Watch House Cafe in West Dorset

OK but slow services and expensive due to the location. I try not to leave anything except positive reviews but they took 10 minutes to deliver a pint to the table and forgot my son's order until chased up so that he ate after everyone else had finished. Appears kod friendly but in reality I think they'd prefer older parties.

Lovely restaurant right in the beach also the cheapest place for a beer in West Bay, food tasty and filling really liked this restaurant / Bar too marks from me

Oh dear what has happened to the Watch House. Called in yesterday for fish and chips. Minimal portion of fish and not very fresh. Chips ok but again not many of them. Overcooked peas. Paid £19 for this. Told waitress didn’t seem over interested. Have come here specially over the years when passing through. Not inspired to do so again. Such a shame. Used to be exceptional and lovely location.

Banging food, had a good veggie breakfast

Just popped in for a coffee n cake. Husband had a strawberry sundae minus any fruit at all! So basically he paid £7.50 for 2 scoops of ice cream and sum strawberry sauce in a sundae tall glass. Disappointing no strawberries. The rest of the menu had good choices. Kay served us and she was brilliant. Enjoy.

Have to wait to be seated. Was seated immediately as it was not busy at 1340 on a Monday. Dog friendly. Table service. Waitress very polite. Chai latte very good. Waitress will bring the bill. Menu is mainly pizza or seafood. Seems to be a cafe pretending to be restaurant.

Excellent place on the beach for food and drink, and it's very tasty, worth a visit

Good food and service, excellent location and very good with dogs.

The most expensive lime and soda I have ever had. £6.95! Won't rush back.

Had decent fish and chips in here last weekend on a very pleasant weekend break in West Dorset. Good, friendly service. A fairly priced pint of Amstel. An enjoyable fish and chips but slightly small piece of cod and a bit overcooked. A handful more chips wouldn’t have gone amiss! Priced a bit toppy at £19 as well I’m afraid. I do think £16 would be more than enough given the portion size and what is essentially a seaside cafe. Just feels like they are squeezing punters a bit. Nevertheless, would return.

Good menu, various choices. Tasty Mac n cheese, I found the batter of the fish a little overcooked, the fish and chips itself was overall good! Informal and nice atmosphere, very kind and efficient staff. Nice location!

Stopped here for lunch and it was great food and atmosphere. We had both had toasties

Have been here multiple times since moving to the area in October always for breakfast. Beautiful local fresh ingredients tasty and nicely presented . This is absolutely our favourite place for breakfast not the cheapest but you get what you pay for and the tea being served in mugs rather than small cup and saucer is a hit all the way welk done watch house cafe we will be back yummy

Lovely spot for lunch today, can recommend the pork, stuffing and apple toastie, delicious! A great refresh for our walk back to Seatown.

Afraid this wasn’t our best visit to the watch house. Food was average (we had to send back one main) and the service extremely slow (over a hour’s wait for desert). Staff were apologetic and polite but they should really be more attentive.

Have been meeting up here for several years but the quality of the food has declined noticeably. Have just had a pizza which was wafer thin, with barely any filling, fairly tasteless and too small. Will not meet up here anymore.

The first hot chocolate we've ever had that was too hot to drink! We had hot drinks and cakes but the meals around us looked good.

A favourite of ours when camping nearby. Always a great menu and lovely food with friendly staff.

Good food except for the burger which was cheap poor quality meat. I couldn't eat it 😕 the pizzas, cheesy garlic bread and fish and chips were excellent.

Great food, amazing service and the staff are always so friendly and efficient. Dog friendly too which is a huge bonus. Highly recommend

Very expensive but very tasty Amazing location

Fantastic restaurant. Fantastic location on WestBay Beach. We had a Sunday roast which was so tender and tasty. Thank you. We will be back.

Friendly welcome and great breakfast. And easy parking. We'll worth a visit.

Brilliant value for money will always visit when in Dorset, fabulous beef for Sunday lunch 😋

Superb restaurant and perfect location. If you're fond of sand dunes, and salty air, quaint little villages everywhere..... IYKYK. Food is always great, service spot on.

