The Best Cafes in Abbotsbury, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

Really friendly little place. We had amazing pesto and tomato tarts, which when we wanted more he made them fresh as he didn't have more preprepared. My daughter ate all of hers which doesn't usually happen. Really friendly owner who chatted to us and made us feel at home. The apple cake was also delicious. Would definitely return!

Came here to warm up prior to long coast path walk. Ended up not really wanting to leave, were pleasantly surprised how good this place was. Vegan friendly too with a decent flapjack and a nice pasty, good coffee and best of all the nicest owner ever who was very knowledgeable of all things local. Will def return

Great service. Amazing coffee and cake to be had here 😀

Only discovered this hidden gem by accident. We didnt expect we would get a table because we were not their guests and we had no reservation. Ordered grilled whole seabream with salad and new potatoes. Food was superb. The servers were so nice. As a foreigner, it feels so nice to receive such good treatment. Location is so pretty and relaxing. Breakfast/tea/lunch and toilets are clean. Would like to come back here to stay and have a meal.

Just the perfect English cottage and grounds, with great hosts. You won’t be disappointed.

What a great find this place is. We stopped in for lunch and a drink. Sandwich was delicious and the best iced coffee! Really friendly service. Lovely garden with great views. Have sent the rest of the family in since, who all agree it's a lovely experience.

Lovely appointed rooms. Reminded me of my great grandmother‘s home. The BEST toffee sticky pudding ever!! The chef and owner, Jonathan Cooke, and his staff went above and beyond for us during our stay. The sole dinner was outstanding! Would love to go back!! Plenty of local sites to explore.

I fly kites at Bowleeze Cove common ground, and the Lookout is right next to the field so it's very convenient. They provide great food with good sized portions and the freshly ground coffee is lovely especially on a cold day. Would recommend 👍

Great cakes, coffee and tea (we stopped both ways walking from Osmington Mills to Weymouth). Views are spectacular to!

Popped in for a quick bite to eat after visiting the Roman temple ruins. The cafe has the perfect location looking out over the bay, and has seating both inside and out. Staff were super friendly and even though it was fairly close to closing time they were incredibly accommodating. We had the seafood platter, and even though they did not have a lot of crab meat, they offered to make it up with another part of the platter instead. That being said, the platter had a great portion of each of the seafoods, and the salad was very good too. Personally I really enjoy radish in salads so glad to see it here. We also got a milkshake and a smoothie, the milkshake was a great refresher and my partner said she loved the smoothie. Finally we also had a couple of cakes to finish our lunch, I had a rocky road which was superb, and my partner had the largest slice of coffee and walnut cake, which of course I helped finish off. Definitely worth going for a nice meal with a view!

Ab Fab. Excellent sea food based menu in a delightful beach location. Excellent haddock chowder and scampi. Great coffee too. The staff have an obvious flair for what, they do

What a find. Been down to the Chesil Beach at the end of the road Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Gardens are on many times but this October this Cafe had appeared. Discovered they had opened in May this year. Wonderful friendly staff. The best hot chocolate I have ever had. Delicious. The Bacon, brie and cranberry sandwiches are just right on a cold day. But the very best is the almond croissants which are massive and best eaten warm. Keep coming back and even on the coldest day a very warm welcome is guaranteed. Thank you.

Excellent coffee (this comment is from a coffee snob who has been looking for a decent coffee for several days!) and really delicious almond croissant. Love the fact you have to 'tap the crab' to pay! I would highly recommend this little gem in a beautiful spot.

The best Fish Finger sandwich and chips ever! Fact! Yummy salads annd lots of amazing fish options. Great selection of drinks, cakes, pastries and ice cream. Can’t wait to try the breakfast options. Am coming here again!

Lovely place for coffee, cake, meals and small dishes. A real gem on the Dorset coast. The new menu I sublime and staff friendly as ever. Sit outside or inside with dogs welcome and easy excess for all with a carpark out the front. Be back again soon as we always are :).

The food was served promptly and was an excellent combination of flavours and textures. The staff were friendly and attentive.

A great atmosphere, excellent menu and helpful and efficient staff team. The whole experience underscored by the ancient Abbey setting and the rolling Dorset landscape. We will return...

What a wonderfully calming place these gardens are! Admittedly it wasn't packed, the forecast wasn't great and even though we were part of a coachload for the most part it felt like we were the only ones visiting. We didn't follow the arrows but instead went down all the little paths to see as much as possible. Had we done so I suspect we'd have completed the trail in a couple of hours. We made a point of stopping at the various seating areas and we're pleasantly surprised - there are so many different plants to enjoy, even when doubling back on ourselves after stopping off lunch we spotted something different. Lunch was a Cornish pastie and a sandwich which were both enjoyed. The pastie could have been a bit larger but was really tasty. The shortbread (and apparently the cakes) were good too. There's only one set of toilets but even though the gardens are spread out it's not too long a walk back from most points in the garden. The west lawn was closed due to a wedding and the viewpoint over Chesil beach was also closed apparently due to mud after 4 days of rain which was a shame. We arrived at 11 and departed at 4 which was the perfect amount of time to see everything, stop for lunch, afternoon refreshments and visit the plant sale & gift shop. I would definitely recommend Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens as a day out - we travelled 2 hours each way and it was worth it.

