The best restaurants in Lyme Regis West Dorset South West

Friendly independent small cafe on the main street nice sandwich and cake selection Small seating area inside A small selection of hot food

On a recent break to Dorset Lilac was the restaurant I was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately Thursday was the last day we were able to eat here that meant we missed out on experiencing the tasting menu which is only served on Friday and Saturday evenings. We still had an excellent meal here. Delicious pre app and a special mention for the pastry chef for a cracking dessert. Local and seasonal cooking is very much on show here. The team here is also stellar. Knowledgeable, efficient and full of good humour. Such an asset to such great staff working for you. Perhaps a slightly broader wine list may be a suggestion but other than that a must visit when in Lyme !

Ci ha attratti la piccola fila davanti alla vetrina dalal quale servivano le commesse, i colori dei vari fudge e il profumo. Deliziosi!!! il sapore autentico evidenzia gli ingredienti semplici e freschissimi. Ci tornerò di sicuro!!

Amazing food, lovely service, can't wait to go back. They have a wide range of food and the queues aren't long. Definitely recommend!

Their website booking service suggested we wouldn't get a table in the dog-friendly area until quite late but we took our chance and walked in and were seated within minutes thankfully. They were amazingly busy, it was Saturday, but mid-March, and the staff were great; still had time for smiles despite being rushed off their feet. The food was fabulous, and we greatly enjoyed our meal.

Lovingly handmade baguettes/sandwiches, made to order, great range of fillings, including vegetarian options, tasty coffee, quirky wooden spoon numbered collection service, blankets outside to sit on, prices very reasonable compared to the extortionate menu at the nearby ‘Swim’ cafe. Highly recommended.

Excellent toasties, pastries and coffee and a sausage treat for the dog. Lovely seating area along the promenade with fabulous sea views.

We all had hot baguettes-sausages and bacon freshly cooked, the baguettes were very nice. My Daughters enjoyed their smoothie and chocolate milkshake. Service was good also.

Great setting but let down by food preparation and wooden cutlery. Yes, the setting is fab overlooking Lyme Regis beach. However, the food prep was disappointing given the high prices. I spent over £15 on 2 teas, a sausage roll and a cake. The sausage roll was good quality (award winning bought in from elsewhere) but they microwaved it to warm it up - a travesty and soggy pastry. And the soggy sausage roll was served alone with no garnish or anything else on the plate or any offer of sauces etc. The cutlery was wooden disposable which just sets my teeth on edge. The tea had too much milk put in it - no choice to do it yourself - a mug of milky tea presented, yuck, not my cup of tea! The waiting staff were pleasant enough but not exactly enthusiastic or bothering to check all was well. Give the high prices, I won’t be back. They’ve got such a fab location and have bought in higher quality food, what a shame they have ruined it with poor food prep, crap utensils and disinterested staff.

We chose this outlet for a fish and chips lunch as it indicated that it does gluten free fish and chips. This turned out to be fish without the batter when we had hoped that they used a gluten free batter and a separate fryer. I hope that they don't just remove the batter after cooking as this will lead to problems over the GF description if experienced by someone with full Coeliac disease. So far as the general standard is concerned I have had better crispier batter with the same for the chips and the mushy peas are a sloppy mix, with far better and the Red Lion Beaminster

fabulous fresh fish served by terrific young staff who cant do enough for you.. one of my very favourite places to be.

I thought we should give this place a try having read the reviews......all I can say is that we must have gone to a different place than they all did. Yes the 'owner' is a nice chap but the other two members of staff were somewhat less engaging. First of all please be advised that the novel aspect of this place is that you get to pour your own beer from taps set into the wall.....initially great fun but this soon turned to frustration as it is virtually impossible to get a full pint as the beer (when we went) was far too lively meaning that you seem to pour away more than actually goes into the glass. .....and there were no staff on hand to help out . So on the night that we went all 3 tables had folks sitting there with half full glasses, each taking turns to revisit the taps and attempting to top their glasses up. Personally I made 4 trips and am convinced I never actually got a full pint......and by the way the beer is pretty good but at £5 a pint is somewhat overpriced....presumably because most of it end up on the floor hence they have factored into the price a huge degree of spillage As regards the food we ordered 2 meals which were both supposedly based on tagliatelle pasta.....both arrived with spaghetti and no comments or excuses were provided. As spag bol goes my dish was underwhelming....cheap, yes but not what I had expected nor wanted. So if you want to pay £5 a pint and spill beer over your shoes and then pick something from the menu which might appeal but acknowledge that something different will most likely be presented then this is the place for you!

My wife and I decided to try Lal Qilla for her birthday meal. Booking was so easy on the telephone. When we arrived we were attended to by very polite and welcoming members of staff. They were courteous and helpful and very friendly. The food was absolutely gorgeous. My wife had Chicken Kurma with Lemon Rice. I had an Onion Bhaji starter and then a Lamb Roughan Josh with Coconut Rice. The lamb was tender and moist and the rice was beautiful and fragrant. Every morsel was gone from my plate! My wife assured me that her meal was excellent too. All in all a great experience and a beautiful meal at a lovely restaurant. We will definitely be going back, but will also take advantage of their delivery service as well. Absolutely fantastic. 5*

Wonderful Sunday lunch, between Xmas and New Year

Been here quite a few times. Fish and chips is the best I've had. Good size fish. Been to other places in Lyme Regis . No where as good. Top marks every time