5 of us. Brilliant! Will go again xxxx

Wow, this place has grown in size, it looks great and service and food was excellent, very tasty crab sandwich.

Great fresh pizza, fantastic chips and lovely team, what a great cafe, we'll be back

Always have a good time here. The watch house is a great place for breakfast. The full English is fantastic and so is the ciabatta (with bacon, sausage and egg!). Doggo friendly too. Right by the sea, so you can get a little walk in too. Parking right outside, this is a perfect option for breakfast at Westbay.

Furious 😡. PRE BOOKED a table for 7 for roast dinner on a Sunday afternoon only to be told once we'd sat down there was practically no roast left. We promptly all left.! Basically shocked at poor customer service. 1. Look ahead at what bookings you have. 2. Make sure you've got enough food. 3. A call would have been nice to say you've no longer got roast on the menu, as that's what we said we coming for. Very poorly managed venue.

Booked 24hours in advance a table for 7 for Sunday dinner. Arrived on time at 2.30 and shown to our table and waited around 25 minutes for the server, who informed us that they had no cauliflower cheese left, a big annoying bit hey ho, she then also said that they had no chicken, we asked what the sharer meal would be if no chicken , she went off to check. At thus point they had no chicken, no gammon, no beef and no cauliflower cheese and all that could be offered was pork belly and nut roast. We walked out in disgust, having pre booked our table they had no Sunday dinners available and we had to settle for fish and chips at a takeaway as no other pub had availability. Awful and we would never return

We booked a table well in advance for Sunday roast for seven people. We arrived in time to be seated at our table and patiently waited for our server to arrive. Unfortunately despite having booked a table for seven for Sunday roast and being given a time for our booking we foolishly expected Sunday roast to still be available, lots of dishes were unavailable. the only items offered were pork belly or nut roast. Very disappointing.

Great, right on the beach. Service at the table. Clean toilets.

Unfortunately we did not have a great experience here, the food was not great, we got the cheese burger and some onion rings. The onion rings came out cold the first time, and swimming in a pool of oil when we asked them to be warmed up. All in all, we were quite disappointed and the quality did not reflect the price.

Welcoming. Great views. Wheelchair accessible. Dogs welcome. Clean toilets. Very good service from a young team. Great value for money. Close to a public car park. I would definitely eat here again.

Great lively place, right on the beach, good food and service, good fast pizzas 🍕.... Needs a nice craft beer on tap 😂👍

5 stars all the way... Friendly greetings at door led to table of our choice ( sadly wobbly on uneven slate floor) promptly offered move to another table. Unfortunate mistake given monkfish curry instead of breaded chicken Katsu curry. Server mortified rectified promptly and given free drink to compensate.... Excellent service from Harriet this evening..... Excellent food, excellent atmosphere great value . Thank you

Spent an evening there, good food & service ,

Classic seaside cafe,great value and friendly staff. Will be back!

Good pizzas. Nice location on beach but shame it's now all behind thick plastic so it's very hot and your view is obstructed

Very friendly staff and great food. Lovely relaxed atmosphere. Recommend the pizza! Accommodated a party of 10 of us at a relatively short notice in a lovely area. Dog friendly too.

Great selection of food, we went for breakfast and world totally recommend. Dogs are welcome too.

We have been coming here for many years as they have great fish and chips with homemade tartare sauce. I would have given five stars for food however, they have changed the peas to garden peas - they used to be mushy and better in my opinion and the chips used to be crisper! Still good though.

40 minute wait for 2 bacon baps and the place was near empty

The experience was fantastic! Me and my girlfriend had a great time and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the food and the exceptional service. Lulu was great and very polite. The young lad with the blonde curly hair was extremely positive and sweet, they both deserve a raise! Couldn’t recommend a better restaurant in the area.

I love the pizza, but the burger and nachos are great too. It's nice to feel like you are outside but it's still lovely and warm too even if it's not the best weather

Food was okay depending on what you had. Expensive for a casual meal.

Food is mediocre at best, very little chicken on the chicken loaded nachos, never again.

