The best restaurants in Riversdale North Dorset South West

Found this place on way to camping. Food lovely and fresh, also able to see the food being cooked. There were 2 sides to the cafe. One for those doing extreme sports so no concern about mud etc being brought through to other side of the cafe area where we were eating. Shame it was raining as from the outside seating area it was possible to see the quad bikes being used. From the car park able to see other areas were other sports were in progress. Definitely go again

Had a lovely meal at Charlton Inn, every time we come here, we are greeted with a friendly welcome. The menu is extensive on the choice, we chose off the specialist menu and decided to with Haddock mornay, and I had Steak with Guinness pie, which both came with chunky chips and a side of vegetables, both were excellent, and very reasonable value, the whole lot with 1.2/2 pints came to under £36.00, great service and a great pub

On our journey home from an overnight-stay in Bournemouth we decided to take a minor roads route back home rather than the direct main road route. This took us through quite a few small towns and villages. Our plan was to find a Farm Shop Café or a village / small town-centre café where we could get lunch: ideally a snack and a hot drink. We were over an hour into our journey when we saw the signs for Marcia’s Farm Shop and turned into what was a heavily pot-holed carpark. We then walked into the signposted barn noting that there was plenty of tables and chairs arranged in neat rows but no-one was sat there. There was another door into ‘The Shack’; inside was actually a full bar; like you would find in a pub. There were a few locals propping-up the bar, chatting and drinking draught beer. This is not what we had expected and we assumed that the ‘Marcia’s Farm Shop’ and ‘The Shack’ were one in the same business. There didn’t appear to be any farm produce on sale: other than, we assumed, the food offered in the menu. It was almost exactly 1pm when we were approached and welcomed by a pleasant lady. We asked about food, and she advised us to select a table and choose from the menu of snacks that were available, and that she would return to take our order. We studied the menu having ordered some tea and my Partner chose a fishfinger baguette, whereas I chose a toasted ham and cheese sourdough sandwich. The plates took a good 20-25 minutes to arrive from ordering, but freshly prepared food does take time. So, we sipped tea and amused ourselves with the help of a large (probably over-fed and under-exercised) old Labrador who constantly wandered and sniffed around the bar and seated areas. The dog then settled at our table once our food order arrived. This was not a serious issue for us (others however may dislike being ‘hounded’ by slobbering dogs while they eat their food). Both plates featured a colourful and tasty fresh dressed salad which was really good. My sandwich was really firm and crunchy with a generous helping of thick-cut ham and plenty of well-melted cheese, and a small portion of red cabbage coleslaw to go with the salad. It was really good and enjoyed. My Partner’s baguette featured homemade cod loin fishfingers and tartare sauce (both inside the baguette). The fish was a bit moist and insubstantial; despite being made from the loin. Cod can be like this and it is why we prefer the meatier haddock. The baguette also accompanied by a few crisps, but they were a really strange flavour for accompanying fish (reminded us of Oxo beef - but very artificial). Our food was on the whole good, generously portioned and very much welcomed, and it was good value.