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

Best kept secret around. This place is an absolute gem! It's clean, modern, well priced and the food is excellent! Ironically the fish & chips is a bit bland, but I've been there many times since, and everything else I've ordered has been excellent.

Lovely food choice and very tasty. Friendly and helpful staff. With a relaxing atmosphere. Great cake and sweet selection. Wonderful coffee. Wheel chair friendly and dogs allowed as well. What more can you ask for. Definitely will return!

We decided to try this place out as we only live just down the road from it and I'm so glad we did. We had a breakfast and were not disappointed. Everything was superb, brilliant value for money and great produce used. And what's more we were really impressed with the welcoming hospitality of the staff. This is rare to find and so pleased when we experienced it. We highly recommend this place and will be returning as a regular for sure with friends and family. Keep up the good work

We thoroughly enjoyed our one night at Plumber Manor. The staff were without exception helpful, friendly and efficient. We had a beautifully cooked dinner and the breakfast was first-rate. The hotel is in a quiet location and the grounds are kept very well with attractive topiary and well-planted borders. We would definitely return another time.

I have been all over the world and have stayed and dined at numerous hotels. Since 1991 I have stayed several times, every year, at Plumber Manor and I can in all honesty say that I have nowhere felt as comfortable and at home as in that wonderful little Country Hotel tucked away in lovely Dorset. Also the food and wine list are superb and the fact that Plumber Manor was elected best Hotel in Southern England in 2024 is totally justifiable.

We have stayed here three times since 1980. Still in the same expert ownership. Beautiful country manor house. Well maintained in a discreet style. Fabulous food, interesting wine list with a range of half bottles too. Good value for Londoners!!! Friendly relaxed service. Welcoming sitting room with open fire. Make a special journey to visit if you can.

Excellent venue. Has good facilities and plenty of parking. It looked disabled friendly with plenty to look at. Ther coffee shop was busy when we visited with lots of happy customers.

Nice little place with a few interesting businesses on site. Ladies beware though as the toilet door doesn't work properly. I walked in on someone and I saw a few others do the same. I

Beautiful food, for a wake. Excellent service, and delicious coffee!!!

Fantastic Coffee, plenty of Parking, very tempting Cakes and food available. Friendly Staff, well worth a visit. Inside and outside seating.

On the main road which goes through stur. Ideal for a light lunch or snack. Did have a specials board which we sampled two dishes from. Staff friendly and overall it's very good value for money.

Made so welcome with our puppy on a really wet, windy Sunday. We were wet, the puppy was trying hard to be good. The Big Stur breakfast was epic. Filling and great ingredients. The plate was swept clean. Generous portions for the hungry traveller. Pleasant surroundings and friendly staff. They cared for us. We will be back.

Such a beautiful cafe, full of character and charm. Have visited a few times, with friends and with family. Each time I have visited, the service has been so welcoming, warm and friendly. The cakes are exceptional, the brownies in particular are a must try! The food is great value for money, so tasty and freshly cooked. We are so lucky to have this cafe in our town! (Also dog friendly with a little jar of biscuits on the side which I feel is a lovely extra bonus!)

Our first visit and it was lovely. The food, service, people and surroundings we so quaint. We will definitely be back.

The welcome, service, food and presentation were all of the very best. We had dinner here last time and this was a lunch visit. Our friends were obliged to bring their very difficult and antisocial dog. Nothing was too much trouble with the staff. . Everything was very good indeed

My husband and I ate at the Golden Fox after reading great reviews on the food, the staff and the facilities. We were not disappointed. Absolutely fantastic food. Wonderful staff and spotlessly clean facilities. The whole place had a wonderful ambiance which only enhanced the whole experience. They were also very welcoming of our dog Max.

This was our first visit and we were very impressed. The fish platter had a most interesting selection of fish and was beautifully presented . The service was most friendly and courteous. Our only negative comment was that the garden , where we ate, could have been tidied up with some more colourful bushes.

Excellent friendly service. Nothing too much trouble. Delicious food sensibly priced. We had Pork schnitzel with a creamy freshly made mushroom sauce. Lovely. Our friends had sea bass and grilled salmon nicoise and very much enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

We stopped off here for breakfast at the end of a weekend away as we’d heard from our hosts that they did good food and were dog friendly. The food was delicious and great value. The staff were really friendly and welcoming and we managed to pick up a couple of early Xmas presents for hampers as a bonus! Would highly recommend.

