Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Dorchester
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Dorchester restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 18 restaurants in Dorchester and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Dorchester restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Dorchester Restaurants
1. Billy Winters Bar & Diner
Fish & seafood restaurant in Wyke Regis
Ferry Bridge Boatyard, Portland Road - DT4
“Quirky diner, right on the beach” – “a simple, relaxed waterside venue, incorporating a plastic marquee overlooking Weymouth Bay”. It “serves a wide range of delicious food: their amazing fish/shellfish tacos are a favourite” as are “fresh oysters from their own farm” (and there’s also pizza and burgers).
2. The Seaside Boarding House Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Burton Bradstock
Cliff Road - DT6
A “stunning setting” is a highpoint at this contemporary dining room with outside terrace, overlooking the beach and sea on the Jurassic Coast on Lyme Bay. It continues to enjoy good ratings all-round although there is the odd gripe that it’s “a bit too pricey”.
3. Crab House Café
Fish & seafood restaurant in Weymouth
Ferrymans Way, Portland Road - DT4
“A hot sunny evening. A table outside with a view over Chesil Beach. A glass of local English white. Two whole crabs, one plain, one spicy Chinese. A sticky, messy heaven worth planning a voyage to Weymouth around!” – this “quirky”, “rustic venue in a shack” sitting “just yards from the sea” is one of the hundred most commented-on restaurants in the UK in our annual diners’ poll on account of its “awesome” fish, oysters, crab and other seafood. The main complaint? “wish I lived nearer!”
4. Luciano's
Italian restaurant in Dorchester
1 Dray Horse Yard, Brewery Square - DT1
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’.
5. Yalbury Cottage
French restaurant in Lower Bockhampton
“The food is always reliably delicious” at this 300-year-old thatched cottage across the road from Thomas Hardy’s old school (the author was born in the neighbouring village) – which “must be one of the best restaurants in Dorset”. Former Four Seasons exec chef Jamie Jones assembles a “relatively short menu that caters for all tastes and appetites” – “you know as soon as you taste the canapes that the food is going to be excellent”.
6. The Thimble Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Piddlehinton
14 High Street - DT2
2023 Review: This thatched eighteenth-century Piddle Valley pub with an “enchanting garden” wins solid ratings across the board for its “great service and good food, whether you prefer pub grub or something more ambitious”. Its popularity was sealed by a rave review from The FT’s Tim Hayward a couple of years ago, and you need to book early to secure a table at busy times, especially Sunday lunch.
7. Al Molo
Italian restaurant in Weymouth
Pier Bandstand, The Esplanade - DT4
2023 Review: Chef Giuseppe Vannucci offers “lovely fresh seafood” at this smart outfit in the “interesting location” of an Art Deco bandstand on the pier overlooking Weymouth Bay, but there’s also a full menu of classic Italian dishes. With seven years of success behind them, Giuseppe and co-founder Tim Newton opened a second branch in Dorchester last summer.
8. Catch at The Old Fish Market
Fish & seafood restaurant in Weymouth
1 Custom House Quay - DT4
In the exciting setting of the 1855 fish market, this two-year-old sustainable seafood specialist delivers “an earnest love letter to seafood and the fishermen who provide it” (as The Independent’s Kate Ng put it), with dishes changing to accommodate the catch even between customers – an “extraordinary way to run a restaurant” but one that “really works”. “It’s only a no-choice tasting menu” these days, which may not be to all tastes, but the results are “inventive” and “very reasonably priced for the quality”.
9. Summer Lodge, Summer Lodge Country House
British, Modern restaurant in Evershot
9 Fore Street - DT2
The Red Carnation group’s “very comfortable and traditional country house hotel is set in a time warp”, in prime Hardy Country (Evershot having been fictionalised as Evershead by the novelist, who also designed part of the hotel when he was an architect). The “very accomplished food” (“but at a high price!”) has some “nice touches”, with “desserts especially good”.
10. The Acorn Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Evershot
28 Fore St - DT2
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.
11. Hive Beach Cafe
Fish & seafood restaurant in Burton Bradstock
Beach Road - DT6
“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!”.
12. Dorshi
Pan-Asian restaurant in Bridport
6 Chancery Lane - DT6
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.)
13. The Station Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in West Bay
Old West Bay Railway Station, Station Road - DT6
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’.
14. The Ollerod
International restaurant in Beaminster
3 Prout Hill - DT8
Former The Pig alumnus Silvana Bandini (FOH) and ex-Bath Priory/Mandarin Oriental chef Chris Staines are behind this “hidden gem” – a “comfortable” hotel-restaurant, set in a characterful fourteenth-century building, and with an “attractive outside space”. The “delicious, sophisticated” small-plates menu is strong on SW produce and offers solid (fans would say “exceptional”) value.
15. Brassica Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Beaminster
4 The Square - DT8
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).
16. Yalbury Cafe (YC's)
International restaurant in Dorchester
Brewery Square - DT1
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”.
17. The Club House
British, Modern restaurant in Dorchester
Beach Road - DT2
A “great location, with outside seating” overlooking Chesil Beach; an Art Deco atmosphere, thanks to its original 1930s styling, and a “tasty” seafood-based menu combine to good effect at this pleasing seaside venue.
18. The Parlour
Italian restaurant in Burton Bradstock
Bredy Farm, Bredy Lane - DT6
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.
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