Dorchester Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: With no social media presence as yet, and a hard-to-find name (lots of search results for Carluccio's – not helped by the fact that this location used to be one, and even repurposes the sign), we are presuming that Luciano Pierre White is relying on word of mouth – and his famous name – to get punters into his first solo restaurant. He's worked with Pierre Koffmann and the Adria brothers according to press quotes, and his father credits him with a great work ethic. An early-doors visit from a reporter noted it to be ‘very promising’ and another thought ‘the food’s great and the service will only improve’.

“Big meals” made from prime British ingredients cooked in classical French style, “friendly staff” and a “lovely, sensibly priced wine list” is the winning recipe at ex-Four Seasons exec chef Jamie Jones’s restaurant with rooms – a spacious (much extended) former shepherd’s cottage in the heart of Hardy country (the village of Lower Bockhampton is called Mellstock in ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’). This may be about to be a case of ‘all change’, however – the business was put on the market in 2024 as a going concern.

Michael Trawicki’s “popular thatched pub” serves particularly “good pub food in a nice sunny dining room” and there’s also a beautiful garden in summer. It’s not an especially ‘foodie’ operation but attracts consistent praise in our annual diners’ poll as one of the area’s better eateries.

This spin-off (est. 2022) of an Italian in Weymouth’s art deco Pier Bandstand has an intriguing setting itself, occupying one of Dorchester’s oldest (timber-framed) buildings – a former lodging of ‘Hanging Judge’ Jeffries, a much-feared enforcer during James II’s reign. They’ve “worked hard to give it some atmosphere – difficult in such a huge ancient building” – and the “welcoming” team “serve well-presented, good food” reprising the fish-centric ethos of its predecessor.

“The very best meal I have enjoyed in the last year!”… “Exceptional” – chef Mike Naidoo’s sustainable seafood restaurant on a mezzanine in the waterside Old Fish Market has proved a “brilliant addition to the Weymouth food scene” since it opened three years ago. The “exceptional” dayboat catch is translated into set menus, with the £45 four-course lunch itself a particularly good catch from the (slightly bewildering) array of menus, with different options served early evening, midweek dinner (six courses) and Saturday dinner (eight courses). One visitor in particular went a bundle on it this year, in the shape of The Times’s Giles Coren who, in his March 2024 review – “reeling from the quality” – thought it might just be “the best restaurant in the world”… “omigodomigodomigod”.

“A great and romantic hideaway” – the Red Carnation group’s “traditional country hotel never disappoints for comfort”. The dining room offers straightforward but well-realised cooking from a two-course or three-course à la carte menu: food that’s “well presented and interesting but not too fancy”.

2023 Review: This “quaint pub in the tiny village of Evershot” – immortalised as the ‘Sow and Acorn’ in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ – offers “beautifully presented, consistently good and interesting” food from Kenyan-born chef Robert Ndungu. It is the more informal sibling of Summer Lodge on the other side of the village, from the Red Carnation hotel group.

“Excellent fish, super-efficient service and a wonderful outlook on the beach” – three reasons to love this Jurassic Coast staple (est. 1991), and with siblings in West Bay and West Bexington; yes, the “seating is basic, but comfortable enough and with those views and the quality of the food, who cares?!” Top Tip – “look out for ‘Lobster Wednesday’! It’s the best deal on the coast!”.

2022 Review: This hip West Country tribute to East Asian casual dining serves “great food” in a “great atmosphere”, and is “even better with the new look post-lockdown”. The menu is constructed around dumplings filled with prime Dorset ingredients, backed up by a small selection of main and side dishes, and with sake options on the drinks list. It’s a formula that comes up trumps: “couldn’t get enough of the dumplings!”. (Note: despite the suggestion in the name, there’s no sushi on the menu.)

This “lovely family-run hotel” in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Vale of the little dairies’ is “personal and exquisite” – host Richard Prideaux-Brune inherited the family‘s Jacobean manor at the age of 21, opening it as a restaurant with rooms with his wife Alison 51 years ago, brother Brian in the kitchen and daughter Katharine these days part of the team. The “excellent” dinner menu is notably “affordable” at £45 per person for two courses and £55 per person for three, “complemented by wines at sensible prices”. Top Tip – don’t forget to pronounce the B in ‘Plumber’.

2023 Review: Two vintage railway carriages near the sea and harbour in the former West Bay station constitute this “delightful” venue. The cooking is sometimes seen as the weakest link (“they try hard, without really hitting the spot”), but most reports are upbeat, citing “above average food” in an “unusual and quirky setting”. Since our annual diners’ poll concluded, change is afoot with a new arrangement introduced in autumn 2022, which sees fine dining from chef Chris Chatfield’s seasonal menu in the newer ‘Beeching’ carriage, and relaxed dining in ‘Brunel’, from the First World War, with both menus available in the dog-friendly ‘Station House’.

“In a delightful old hotel in a lovely little Dorset town” – a 14th-century house full of charming original features – this “hidden gem” was snapped up by Silvana Bandini in 2018, after a stint working at the Bath outpost of foodie hotel chain, The Pig. The “reliably fine cooking” (of everything from pizzas to small plates) is overseen by ex-Mandarin Oriental/Bath Priory chef Chris Staines and wins nothing but praise for its “unusual combinations” (that are “exceptional value for money too”).

“A gorgeous, sunny room attached to a medieval priory on the banks of the River Frome” is the “delightful setting” for “always interesting and very good” cooking from Loire Valley-bred Stephan Guinebault, head chef for the best part of two decades at this independently owned hotel which oozes “old-world charm”.

2022 Review: Cass Titcombe's “small, cosy and friendly restaurant overlooking the village square” offers “just the perfect balance of everything”, say fans – whether that’s the much-foraged, Mediterranean-style food, or the fine interiors, courtesy of partner Louise. The duo also run an excellent shop, Brassica Mercantile, across the road, mixing homewares, foodie books and gourmet treats (including from Borough Market).

2022 Review: “An offshoot of (well-known local staple) Yalbury Cottage, run and managed by the same team”, also in tandem with an artisanal French pastry chef – and located in the unusual setting of an auction house. “Lunches are interesting and well presented”, while “the evening sessions are more adventurous and the Mexican ones especially good”.

The “perfect location” overlooking Chesil Beach, “knowledgeable and friendly staff” and “delicious and changing menu” tick most of the boxes at this Art Deco-style seaside venue with plenty of outdoor seating – although a significant minority reckon it’s “disappointing compared to previous visits”.

2023 Review: “Genuinely spectacular pizzas and gorgeous Italian food in the middle of a farmyard” in the picturesque Bride Valley may be “very off-road for many” – but this “interesting restaurant” with “friendly staff” is by all accounts well worth the trip. Brede Farm also hosts a cider press, micro brewery, campsite and live music.