The best restaurants in West Dorset South West

This is by far the worst Indian Meal I have ever had ! AND NOT CHEAP ! I ordered a takeaway meal consisting of Naan Bread, Chicken Shashlik, Chicken Madras, Rice and Sag Paneer + Onion Bahji. All dishes without exception were awful, too salty, un- spicy little chicken in the Madras, in the case of the Shashlik burnt ! Naan bread was like rubber and was thrown in the bin along with the over cooked inedible Bahji's, the Paneer was watery and tasteless with more Sag than Paneer. Two years ago we ordered our Christmas dinner from here and the food was delicious, and have been back several times. Although not as brilliant it was at least edible ! I understand there has been a recent change of " Ownership " ? The interior seemed run down and unkempt, dirty mirror and glasses behind the counter and dirty carpets. This place has certainly gone downhill very quickly, I will not be visiting again !!

Stopped by Thursday for fish and chips. Was served by a young guy who was in training and was very polite. Food cooked by another guy who cooked the food to perfection and was very friendly and informative. What a lovely experience

Stopped here for Sunday lunch on a visit to West Bay, we had Roast Chicken and mussels, bath meals were very good. The Roast chicken came with plenty of vegetables and gravy, chicken was nice and moist, it was one of the nicest roasts I have had in a pub. My husband also recommends the mussels. If in West Bay again I would definitely visit again. Its a really nice welcoming pub inside

We stayed nearby and walked up the lane to the pub hoping for an evening meal, but it was all closed up and the garden was overgrown. Possibly it’s fallen victim to the lockdown? (The last review was February 2020.) It didn’t seem as if anyone was at home. A great shame for such an ancient establishment if it has gone to the wall. 😢

The room was dirty with mould and dust in the corners of the windows and on the blind in the bathroom. Water marks on the bath made it look like it hadn't been cleaned at all. The outer windows don't close at all and the inner secondary glazing is old, dirty and not sound proof - every noise from the road outside is heard clearly.

Ate here Friday evening three of us had wood fired pizzas which were delicious, pleasant staff as always. On the Saturday two of us visited for lunch. We had crab sandwiches with a mixed leaf salad, they were tasty enough but £11 seems too much...

Whatever the various opinions about the previous restaurant were like that is history. The new Ivy House is superb. Friendly waiter service, quick ordering, good prices, lovely location, airy, light, spacious,good atmosphere etc. The opening hours are similar to the Groves nursery so dinner is not an option like most garden centre restaurants. Have been there MANY times since the opening and always enjoyed it

Really can’t understand the negative reviews. I’ve been a regular for over 20 years and have always found the kebabs and burgers to be spot on, staff always friendly. Great place to.

We took a group of residents from a local care home into Hardy's today .. lovely coffee and tea great service.also provided us with some free teacakes .. The residents and the staff enjoyed it very much thankyou

A brilliant day learning the skills to make laminated dough for pastries such as croissant and pain au chocolates. Everything was explained really clearly by Steve and we had a lovely lunch tasting some of the shop made products. Lots of fun and well worth the time. Will definitely do one of the other courses soon. The final products were delicious if a little rustic but that skill will come with practice.

A mixed visit. The cafe was somewhat overwhelmed by an influx of visitors to the plant fair. We patiently queued and ordered two coffees, a sausage roll, a round of packaged sandwiches and two pieces of cake. It cost £24.00. No trays available so I ferried the order to our table in the very attractive barn, in two goes. My husband enjoyed the sausage roll but my hummus and tomato sandwich was dreadful. The bread was nice but the filling was sadly lacking- more butter than hummus! I took the sandwich back to the counter and showed the server the lack of filling. I appreciate the cafe was extremely busy but her comment was ‘I’ll let someone know’. I would have expected either an offer of a replacement or a refund. Neither was forthcoming. I chose not to make a big fuss and returned to my seat in the hope that someone would come and talk to me. They didn’t. I note a previous review to which the cafe responded with a comment that they always fix problems when they are brought to their attention. Not today! The cake was nice and the coffee excellent but I’m afraid the lack of customer service was disappointing. I’ve worked in hospitality and when standards fall short the least that can happen is an apology and preferably the offer to sort the issue.

Nice range of local and international and deli foods including takeaway breads and pastries, BUT - the dearest bread in Britain at £6.25 for a sourdough loaf! Other local places eg the Town Mill sell better bread for £3.80.

Travelled four hours to get to sherborne for a wedding, went on to the George for a meal all pre arranged, I was told the George was dog friendly, it was not! , I had to go outside or in another room with my dog totally missed the wedding celebrations, not to happy my dog is a toy dog would have sat on my knee no bother to anyone , funnily enough the manor house was happy to have her there for the ceremony so just be sure before you travel

We’ve been to brewhouse a few times now after recently moving to Dorchester and we’ve absolutely loved it. It has a brilliant and sociable atmosphere - perfect for after work drinks/drinks & dinner with friends and family. We had a currywurst off the spring fest special menu and the toffee and honeycomb cheesecake and it was delicious. Also loved the passionfruit martini and beer selection! The staff were very accommodating and we didn’t have to wait long for service, even when it was particularly busy, which really impressed us. What made our experience even better was that there was blue light discount available and we were able to bring our dog with us (there were water bowls available along with dog treats - a lovely touch). Overall we’ve had fantastic experiences here and will definitely be visiting regularly going forward (we’re particularly looking forward to the upcoming live music and quiz nights!)

Fantastic experience! We recently held our wedding at The Bull Hotel and I cannot speak more highly of the venue and the staff. From the moment we first viewed the venue (The Hayloft) we knew it was perfect for us. Kerry and the team went absolutely above and beyond, and made us feel so at ease and so welcomed every step of the way. The food is delicious, both for their event catering as well as their breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The rooms are also comfortable and spacious. I cannot thank the whole team for such a fantastic experience. We can't wait to come back to visit again soon.