Delicious fish & chips! Big cocktail menu. Great location right by the water.

perfect fish and prawns and lovely service and drinks

Excellent on every level. We had four breakfasts ranging from veggie full English to pancakes and all were delicious. We also had dairy and gluten allergies in our group and both were not a problem. Staff were really friendly and attentive and venue was lovely. Highly recommend.

Pizza are very nice , wood fired and good service

Had a lovely meal inside,staff were quick and friendly. The next night we had a takeaway stone baked pizza which was also very nice. Can't fault the food or the service

10/10 coffee and spritzes from the takeaway shack

Friendly staff, nice food, I had nachos which was quite tasty, good size portion. I also had a garlic pizza, which was so nice, I would like to try their pizzas as they use a pizza oven. It was a wet day, but the atmosphere was good, I recommend giving it a try.

One of the best places to dine in West Bay.

Brilliant in every way. Dog friendly, great service, delicious food. Staff were unbelievably friendly and helpful. Brought the dogs some treats as well.

Love this place, right on the seafront

Lunch lamb cutlet’s took 3/4 hour to arrive cold my wife’s pizza never arrived very poor service won’t be going back

Went for lunch on the spur of the moment. Very friendly atmosphere as were the Team. Good, varied menu. Reasonably priced as are the drinks choices. We had a Meat feast pizza, coleslaw and slim fries. I had an Amstel lager and my Wife had a 7up. The food was delicious and quite quickly served up to us by a very attentive Team member. We finished off our meal with a Chocolate Brownie Sundae and a Strawberry Sundae. They were the BEST we have Ever had. To finish off was the Bill and we were very pleasantly surprised at how reasonable it was. Well worth a visit.

Alway vome here the pizzas are the best in the world

Lovely location on the beach. Pizza was really tasty and service was great 👍

This restaurant is right on the beach and the eating area is protected from the elements but still allows a view over the beach. They do their own beers, wine and cider and the menu has a wide choice of seafood dishes, wood fired pizza, specials etc. The restaurant is dog friendly with a dog menu of treats. Food was very good value and the service was great.

Great service from the staff there and the atmosphere is wonderful. Very reasonably priced, and the food was excellent. Many thanks to everyone there.

Only popped in for a drink but will certainly think about a meal in the future.

Lovely beach shack. Total awareness of allergens. Friendly and professional. Hand made dough. Delish.

Well is a lively beach cafe.. exactly as I’d expect a beach cafe to be.. service was prompt and customer service was a sweet interaction with beach girls. Usual typical breakfast fare… Highly recommend.. reasonable prices with a great service..

Nice cream tea nice views friendly staff

Really lovely meal here with great choice of food. Most of the staff were efficient and friendly.

Not sure what happened when we went, out garlic prawn starter and fish dishes were so over cooked they were hard and chewy and promptly returned. The service was good. The food not so.

Not been in since it has been refurbed but even better now. Food is very good and 👍to the Hive cider. Friendly and efficient staff and we must visit more often.

Lovely atmosphere friendly service 👍😁👍

Great location and good food. Dogs are very welcome and even have their own menu

Food excellent and staff very polite and friendly.

Great live music, had pork belly roast and it melted in the mouth! Staff were great and attentive, and had a wholesome atmosphere and really relaxed will definitely visit again next time we are down this way

We have been to the other branches, The Club House at West Bexington and the Hive Cafe at Burton Bradstock, both good, but this one is the best. Great location, really friendly staff and very good food, our friend’s description was simple “definitely on the come back list” Think we will.

A wonderful lunch, we all decide to have the daily specials. All were delicious, great value for money and we had three dogs with us and the staff could not have been more friendly or accommodating. They bring you complimentary biscuits for the dogs.

Great food, lovely atmosphere and right on the beach, what more could you want. Will give the boxed cider a miss next time though - very warm and flat.

Not a fantastic experience sadly. Didn't seem that busy but service was very slow. One meal finally arrived but the other took another 5 minutes! I had chicken nachos which was very poor. Liquid cheese and a breaded chicken burger chopped up and thrown on top. Shame as lovely position on the beach and staff seemed very pleasant.

