The best restaurants in Stour Valley North Dorset South West

Have eaten here a few times, My kids and I love the smutty fries, and the cakes are amazing. Welcoming, friendly staff and great locally roasted coffee too.

More than just a leading Tea House, Comins Sturminster Newton is a very coeliac friendly café.  Full 5* review at CoeliacwellNES.com.  They have soft doughy GF gyoza, gluten free sweet treats and obviously phenomenal tea.  A lovely place to watch all the comins and goings, will try out the Bath branch soon!

We walked the trail way to Fiddleford Manor and Mill then returned to Sturminster Newton for lunch. We looked at various cafes in the town and decided that Joshua’s was the most appealing. Good tea, nice mozzarella, mushroom, basil and roasted pepper toasties at a very reasonable price compared to other establishments. Polite and friendly service, clean tables. There was nothing at all to dislike. A lovely cafe, great lunch.

Wonderful pub serving delicious home made local produce. Service and staff… 10 of 10.

A great cafe, busy in the morning with breakfast and coffees etc. Clearly well liked by the locals and visitors alike. We travelled almost 20 miles to have a lovely fresh breakfast here. The decor is fun especially the cruet - you need to visit to see! The staff were helpful and the service good. I recommend it and we will go again.

Lovely cafe, went with a friend for coffee and cake, staff very friendly and the cakes were delicious, would recommend 😋 recently went back for some lunch, food was lovely.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: oh dear… Everything about this place now screams: ‘lack of enthusiasm and care’. First off, in this day and age to serve soft drinks from a big bottle is unbelievable. Flat soft drinks from a pub is just not acceptable. Secondly, the Sunday roast is maybe the worst I’ve ever had. School dinners are better than this. Rock solid veg, water disguised as gravy, thrice reheated potatoes… actually impossible to say anything positive about the roast. And I’ve now seen the pictures of the roast dinners served here in 2023 before the new management came in and they looked fantastic. Several steps back. Also we were sat in a cold, echoey barn conversion which doesn’t feel fully converted. All of which is a massive shame as it looks great from the outside and the main little pub building is full of character.

Lovely pub, with fabulous classic pub menu, absolutely great

Very friendly and efficient service - had the most delicious lunch - the macaroni cheese was amazing - and the portions are very generous. Would highly recommend this lovely pub if you are in Sturminster Newton.

Although we are local first time in the Olives et Al shop. Good choice of olives either in jars or loose to buy in plastic containers. Nice selection of local made treats eg cheese etc. Some "different" food ideas. Great place would visit again. No cafe available at the moment.

Another great visit to Hart’s, both for shopping and lunch! Good parking, a lift to the cafe upstairs and a lovely lunch. The food always tastes good quality but the plated food presentation is not professional. Just a small point but important when prices are rising steadily.

Fabulous extensive menu. Lovely friendly staff. Prices very reasonable. Visited here twice when stopping in Sturminster Newton. Food came piping hot and delicious. Would recommend it most highly.

Husband and I came in for dinner this evening, Husband had whitebait, then sloppy Rascal and then raspberry brownie. I had scampi and then the best dessert I've had for a long time! Cherry Pie and custard. The lovely waitress/ barmaid came and said I'm afraid we have no apple pie! We do have cherry instead! Ohh my thank goodness for the change. Good 90s music playing and meet a lovely dog too.

We booked late one night to stay as we were collecting a vehicle near hotel ,we had a great reception and we were looked after like family . We were grateful for accommodating us at short notice ,we will return and were very happy to have been looked after by Barry and team ,thank you Barry , service, accommodation and breakfast was 5star and Daisy our special Bullydog.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Fish & chips for 7 of us on a Saturday night. Piping hot, freshly cooked & very good portion sizes. Between us we had cod, battered jumbo sausages, cod bites & scampi. All spot on, thank you