The Best Cafes in Compton Abbas, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

This is an absolutely amazing place. The staff were extremely attentive, the food was phenominal and definitely worthy of a Michelin star and excellent value too. They really care about service and quality here . The best food that I have eaten in a long time. Thank you so much.

Yalbury Cottage is a place where excellence, friendliness, and quality come together seamlessly. As someone who loves travelling and exploring new cities and places, I have stayed in numerous accommodations, but none compare to Yalbury Cottage. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and look forward to returning to the area. The staff at Yalbury Cottage consistently went out of their way to be friendly and did everything possible to ensure our stay was exceptional. The room exceeded my expectations significantly, with its stunning and unique view. We truly felt as if we were at home, but in a setting with beautiful new scenery. Situated in Dorchester, Yalbury Cottage offers a perfect base to explore the area and nearby cities such as Weymouth. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, have recommended this place to others, and will continue to do so. The bed was incredibly comfortable, and everything was spotlessly and well-organised. Additionally, the thoughtful touch of leaving brownies in our room upon arrival exemplifies their dedication to Yalbury Cottage and their commitment to providing each guest with an exceptional experience. I personally can't wait to return to this charming cottage for another uniquely wonderful stay.

Lovely place to stay. Food was beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. The one thing that I would of appreciated (as an older lady) would of been a bath mat in a very slippy bath. Fabulous, would certainly visit again.

Attended a wake for an old friend's wife with maybe 150 people present on a Sunday. An extraordinary experience with impeccable food, drink and service. The food had obviously been carefully thought out to provide excellence in taste, quality and presentation. Despite a sudden torrential downpour the well trained and unobtrusive staff coped immaculately. Though the occasion could have been sombre Compton MacRae carried it off superbly and perfectly set the tone. Very well done: you deserve all the success that is coming to you.

We came here for a lunch and the food was lovely. We ordered two double charcuterie and cheese boards, and these came with a decent amount of food on them. A special mention to the butternut squash and miso soup, it was delicious. Dogs are welcome as long as they stay in the restaurant. The service was a bit slow and our order was messed up but corrected by staff. The atmosphere was nice under the marque and it was warm. There were plates left out on numerous tables, and the staff rushed around and appeared a bit over worked!

Great food, lovely staff. Gluten free options. Just not set up for less mobile people. Rough gravel that made wheeled walkers v difficult to push, steep ramp up. Hazardous. I watched 3 people struggle in. The food must be good! No disabled loo despite lots of space for it. Loos 50 yards away over same gravel. Can drive to them. C'mon people put a paved path to the entrance, get a more gently inclined ramp and put a couple of collapsible bars on the wall behind the loo to aid standing. Lots of customers aren't that young anymore.

I am giving this five as it is a museum piece. Opened in 1976 it has never changed. Been decorated regularly, but kept the original features. So if you want a 70's cafe with frothy coffee & fried food this is the place. They do have the modern coffee & up to date delights of the 21st century, but keep the old favourites. The breakfast are fun as are the lunches. Some good photos of old Shaftesbury on display. The manager has been there for 43 years, so the owners must be great too.

Lovely traditional cafe Banging breakfast Would fully recommend

Good inexpensive traditional cafe. Lovely staff. Very dog friendly. Good food. Well worth a visit

Picked the cafe for a meeting point with my family. A great choice. Lovely friendly service straightforward foods and drink. Very pleasant. Recommended as a great meet point for a good breakfast. . .

First time here with friends absolutely disgusting spot on good customer service food was amazing. Nothing was to much trouble I had standard breakfast want fried potatoes with it which was no problem at all .Thank you so much definitely be coming back again.

Excellent fry up, just what we needed after our weekend at a festival. Friendly staff.

Lovely hot breakfast. Great value. Highly recommended

Good location on the edge of Sherborne to let the kids run and play while you sit comfortably in the old farm yard with a cake and coffee or maybe a light lunch.

I love this little place that has a larger personality especially around the holidays, nice food, nice helpful staff, and full of friendlyness. It gets bigger and louder during the holidays and summer months when it opens the play area and the maize maze. Lovely for families and children. I have to say it pleases my heart to see this place set up for children's outside play, they certainly keep you on your toes, even when you are not part of that group or party, it has a little downside life everywhere when is busy hearing can be an issue even when sat face to face, so if you're expecting a wee cuppa or coffee or lunch in peace or relative quite here, you honestly won't know until you get there. It's just lovely hearing the children and youths being a play outside and not attached to their phones or computers.

Went with my sister ( a local ) and daughter and granddaughter. Food was really lovely. Highly reccomend the quiche. The play area is safe and really well laid out. If you are in the area it is well worth a visit. We live over an hour away but do make a beeline for Blackmarsh Farm when visiting. Staff are lovely too.

Huge muscles in a nicely balanced blue cheese cream sauce. The fish chowder was also lovely, great tasting fish and fresh veg. We enjoyed on a wet and windy day, outside seating had heaters which warmed us up nicely. Would recommend after a walk.

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.

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.

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.