfortunately the place was closed so we went here instead not expecting much and I'm so glad we did. Well done to all concerned with the running of the place

Superb food and service. Group of 10 and staff were very attentive. Excellent vegan shepherds pie. Good prices for both food and drinks. Will return

Stopped here on our way home from holiday, and it couldn't have ended better. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Dog and child friendly, staff interacted with both, making them feel welcome. Kids menu has something for everyone and includes vegetables as one of the options to give a healthy option, something you very rarely see. A good menu and reasonably priced. Food quality was excellent and plentiful. Would highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

I had the hunters chicken, it was disappointing, I had been looking forward to having it for a long time. When I received it, the chicken was rather tough and not enjoyable. The lovely waitress managed to change it for the fish and chips which were absolutely lovely and hot. The customer service is second to none. Two members of staff ensured that I was happy with my food and were amazing!

Excellent lunch today, thank you

We went on a Sunday lunchtime but resisted the roast (which looked great) and went for a ploughmans instead. We were not disappointed at all, lots of thick ham, a huge chunk of really tasty cheese, boiled egg, pork pie, three different pickles, a lovely warm baguette, big pickled onion, apple and salad. We'll worth the money. Will definitely eat here again.

Lovely pub very nice food popular place but also very friendly garden also nice for summer days and evenings

Gorgeous Pub with excellent food and customer service. Highly recommended and worth a visit. Wish we had found it earlier. Thank you everyone at The Stocks Inn.

Lovely meal in the beer garden after a day out with family.

Large home cooked portions...lovely place to eat ...highly recommend!

Really nice pub with good atmosphere. Food was delicious and service was quick and friendly. Proper traditional food with good variety. Definitely recommend.

Went there a couple of weeks ago- having been many times before. Service and friendliness is great and important to share that. We ordered two meals, both came out within about 5 mins which is always concerning. I have had steak pie and veg. The gravy covering the pie was all congealed and had a skin as though it had been frozen and put in the microwave. The meat inside the pie was dry and crusty. The broccoli was mushy and sooggy again as if microwaved. My partner had lasagne and said one part of the lasagne was just solid cheese as if they had run out of the dish and made it up with just cheese. She also said it was cold in the corner. She left a majority of it. In hindsight we should have complained- but when we got home we both said the same about the Food. It was pretty poor. Shame as the place is really nice but let down this time.

Had a great lunch in a packed dining room on a Wednesday. Ploughman's in particular was excellent

Wow the food is excellent, the service is awesome just all off the charts. Have been here a few times now and it’s now our favorite restaurant. My Mrs has a serious allergy and they just can’t do enough for her and make her feel safe every time. The service really is excellent and the selection of food is amazing too and catering for everyone

We were a table of 7 on a Saturday evening, very friendly and efficient service, food was excellent. Food allergens clearly labelled which was very helpful as two were diary free .

Great food & Great service highly recommend.

Frequently here great staff always with a smile and a can do attitude! Lovely location and when the weather behaves a great garden to chill out in too! As for the food best Hunters Chicken and Lasagna!

We dined here twice during our stay in Dorset. Meals were all very good. I was particularly impressed with the Gluten-free menu which had plenty of choices.

Used to come here a while ago has gone down a bit the food came so quickly I think it must have been microwaved it certainly burnt my mouth

As previous review this is an average venue. Food when i visited was average. The beef pie was dry and overcooked. My wifes fish and chips were bland. Staff were pleasant and to be fair dealing with two large parties. But no excuse regarding the pie, it shouldnt have left the kitchen. I was unable to send it back as i was a guest .