Definitely a dog friendly place. A tropical paradise with flowing gardens of rolling landscape, inter weaved with pathways to explore. Some paths are wheelchair friendly. The 'restaurant' is more of a tea room but serves up usual drinks, cakes and pasty type hot snacks. The toilets are ok but just not big enough for such a popular place, especially for the women. Great plant sales and a small shop. Friendly staff, well worth a visit.

This is glorious little hideaway. If you take the map given to you at the entrance you will most likely follow the route signposted with white arrows. This route is a short, nonetheless beautiful tour of the garden. For a lengthier tour map out your own tour. Be sure to climb the viewpoint that provides a fabulous view across local countryside toward Chesil Beach. The restaurant and outside seating area are really comfortable. Staff are friendly and professional with food food that is also great value.

A beautiful garden with multiple zones from different parts of the world. We took two hours walking around with a main route to follow but many other paths to explore. The sheer range of plants shrubs and trees is amazing. Well worth a visit and you can get half price access to the Swannery when booked at the same time.

Lovely place to sit outside in the yard and have lunch and coffee ☕️. Lovely atmosphere and good friendly staff.

I came in for a family dinner, it's a very cosy pub with lots of photos of local life and times of what I assume to be people associated with the pub, it looks like this place meant a lot to quite a few people. The highlight for me was the dinner, I had the potato and broccoli bake with garlic bread and a salad, it took me back to my aunties cooking when I went round her house every Sunday, so it's difficult to put into words how much I enjoyed the food. For dessert we had sticky toffee pudding and a homemade crumble, both served with hot custard, as it was a chilly day that was perfect to warm us up before we left. I will definitely be back again if I'm in the area!

Popped in one chilly morning for a quick drink and a warm by the fire, but will be back to try some of the tempting home-made dishes. Lovely traditional pub in a beautiful setting

Lovely pub and eatery in beautiful Abbotsbury. Staff can't do enough for you and the food was delicious. Good parking facilities too.

Came here today, after walking from our campsite at Graston Copse through Burton Bradstock village. A warm welcome by a member of staff & shown to our outside table for 4 with 3 dogs. Our waitress took our drinks order & returned after a few minutes to take our food order. She was very friendly and attentive, giving time for a chat despite being extremely busy. Wait for our food was minimal and when it arrived it was hot, tasty & well presented. Back ground music was pleasant, giving the Mediterranean feeling due to the sunshine. Wouldn't hesitate in returning if we are in the area again .... thank you.

This is a well loved beach cafe which has beautiful scenic views, it is very popular and rightly so. The menu is mainly fish and seafood dishes. However, they do a smashing full English breakfast up to 11.30 am. I will post pics. This dog friendly beach cafe has a carpark close by, but if you choose to walk along the cliff top path or the lower paths, you will walk within the most beautiful scenery. This is a totally table service venue, so once you are seated, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. Prices are reasonable.

We arrived at 11.20, just in time to order breakfast. We were lucky to get the table on the edge of the 'tent' overlooking the beach. Despite being quite busy we received very efficient service. The food arrived within 15- 20 min, then our hot drinks. We had 3 x full English and egg Benedict on muffin with bacon. Everyone enjoyed it. The only nuisance were a few wasps but not a lot to spoil our experience.

Camping at Freshwater holiday park, a 20 minute walk to visit this gem of a place. Busy and bustling restaurant, great menu, food was outstanding and the service was great too. Dog friendly aswell, all in all, will definitely be returning soon.

Great place to stop for a pint and food after at long walk down the Southwest coast path. Friendly staff, great atmosphere. Good good at a reasonable price . Will defo be back soon 😊

Stopped in for a drink after a walk. Lovely old pub with friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere. Older reviews say there’s no draught beer, but it’s under new management now and there were plenty of options when we came.

This is a lovely big cafe near the entrance to the Abbotsbury Subtropical gardens.......On our visit we looked around these beautiful gardens first then returned to the cafe for some refreshments......The staff were all lovely and welcoming,which is nice to see.....There are plenty of tables both inside and out where you can sit to enjoy your food in pleasant surroundings...... Overall a great place to explore,a must do along with the Abbotsbury Swannery,whichever one you visit first if you keep the receipt you get into the second one for half the price which is a brilliant deal....👍