The Best Restaurants in Dorchester, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

Today my friend and I found this little gem of a Bistro by accident, and oh my the food was perfection! The food is all local produce and it was just beautiful tasting. We had come from Bournemouth and we will defo be coming back! Totally recommend this place!

This can be recommended for its food, service and ambience. We went with two friends and we all enjoyed our starters, main courses and dessert. The wine was reasonably priced and pleasant. The serving staff were helpful and pleasant. The decor was good and there was a relaxed atmosphere. This is a real Poundbury asset- I hope, for many years to come!

Great service, delicious food and an intimate dining experience. This is what eating out should be. Well worth a visit. Excellent customer focus and a lovely atmosphere. We have made this our yearly Christmas meal venue and it never disappoints. I cannot wait for our Christmas visit this year!!!

We ate with friends and the food was exceptional. The service was “fine” but the inexperience of the young team came across as scripted and insincere. We’ve booked to go again at Christmas, it’s a great, intimate bistro with great food options.

I had the fully vegan breakfast and was thoroughly impressed—it definitely didn’t disappoint! I followed it with the breakfast wrap, which was equally amazing. However, the lemon cake was the real highlight. Would have happily eaten more if we could. It was absolutely delicious!

We don’t really know Dorchester but found ourselves at Brewery Square, just away from the town centre. It was a place full of unexciting corporate eateries with one exception - Vibes. We went in because it was dog friendly but stayed for the eye poppingly delicious vegan food. We ate a fantastic mushroom shawarma plate, a felafel wrap and some onion rings too. All were absolutely delicious. Really good. Add in some chilled music & calming decor & this was truly a place of positive, er, Vibes. Visit & be delighted.

Popped in here for breakfast while our car charge. Excellent breakfast menu with amazing vegan options, very tasty juices and great coffee. Left feeling full and well watered and bought some sweet treats for later. Very much worth checking out.

Just dined at this very cute cafe with finger-licking good food!!! My family and I ordered Falafel Wrap, Mushroom Shawarma, Buddha Bowl, and Sourdough bread. In addition to this we also ordered their Sunshine Smoothy and Iced Latte. Everything we ordered here was flavourful and delicious. Their falafel was really good as well, which in my personal experience is a hard one to get right. It was crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. The owner and the server were really sweet and welcoming as well. In all my family and I had a very good experience with great food. :)

Outstanding food, exceptional service and a really welcoming atmosphere . The chef cooks exceptional food . We had a fabulous time and will definitely return.

Genuine Italian warmth and hospitality in Dorchester! I went with my Mum and boyfriend and we all had a fantastic meal and loved the atmosphere. The waitresses and chef were very welcoming and the chef even came out to offer my Mum some choices for the vegan option that evening. It's a small menu with everything cooked to perfection. We will definitely be back soon!

Decided to give it a go on our holiday as we wanted to avoid the chain restaurants nearby. Very glad we did. Waiters fell over backwards trying to help and make sure everything was okay! Mussels weee delicious, the ravioli even better and the dessert was perfect too! Wonderful atmosphere and a great place to eat

Just had a wonderful two course lunch here - fabulous freshly cooked Italian food, super friendly service and a great wine list. Oh and great value too! This is going to be our new favourite place for lunch in Dorch.

First visit since the new owners reopened earlier this month. The staff were welcoming and polite. Food was served promptly and it was delicious. Good selection of Korean and Japanese items on the menu. Will visit again.

No doubt about it: we will be back! The quiet atmosphere of the restaurant captures you at first, then the incredible and attentive service opens the door to the main thing: the delicious food! The presentation of the dishes is impeccable, the quality of the product is amazing and the combination of flavours is out of this world! You can see that there is a lot of work behind the scenes thinking about what should be on the menu and what quantity is perfect to eat! really amazed, taste, quality, good service and price more than appropriate. See you soon!

A lunchtime treat! We ate the really great value lunchtime menu. Starting with prawns, I then followed this with the beef, absolutely amazing. Great glass of wine too!

Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! I couldn’t name any of the courses, but every single one of them was absolutely delicious Fresh, tasty and unforgettable We could definitely come back and couldn’t recommend highly enough *****

Amazing service, beautiful food and a really great selection of gluten free cakes and food options. We felt well looked after and well fed! Also, the coffee is on point!

An absolutely brilliant cafe with delicious fresh food, friendly staff and very reasonable prices! The South African cuisine was one I had not tried before, but it was presented brilliantly to me with the wide array of inventive yet authentic dishes on offer. The coffee was also brilliant and the cakes were delicious.

Came bank holiday friday and was welcomed with open arms by the staff who interacted with us throughout. We havent been able to stop talking about how nice the food was and personally thought thw coffee was the nicest roast id ever had. Dog friendly as well. Although it feels pricey you have to take into account just how fresh everything is.