Fantastic gem of a cafe with a great selection of cakes and hot food. Margo the owner is forward thinking and the waiting staff Ollie and Gabby know how to make you feel seen and welcome. Will be back

The food here is always delicious, theres a lot of innovation and choice in what is on offer. Very friendly staff, and theres a range of their own condiments for sale inside too. Such a great place 👍

Margot has been running her cafe from this site about 8 years,so I have been many times in i think the last 7+ years... I live around 150 miles away,and hadn't been here since Christmas... So I got down about 06.30 this morning and had table booked for 09.30..... I can not fault this cafe,I tend to have the Spire Hill Grill and I have yet to have a bad bit of any meal. With the ever increase in cost of living,I was expecting it to be more expensive than Christmas 2022...but nope,same price,and I think it is amazing quality for a very reasonable price. I was with family that live in Dorset and visit this fantastic cafe often....in fact my sister was in the day before also. The staff are lovely...Margot (owner) is a true professional and has built her business up over the years,take look at the website,and the produce that have,home made jams etc etc,I understand they now have some of the produce selling in a local shop. The customers in the cafe are also friendly,and seem to know each other.... I did a review on TaT before,and I'm doing this update as and edit,my original is below. We had pot of tea and three coffees...the little milk bottles,the glass teapot are just examples of some of the things they do differently...and it all goes to show the love Margot has for food and service to her customers (friends) The head chef Eve (pink shorts ;) ) is also a little star,and has been with TaT from being tutored from as an apprentice to becoming head chef... And is a credit to Margot and to catering... We came away with a couple of pieces of home made cakes....and will enjoy later. I know before I arrive that the experience will be all I could reasonably expect,and could only ever leave a rate of 5 star.... Anything less...I'm my view is unjust. My original review below Brilliant cafe,I always try to visit when in area,it's a lovely place,great food,and staff are greatest

Fantastic food! Really delicious. We will definitely return on our next trip to the area. The staff are lovely and welcoming, and we felt at ease for the whole visit.

Really nice experience. The decor inside was very appealing and comfortable. Went for the 3 course set menu and the food was very well presented and had a lot of flavour. Waiters/waitresses polite and attentive. Will recommend to friends/family.

Oh my! ♥ What a magical experience visiting The Clockspire was. Where do I begin to describe the care and detail oozing from both the staff and the food, it truly is clear to see, even the toilet hand towels were folded beautifully! We decided to opt for an expensive treat due to a special birthday, but the restaurant also offers a very affordable day menu, so I would recommend for both a stunning meal out and for celebrating occasions.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable and delicious dining experience at the Clockspire Restaurant this evening. Food was excellent along with the service. The old school building has been beautifully restored and creates a delightful surrounding and atmosphere, complimenting the whole experience. This has just become my favorite restaurant. We shall return.

The food was amazing here with a good choice of tapas. There were a good variety of gluten free options on the menu. The service was a little slow, but they had a huge party of people to deal with and kept us informed. Lovely choice of cocktails and mocktails, too.

We had a fantastic girls Christmas party night at the bank house, we all enjoyed ourselves and the tapas festive menu. Gorgeous food, lovely wine and great service.

Grabbed a take away on our first night in town. We purchased pork, and duck ramen. I am picky about ramen and this place was delicious! The owner was friendly as well. We would certainly return.

Amazing vegan tofu! I was pleasantly surprised by this place, the staff were extremely helpful, friendly and welcoming. My partner and I mentioned we are vegan while looking at what to order on their menu and they helped us with some options. I had the tofu steaks (pictured) and my partner had Agedashi tofu. We were blown away with how perfectly the tofu was cooked! Plus the incredible sauces that accompanied the dishes were a delightful bonus. Our food was cooked quite quickly, we didn't have to wait very long at all. We only had 1x appetiser each, but the portion sizes were great and we were left pleasureably full, but wanting more! So much so that we are planning our next visit very soon!

Barrie & Ilze were wonderful! They made our stay perfect and nothing was too much trouble. Breakfast was delicious! Highly recommend this very friendly pub.

Went here for Sunday lunch as a group of 10 and the food was exceptional. Everyone was very happy with their food, we had a mixture of pork, lamb and beef orders. Desserts of crumble, Sundaes and waffles were also of a high standard. Staff were lovely and chatty and had a very welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Would recommend a visit and hope to be back in the area soon to visit again!

A great find today in the middle of a long car journey with the dog. We ordered the chicken supreme off the specials board and it was hands down the best meal we’ve had in a restaurant in a long while. Succulent chicken, delicious creamy sauce, crisp broccoli, and perfectly sautéed cherry tomatoes on (cooked twice?) roasted new potatoes ( I think 🤔) 😋 Worth every penny ✌🏼😎 Thanks