The best restaurants serving Italian food in East Dorset South West

I was fortunate as the much maligned “Grumpy “ landlord was in fine form & most convivial. The hospitality was first rate, the premises excellent with good beer & even the guard-dog demanded attention & a belly rub. I would thoroughly recommend this venue. Only negative was the entertainment; England v Scotland which was pants !

Worst carbonara I’ve ever had. I don’t usually order this because so many places don’t know how to cook it properly but I thought I’d be safe in an Italian restaurant with such good reviews, but my main really was like a bland cream soup with boiled spaghetti floating in it. And with very pale and huge strips of bacon that looked boiled and very unappetising. Basically everything a carbonara shouldn’t be. It’s so frustrating when an Italian restaurant doesn’t know how to cook a classic Italian dish. However, the starter and pudding were fine and the rest of our party enjoyed their meals so maybe I just choose the wrong thing (hence the 3 and not 2 stars).

I recently ordered a takeaway from Chianti Italian Restaurant, and I was extremely disappointed with the quality of the food. The squid rings (calamari) were pale, undercooked, rubbery, and completely unappetizing. The Spaghetti Carbonara was just as bad—made with stale-tasting pasta and processed bacon bits. At £14.50 for the dish, I expected far better than something that resembled a cheap ready meal from Tesco. Using box pasta and mixing in toppings from pizzas is unacceptable. My partner's meal, the Penne con Vegetali, was no better. It was just box pasta with chopped pizza vegetables, despite being advertised as containing asparagus and artichoke. There were only a few flakes of artichoke and some tiny green stems that might have been asparagus. We spent £80 in total on this takeaway, but the quality was shockingly poor. Unfortunately, Chianti failed to deliver on all fronts, and I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Lovely little restaurant which serves tasty dishes at a reasonable price. Very good portion size. Staff always friendly and attentive.

A really lovely evening spent celebrating grandson’s birthday. Delicious food and treated with kindness, patience, bully staff . Definitely family friendly

Wonderful Georgian building. Staff very pleasant and helpful. Food was tasty. Great choice for Gluten free and vegan. Overall very happy!