Nice and friendly service. We made a reservation for a group of around 20 people and were served quickly. It was fun at the Stocks Inn

Thank you, to Chefs James & Ashley for the care and safety taken in avoiding cross contamination in preparing a delicious meal for me. I have a rare Tomato Allergy. It truly made my day. Once again thank you. ❤️

I liked the pub very much and we had a nice meal - the only two reasons I cant give more stars is that I had the hunters chicken and there was literally only a teaspoon of delicious coleslaw given. Such a tiny amount it almost looked out of place. I was baffled by it and wanted to order (was happy to pay) for more as it accompanied the dish but I couldn't get any waiting staff attention until we had nearly finished. The other reason is some of the waiting staff we encountered were a little lack lustre and seemed fed up. I don't expect too much but I notice when waiting staff appear to not want to be there. But pub was clean, smelt good, very tasty food, good vibe. Would return.

Great place,friendly and welcoming

Great country pub with excellent food & beer choices, plenty of space to find a table for any size of group without feeling too sprawling. Haven’t visited for over 10 years and I was very impressed.

As always Food.superb. service A1

I can't say alot about the food, I that a butcher burger i wouldn't it was from a butcher, had better in lots of other pubs. And try serve triple cook chips. Not just fries, for the I think you could.

Good pub food but over priced. Very pleasant, friendly staff and customer service.

Lovely little pub we stop at for a cold drink after walking our dog. Friendly and beautiful beer garden 😋

Consistently good pub food in a nice location. Nice friendly staff too

We visited this pub on a Sunday without having booked and were shown to a table without fuss. Staff were very friendly and helpful during our time there. The only negative was having someone come to take our payment. My cottage pie was excellent. I had a shepherds pie the previous night at another pub. This pie killed that one! My wife rated her chicken dish very highly. Servings were a good size. No quibbles. Recommended.

Food really good service was a tad slow.

Fish and chips and hunters chicken both 10/10, lovely sitting outside in the pergola area with the sun beaming in. Service was nice and quick, we will be back

Decent pub grub. Ordered food & drinks separately, waited appropriately & received 2x good sized plates of tasty food. The desserts are super sized too. Will return.

Fabulous food in old country pub surroundings. Beautiful place with a lovely atmosphere.

Met up with family at the weekend and enjoyed a lovely meal. Very welcoming pub and dog friendly. Thank you ☺️

The food was amazing very generous portions, and the staff were lovely. A wonderful experience. Would definitely go again xxx

Excellent food and service with a smile. Due to unforeseen circumstances the birthday girl arrived a little late but the team were courteous and efficient in serving a lovely meal. Many, many thanks, you are to be highly recommended 👍

I was disappointed with the mixed roast dinner. The cuts of meat were so thin that you could see through the meat. The roast potatoes were very nice, could have done with a couple of more. Cauliflower cheese was nice. Just looked like a £12 dinner and not a £22 dinner.

Great food, service and the best pie I've had in years!

Visiting Wimborne for a couple of days and decided to risk going to the stocks inn with our cockapoo as it is dog friendly pub after reading the reviews, and we were very pleased we did, my wife had the hunters chicken with frys and I had the burger with cheese and chips, both meals were lovely and hot and plenty of chips and for dessert we shared a crumble with cream as we were too full to manage one each. It's was good to have a choice of chunky chips or frys,the service was excellent and I liked the fact that there was NO SERVICE CHARGE added to the bill, which ment I could tip what I think rather than sneakily adding it. I tipped 10% of the bill which was £51.40 for 2 meals,1 desert, 1 beer and coke.will definitely return.

Called in on the off-chance for food. Considering it was the busiest time on a Saturday lunch time there was not an issue despite not having a booking. The service was prompt and pleasant but not rushed, the food was great and reasonably priced, served without too long a delay. Recommended!

Had a Dorset Knob cheese and onion sandwich plus salad for lunch. Lovely fresh brown bread and lots to eat. Good lunch.

This is the Best pub for food atmosphere and the service is second to none staff are fantastic and go above and beyond

Wanted to meet up with youngest son near his farm and as two of us are gluten free this had a good menu. Excellent selection of GF, staff aware of issues with allergens and helpful, a nice change these days. Chips not guaranteed as same frier used but mash potato was creamy and smooth. Really tasty home cooked food, nice to see a traditional pub menu, we also had puddings. Empty plates all round!

