Corton Denham, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This “newly refurbished family-owned pub with rooms” – originally a mid-Victorian cider house – in a “lovely village” near Sherborne, makes for a “perfect stop-over en route to Devon or Cornwall”, with “agreeable service” and “reliable food including interesting fish dishes”. Co-owner Doune Mackenzie-Francis has a foodie background as a former marketing manager for Leith’s School of Food & WIne.

For a “very good French meal” (chef Paul Merrony trained at Le Gavroche no less) that’s “relatively inexpensive and with personal service”, try this bistro-with-rooms – “the exemplar of a local restaurant”, where the “fantastically fresh food” (ranging from ratatouille to rillettes and rabbit blanquette) makes you feel like you’re in France only “without the ferry journey”.

“Great modern European food using locally sourced ingredients at very reasonable prices” again wins praise for this local fixture. Chef-patron Sasha Matkevich grew up in south Russia but has lived in England for 30 years.

“An absolutely gorgeous building (a former school, very similar to a church)” that has won beauty awards from Condé Nast Traveller plays host to this “upmarket rural” restaurant by Luke Sutton, who honed his craft at the acclaimed L’Ortolan in Berkshire. A number of visiting Londoners feel the “well-executed” modern British cooking is rather “hyped” and “expensive with a capital E, even for Sherborne”. More positive reporters would say that just highlights the “remarkable value” set menus (three courses £29 per person), and if you’ve change to spare, you can visit the equally glamorous bar on the mezzanine.