Incredible food, friendly staff and lovely atmosphere. Stopped for lunch with my sister when we were in the area. So glad we did! I had the chicken nourish bowl and it looked as good as it tasted. We look forward to returning to try the gorgeous desserts.

Hoestly GOATED experience. Best cafe in dorch fr fr. service was lovely and the person I was with had the special which I believe if I recall was the mushroom and butter bean burger and they LOVED IT. 11/10!!!

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!!

Good home cooked food, but on this occasion we visited for the real ale! Despite being only open 4 days a week, the beer quality is very good and it's one of the best places to drink in Dorchester.

This pub has been recommended to me many times but I had not been able to visit due to its limited opening days. I am pleased to report that it exceeded all expectations. Comfortable, clean, welcoming free house serving a good range of unpretentious ales at very reasonable prices. This pales alongside the food, which is hearty, wide-ranging, and offers several local game choices, incl. venison, pheasant and duck. I had a venison casserole, which was delicious and was accompanied by perfectly cooked vegetables. Again, excellent and unpretentious. Best pub in West Dorset, and that's going some!

Had lunch here last Sunday. A proper Traditional Ale House, focused on great beer, good food, good service and atmosphere. Can't think of anything negative to say. Our pints and our meals were excellent, as was the hospitality despite it being a frantic Sunday lunchtime - we both left 100% satisfied. If we revisit Dorchester "The Blue Raddle" will be top of our list for somewhere to lunch.

A friendly & welcoming pub- I've been here several times and the food and welcome has been top notch. Tonight I had the whitebait followed by the steak & kidney pie, while my companions had the pheasant & vernison burger, and the chicken & bacon pie. The dishes were geneous and fresh, and all plates went back to the kitchen spotlessly clean. Finished with a slice of their homemade cake now the day and all but rolled back to our hotel. *Highly* recommended 👌

This place takes you by surprise as it looks small from the outside but there is a lot of seating inside, plus upstairs. The service was really welcoming and friendly. The scones were amazing! The menu had lots of choices including sandwiches and jacket potatoes.

Excellent service, food was incredible. I got the eggs Benedict with salmon and it was probably the best I’ve had. Yolk was perfectly runny n was well presented. Will be returning in future.

What a little gem of a cafe/restaurant!!! We popped in for lunch today, Sunday, for 16.95 each had sirloin beef roast, generous portion, toasties, potato gratin, plenty of veg, Yorkshire pudding, just the right consistency of gravy. And a side of horseradish. Best roast we've had in a very long time.... I normally save room for a pudding... but no... I ate every mouthful...and at 6pm was still not hungry. Staff so pleasant . I almost didn't want to leave such a good review in case I can't get a table any time soon!!

Just had our Christmas lunch a party of 13. Wonderful hot food ..great service lovely atmosphere would definitely recommend you won't be disappointed.

Beautiful food had 3 courses and all were beautiful, service was well paced and not fast so you get to enjoy the dishes . Steak was more than an 8oz fillet and my wife’s seafood linguine was in her words divine. Waiters were lovely and honoured to meet one of the chefs . Thank you

Incredible food. Went for my birthday and the food was absolutely amazing!! Best steak we’ve had and the portions were generous! Staff were extremely polite and friendly, we cant wait to go back !!

This place is remarkable. I honestly feel like I have to leave a review because I had a private room booking for party of 7 (engagement celebration). The team took care of us extremely well and I want to give special honour to our hostess Verity, so sweet, so patient, clear in her communication- 5 stars for her. The food was gorgeous and pretty affordable in my opinion . Some portions were small but I understand that it is more on fine dining side. The only critique I would give is about some cleaning aspects in which the rooms had like old cobwebs, spider webs on the windows, just could use a deep clean.

Have a lovely lunch here with my godmother. We had pork belly and it was very tender but abit too salty. It’s ok when eat with the mashed potato, it’s balanced out. Very friendly and attentive service 👍🏻

Most amazing service by Amelia!!! We had just come from our first baby scan at the hospital and Amelia was so sweet, so attentive and the restaurant even gifted us a recipe book with the sweetest inscription 🥹 The food was delicious. We had juices, tea, an appetizer and mains. I especially loved the veggie corn dogs. We will definitely be back soon. xx

I popped in today for a menu from the Dorchester branch and was greeted by Adam the manager (what a lovely man) I decided to go back after work an order some food to go. Adam was there and may I say what exceptional service! I don't think I've ever experienced such great service before, he was so helpful and all his staff were amazing also. As always the food was fantastic and I can't compliment you all enough. We will be back very soon ☺️

You get what you pay for and here that means excellent service, lovely atmosphere and most importantly delicious food. High quality, fresh ingredients cooked to order with a huge range of dishes that are better than the run of the mill options.

Perfect in every way : seating, ambience, service, vibes, menu offerings, veg options, portions, presentation, taste, colour/ freshness of the salads and toppings. Very nice