Have been many times to this lovely pub and always have great food and service but last night was the best meal I've had there, so had to write a review. I had the prawn cocktail starter which was really nice as usual. Then I had the Steak and ale pie for the first time. It was superb and cooked perfectly. The meat was tender, tasty and succulent and the pastry just right. Will definitely be choosing that again very soon.

Was cool where we sat and we were cold but the food is excellent. We were treated to it so don't know the price spent

Good food, freshly made. Enjoyed it very much.

First time visiting today 10/2/2024 the atmosphere was lovely with a cosy & warm vibe. The service & food was great. I told the lady who served us I was following a diet and I was catered for with a friendly approach. Nothing was too much trouble and will certainly be going back.

Really loved this place, menu is vast and really good. The atmosphere was really warm & cosy and the lady who served us was so nice & friendly.

We recently visited for my husbands birthday, we always love the food and once again it was delicious, the staff are lovely and always friendly, we are looking forward to our next visit

Always made welcome here, the staff are all friendly. The food is good but the menu has not been changed in a long time, there are a few specials normally but a traditional menu.

Wow what an amazing meal. Been before but along time ago. Always lovely food but tonight was absolutely gorgeous from my main to my dessert. My partner had pate which was lovely and then steak and ale pie, which he said was beautiful, big pieces of steak. My fish cakes were lush and portions were very generous. I had the maltiser cheesecake which the best cheesecake I've ever had. So creamy, amazing. Service was brilliant. Overall outstanding. Won't leave it so long next time. Thank you. X

Went to lunch with some fellow retirees one Thursday in November. We had a good time and did not feel cramped in at our table, despite there being a good number of diners. There is lots of choice on the menu for all courses so our tastes were satisfied. The food was good and hot. In fact we enjoyed ourselves so much that we hope to go back again early next year, which we did. The food and service was just as good.

We have just been for a meal. What a fantastic dinner we have had. Freshly cooked and so so tasty. Thank for wonderful service and a fantastic meal. Thoroughly recommend a visit. Thanks

Great food and great service in lovely traditional country inn.

Good food and service as usual a great place to eat.

We had a wonderful meal for my mums 81st Birthday here this week. There was 11 of us in total and nothing was too much for Sally and her team. My mum is in a wheelchair and the Stocks is perfect as they have wheelchair access which takes the stress away when we take her out. They cater for all dietary needs as we had 1 vegan, 1 vegetarian & 1 with coeliac disease in our party. There is so much choice, especially gluten free. Its so hard to choose as there's just so many options. The biggest treat of all is to have a gluten free pudding. I chose the gf sponge with syrup and it was absolutely delicious. Thank you for making our evening so special, we will be back soon.

The staff were pleasant and the place itself had nice rustic look to it. It was the food that left me underwhelmed. It was priced as high as gastro pubs but was very plain and bland. It should be noted I ate off the lunch menu.

Great place to eat. Traditional country pub. Lovely service and nice food. Would recommend

bartender jamie was very attentive and met all our of needs. jamie had a very big big bottom and was lowkey caked up. tbh, i would (0 pints). 10/10 recommend , guinness was poured perfectly. up the stocks

Most disappointed with my well overcooked scampi. I actually had a sore mouth after eating it. Didn’t complain at the time as didn’t want to spoil our lunch with our visiting daughter. Also far too much salad obviously trying to make the meal look larger. Such a shame. We booked as it had good reviews. Scampi nothing like the picture on this site.

We visited the stocks inn last , good value for money, great portions , we came away full , We would definitely visit you again, would reckermend you visit, warm and friendly atmosphere See soon Thank Graham

Delicious smoked haddock fishcakes and very friendly staff

Excellent hearty fayre. Steak & Ale pie is Tres Bon!