Wow, what a lovely experience! We were shown to a table outside quickly, had the most amazing food and was served by the nicest people, not sure of their names but they were 2 blondes and a brunette lady that really made us feel welcome, if your looking for a drink and a bite to eat in Westbay, look no further

The first time we came here was 7 years ago. We came again 3 years ago and today. These pizzas are some of the best we’ve ever eaten. The location is perfect. Service was friendly and efficient. We can’t wait to come again.

Crab sandwich to die for - and the price could well have that result.

quality food, excellent service.

The cafe couldn't do enough for us. Dog friendly which was amazing .even gave her dog biscuits at the end of our meal .very friendly and helpful staff considering there was 11 of us to feed

Friday 05/04/24 - Come here with family. Burger, chips and slaw amazing! Fish,chips and peas amazing. Really good value

Food was delicious, so good to see a menu with a bit of creativity and different options.

We love Watch House Cafe, been coming here on and off for quite some, now. Always friendly staff, great pizzas and lovely setting, next to the beach.

We were a family of 8 with 2 toddlers and two babes in arms. The tables were clean, the food and drink came really quickly which was great with two toddlers, as they only have so much capacity to sit still. The kids were given crayons and pictures to colour in. The food was really good quality but not fancy. I would definitely recommend.

Really good pizza, and a nice chilled out vibe

Mmmm! Difficult as initially service was good. But, my wife had eaten majority of her pizza before my sandwich and chips appeared. Interesting that table who ordered after us got same meal at the same time as wifes pizza appear. So suspect someone messed up. Food was OK £3 for extra chips not really worth it. Pizza was good but can't really recommend crab sandwich, a bit soggy. To be far they did discount our meal by a drink, hence 3 stars for service

Great food and drink excellent friendly service.

For a family of five with 3 young children. Ridiculously overpriced. £15 for a breakfast. £13 for a veggie breakfast in which they forgot to cook the halloumi, and doesn’t even come with toast. The children’s waffles were straight out of a packet and not fresh.

Went on a busy day ; service very slow and the food was poor. Chicken was tough, pasta underwhelming. no fish and chips available. Kids sausages were fine but arrived an hour after we’d been seated! No baby changing and one small unsatisfactory ladies loo . Shame- it’s a great location on the beach.

It was o.k. Not really geared to snacks. Great for a full meal.

A classic case of success spoiling service. Over the years its growing success has mirrored its declining customer service and this week was the last time we'll ever visit. Arriving at c.11.25 we were greeted warmly by a member of staff asking "Are you guys here for food?" to which we answered "Yes". We chose straight away from the "Served all day" [sic] part of the menu only for a different colleague to arrive (c.11.30am) saying they were no longer serving food as the kitchen were prepping lunch. Appeals that we'd been seated for food, pointing to the "served all day" on the menus, and requests to ask if the chef might be able to do something fell on indifferent ears. They just stood there like it was our problem. On leaving, the person who'd seated us was really apologetic and much more human, but it was the last in a long line of similar service experiences here. I guess all the new locals and tourists pay the bills just fine. Go there if you must, but pack a sandwich - just in case!

Ordered 2xsole for lunch and subsequently told there was only one left, my wife then ordered fish and chips . After about 50 minutes wait we we were asked what we were waiting for and was told they hadn't had any fish and chips all day !! . It looked like one boy In the kitchen trying to cope with a restaurant full !! . Never again .

Breakfast cost about £13 per person plus tea or coffee, nicely served, very nice service and a fantastic atmosphere, you can bring your pet and even buy something for it, in the afternoon we had tea and cake. Every place on the terrace was heated, so it was very pleasant.

They have dogs menu dogs aloud in side pizza really nice and tasty!

This has to be the best food in West Bay. The prawn linguine is the best I've ever had, and the Sunday roast is really nice. Each table has its own heater above the table, which is a great touch, and it's situated right next to the beach. Also have live music. Deffenatly try this if you're in West Bay.

Me and my fiancé stopped in West Bay on our way home from a weekend away. Had a little walk around and found this café, bloody brilliant. Staff were super friendly and welcoming. Food was delicious, especially the eggs! Located 20 meters from the actual ocean, was perfect.