Blandford Forum, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This “brilliant thatched country pub” has “lots of game dishes” on its menu – appropriately enough for a traditional establishment in the historical hunting landscape of Cranborne Chase. “Vegetarians and vegans are well provided for” too, while there’s also a “well-stocked bar with local ales and a reasonably priced wine list”.

2022 Review: “A friendly and welcoming atmosphere” marks out this thatched fifteenth-century gastroboozer, where the “high-quality fresh local produce” (but also more adventurous sourcing, including from Paris’s famous Rungis market) leads to some “interesting variations on the traditional style”.

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.

“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”.

Darren Brown’s paradisiacal Wiltshire kitchen (est. 2016) is “a magical place” that “perfectly celebrates the unique local produce” which is sourced from its own three-acre plot and then cooked up in the fire pit to “sublime” results. Alongside serving lunch from Wednesday to Saturday, they’re now open for dinner on Saturday evenings from November to February, and there are also long-table ‘Savour the Season’ suppers around each Equinox and Solstice, plus Sunday lunches, where individual joints of meat are cooked to order and brought to the table to avoid wastage. If you’re keen to linger, beyond the orchard at the bottom of the garden is a glamping village with six bell tents.

“The view overlooking Poole Harbour makes this a romantic location” for an Italian meal – although it’s “very much a good-weather venue”. The hotel is at the heart of a long-running planning dispute, with vocal locals opposing a plan to convert it into an ‘aparthotel’ under a £300m redevelopment of Sandbanks.