Great food, served hot, polite staff

Excellent roast dinner - Sally was a great host, will definitely come back!!

Went here for a Saturday late lunch. We decided to try the stocks as so many people said how good it is . We didn't have a starter and both had the home made Steak &Ale Pie, I had it with mash and my wife had it with chips . I have to say rhe best pie I have ever had and so much meat inside and very filling . Washed down with a couple of pints but didn't have room for a pudding . Really lovely place and staff more than helpful and very polite . Definitely going back for more .

Excellent. Food was really good. Drinks were good. Friendly staff. Good experience. Recommended.

Very nice food and friendly staff

Food and atmosphere were good, but the experience let down by inattentive service. It was early Sunday evening and not busy. Another party was served first, but had arrived after us. Another waitress was cleaning tables (remember it was not busy) and not taking orders for a welcoming drink! We had driven quite a few miles in fog to get there, so were desperate to sit down and relax. The Sunday-roast was excellent and came quickly. Banoffee-pie is to die for. It set me up for the drive back in the fog.u

Great trip here today for a celebration. The team were super friendly and helpful, making sure to check back with us often. Food was really enjoyable and desert portions generous, verging on maybe too large! Will return here for our next family event (it's a 2 hour drive for us but worth it).

Have been here many times and had great food but visited last week and was shocked at how poor the food was. Two of us ordered the streak and ale pie which was dreadful. The pastry looked good but it was far too salty and the steak pieces were like dried up dog food. My wife has the liver and bacon and that to was very poor swimming in a pool of gravy with uncooked onions added to it. As I stated earlier we have eaten here many times but the meals were dire on this occasion.

Went with friends on a booked visit. A welcome as soon as we stepped inside. Showed us to a nice window table. Allwed a couple of minutes to settle in and handed out the menus. Very friendly and relaxed service. Food was excellent, liver and bacon to die for. Busy atmosphere from a fairly full restaurant. Wonderful experience and will definitely go back. Found the big mirror a bit disconcerting. Those who know, know. Thank you The Stocks.

Lovely lunch after a windy walk at Badbury Rings.

Excellent food at a reasonable price. I can see why it was so busy there.

i have eaten all over the world and i tell you all we cannot afford to lose pub restaurants of this calibre i drove a 180 mile round trip to see cherry after 34 years but the meal alone was worth the trip. best of luck for the future jim and larry.

Had a three course evening meal for 4. Great food, service and atmosphere

Great food at good prices. Recommend booking. They have nice outside seating area too.

Love the food when I went there last week will go back here again one hundred percent😊.

Popped in for a meal at 5.30 pub was empty as in no customers or very few, couldn't find any staff so the chef came out to get someone for us..this young man came pointed to a sign then took us to a table gave us 2 menus left us and never returned....After 20 mins we left ......ridiculous

We were in the area and arrived at midday without having booked a table. They kindly fitted us in, and although our table was in the dog- friendly area, it wasn't a problem at all - we're dog-lovers anyway! The service was very friendly and efficient. Great choices on the menu, we opted for the cottage pie and macaroni cheese with chicken/bacon. Good to have a smaller portion option available too. Desserts were good too, lots of "comfort food" options such as syrup pudding, fruit crumbles, brownies. My hubby was in seventh heaven with his choice of clotted cream rice pudding, and my lemon meringue pie was divine. Lovely relaxed atmosphere too. Thank you for a memorable lunch, we wiil return. Ps not surprised to see they won "Pub of the Year" last year. Well deserved.

First visit to the The Stocks, but definitely will nor be the last, from the moment we arrived until we left, we were well looked after. On arrival it was obviously a very popular place as on a Thursday lunch time it was packed with diners. The service was excellent, the food very nicely cooked and well presented. Impossible to select the best dish, all were great, the only complaint from any one in our group came from two ladies and their complaint was that they should have selected the smaller menu as there was just too much food on their plates and they just could not manage it all. Definitely a place to recommend and to make at least one return visit