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

A lovely little cafe for breakfast / brunch! Lots of options on the menu to cater for all needs. Good coffee and very friendly staff too. It was lovely to be able to bring my doggy inside who very much enjoyed the treats he was given! We will definitely be back.

The feed station team did an amazing job with hosting my mums surprise 60th Birthday, Amanda and Chris were super helpful and were very accommodating to what I wanted. The food was delicious and the Venue beautiful, they made a beautiful birthday cake especially for the occasion decorated to how I wanted with flowers. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job, I would highly recommend and will be back again soon!

A lovely small cafe, lots of seating inside and a menu full of delicious things! The service was great and food didn’t take too long to arrive. Would definitely recommend.

Fantastic staff, nice menu with good range and plenty of gluten free options. Well worth a visit.

Came for a leisurely coffee but ended up treating myself to the Rarebit! It was DELICIOUS! 😋 The only negative thing was there wasn't more of the tasty side salad (so so good ) 😁 I am super happy to have found such a gem in a local area 🙌 Ps the service was so friendly - thank you

Wonderful vegetarian cafe, great food, lovely cosy place to spend time. Friendly service, excellent menu of tasty dishes & cakes.

What a lovely cafe! We came in for a coffee and Dorset Apple Cake and ended up staying for lunch. Great atmosphere, wonderful service and the food is amazing!! We had the avocado rarebit which was brilliant - really tasty and served with a lovely salad and slaw. Definitely recommend; we'll definitely be coming back.

I always thought of this place as mainly for coach trips and weddings... totally wrong! There's so much here! Hard to know where to start. Gardens are 10 acres separately themed. Winding paths take you through the valley, densely planted with a fantastic variety of species it's a joy. Despite being Feb there was plenty to see. The formal areas are truly stunning. Kids will love the tunnels, bridges and stepping stones. Plus there's a whole play area in the woods. Views from the top of the gardens are incredible. Interesting sculptures everywhere, great fun trying to spot them all. One visit is not enough to take it all in. They also have a huge shopping space. Local things, plants, kids toys, gifts and an Italian deli. Could have spent hours browsing. Cafe was clean with lots of lunch options. Plenty of seats inside and out. Staff were the absolute best. Kind and welcoming. Can't wait to go back in the summer!

A wonderful charming and welcoming entrance to the beautiful Compton Acres Gardens. The café and tea rooms are cute, open and casual eat in bakery that serves hot and cold food. Selection of dishes are simple such as soups, fish and chips, quiche and salad and sandwiches. They have an enormous selection of cakes and drinks. They also sell made to order cakes from the selection they sell and extremely reasonable prices. We ordered a signature caramel & raspberry 9" cake for £35 with custom message on. Lovely for impromptu treat.

Great food! Gluten free options avaliable, including delicious cakes! I tried the lemon cake and it has to be one of the best cakes I ever had!

I just love the tranquility of this place. In the heart of a big tourist focus town, Compton Acres provides a surprisingly peaceful opportunity to relax and wander around beautiful and perfectly maintained gardens. Woodlands areas, a formal Italian garden, Japanese garden and well laid out ponds / streams all make this a great afternoon out. Very recommended.

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.

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.

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.

What an excellent find! This cafe is clean, modern and comfortable and serves great quality delicious snacks and drinks. I had a mouthwatering panini and was served in a very friendly manner. The coffee was great too. Highly recommend a visit. I will definitely be back.

Popped in for coffee with friends. It is run by a Master Baker and the photos of his cakes were amazing. If we get to move here, this would become a regular haunt.

Great coffee, pastries & sandwiches. Friendly staff.

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!

Excellent coffee and delicious home produced food of exceptional quality. This place is a real gem and well worth a detour for lunch.

Had lunch one day and drinks another. Great place. Nice atmosphere. Pleasantly upmarket without being pretentious.

A lovely place which such an amazing team! We were well looked after celebrating our first wedding anniversary and the crispy lionsmane mushroom dish at the restaurant was one of the best I have ever had! We had the most perfect stay.

A stellar experience. Lovely service from the team, who clearly are passionate about what they do. The steak I had was maybe the best I have ever been served - a lovely cut and cooked perfectly. Just a great experience.

Went for a Mexican and half price cocktails on a Wednesday evening. Mexican is cooked in a van in the car park, but served in the bar/conservatory - excellent food (real cutlery but takeaway boxes).

Very Christmas garden centre which was very cleverly put together. Choose wisely the time to go as if it is busy it can be a little too much for dogs and small children. Staff were very helpful.

I have never seen a Christmas display as good as this, there was so much choice it just went on and on, the words amazing and outstanding, just don't convey how good this is, must have taken ages to put this together. I would have taken loads more pictures but you just need to go. 2024 update gone again will make this a yearly visit, another amazing set up, this is the best Christmas display I have seen anywhere, just go and see it, by the way there are some lovely cakes in the cafe there as well.

Visited quickly to get out of the cold weather and I'm so glad we did! The Christmas display was open, which took about 29 minutes to walk through with only minimal browsing, but you could easily spend an hour in there looking at the various displays they have open. Dog friendly and free to enter.

We had a fantastic day with my family. Beautiful nature, good weather, water, birds, what else does a person need to be happy

Had a delicious lunch sitting outside with friends... super attentive and charming team, good choice, easy going atmosphere and good coffee (smooth not citrus). Checked out the others nearby, except the usual high street brands and this is a great spot, location and so chose it. Recommended.

Nice little cafe serving excellent food and very friendly staff. The tables are very close to each other, so be mindful of that. Food was served quickly, and it appears to be a local favourite.

Only had drinks here this visit. They were really good and we enjoyed our visit. Drinks were really worth the money

Good food, tea and scones. The staff are very nice and friendly.

Busy lunchtime. Had a delicious soup and amazing pink grapefruit tea. Very good value. Will be back for the plant based croissants! Thanks so much, it’s so important to have options like this.

Great little cafe. Stopped here for tea and a light snack on our way to Cornwall. Was pleasantly surprised at the number of gluten free options. Millionaire shortbread was delicious!!