The Best Restaurants in Melbury Bubb, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

Fantastic Saturday lunch in Dorset. Excellent food ( Goats cheese soufflé and beef with horseradish mash ) good red wine and a divine panacotta with hand made turkish delight... bookings a must, very recommended.

Our party of 9 thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at the Elms. Atmosphere was good, food was excellent and the waitress service was excellent too. A very nice restaurant to wine and dine your party in.

This is the place to go for something different. The place is light and airy with plenty of space between the tables. The service is excellent. The menu gives you the opportunity to try something different. I really recommend this as a place to go and try.

We had a pleasant meal here, on a lovely day outside. The soufflé was delicious, although we would've preferred homemade chips. Minor thing really. Would recommend stopping.

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.

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.

Overall is good, the quality it's top as the price and service. Lovely place with good atmosphere. If you're on rush, don't go, take your time and enjoy the food.

Amazing atmosphere. Really friendly staff. Lovely area and great garden. Fireworks were amazing too.

What a charming pub! I was there last night with a group of friends for our regular get together. Crop Circle beer delicious, food superb and the staff were absolutely lovely. What a tremendous bunch and all in an idyllic spot/village. Highly recommend to one and all!

Lovely pub. Comfortable room with nice bathroom and powerful shower. Wonderful breakfast, freshly cooked to order. We didn't eat other meals here but will if we stay again. Will definitely book again if we visit this area in the future

Good old traditional English pub. Good hearty food. Cosy & welcoming. Just what I want when I visit the country side. One of those pubs you can just rock up to without having to be suited & booted. Wellies welcome. Glad the new owners didn't turn it into an expensive posh nosh Queens Arms.

Staff were lovely, particularly the manager guy, with the glasses! Food great and not as expensive as I thought it would be. Very impressed.

We were felt to be made very welcome and special by all the staff. The menu we chose was the set vegetarian which was explained to us in great detail. We were amazed at the choice and quality of the food.

I'm a tad bias to this establishment as I love the food and atmosphere here. Although it's a chain restaurant , i still feel like an individual as a customer. The staff treat you really well and give you a personal experience. The menu pricing is at the higher end of the market but as a treat, I think it's worth it. For those on a tighter budget, they offer a set meal menu before 7pm. The morning breakfast menu is also quite good. The reason I pay a little more to eat here is because I feel satisfied with my entire dining experience. I'm not a fan of the 10% gratuity that's automatically added to your bill. I feel the customer should decide what the service is worth, not the company.

A very lovely dinner, mussels were good & plenty of them. Had the cafe gourmand for dessert & that was nice. Service was good though a little slow on taking our order & when we wanted to settle up. They also gave us the wrong coffee & wrong dessert but quickly rectified the error. It’s not wow but lovely traditional French cuisine.

We met friends here today for lunch, on their recommendation. Absolutely delicious food, beautifully cooked and served, excellent value for money and lovely, friendly staff. My new favourite place, especially as it's only 10 minutes away!

Charming olde world pub. Great food and friendly staff. Our room was lovely.

What a surprise treat! I visited this restaurant with family when staying in the area for a weekend away, and what a gorgeous find this was! Situated right in the heart of Sherborne (which is a charming town to visit regardless) this restaurant was just fabulous. The menu was fab, tapas dishes inspired by Italy but using West Country produce - what's not to love! Staff were friendly and accommodating, the drinks selection was vast and impressive and the food quality was truly 10/10. Would definitely be back if I lived closer! This place gets very busy over weekend so definitely book in advance, and also would recommend arriving for an earlier sitting rather than later before it gets too busy.

An incredible meal at the plume! We were turned away from another restaurant despite having a reservation, but when we came to the Plume they were happy to help and sat us promptly. The meal was absolutely delicious and filled us up nicely. We had 6 dishes between 4 adults and were stuffed! The service was great and the atmosphere was so lovely.

Lovely late lunch. Quality food and friendly, accommodating staff. The outside looks fairly drab and some of the Italian signage is slightly incongruous (are Wadsworths synonymous with Italian dining? No), but don't be put off, the inside is far, far better with modern styling in a traditional setting. Not cheap but where is these days.

Small plates, order at least 3 each and share, great selection and good quality. Dog friendly every where in the restaurant. I found it a bit complicated, it's a bit like Spanish Tapas and our total bill was around £70 it soon mounts up.

Very cozy place! Had a table booked for 12:15 but showed up an hour early, we still were friendly welcomed and enjoyed a coffee and a pot of tea in the cozy sunny spot inside before we could order our lunch. Great selection and daily specials. We had a Camembert with sourdough to share and two starters as small Mains, salmon fish pie with cream cheese and watercress, breadcrumb battered feta with caramellised figs and honey glaze and two portions of chips. We even got the aioli requested from another main to dip the chips in! As dessert we shared grilled plums.. all very lovely presented. We were absolutely stuffed, even we had no breakfast and no mains! Two drinks. Card payment didn't work for ages and stuff was very helpful and patient!! We spent 3 lovely hours in here with delicious food for a very reasonable price!! Recommended!!

Really enjoyed our meal, great atmosphere and lovely food, not just the usual stuff either, some really interesting dishes. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Selfishly I would like to keep this little gem to myself so that I can always go when I want but in the spirit of generosity (and because these guys are so brilliant) I felt I needed to leave a review. All of it is outstanding - the food, the service, the ambience, the wine - and I’m a hard person to please! I have been for a quick soup and a sandwich, full-blown Sunday roast and a mid-week supper. All superb, freshly prepared food. Yes, maybe slightly pricier than other pubs, but if top quality food and a genuinely friendly service is your priority this is the place to come!

Lovely couldn't fault anything the food was delicious as were the desserts..Staff very friendly and welcoming..Definitely will be visiting again soon

We popped in for a spot of lunch while visiting sights around Dorchester. The landlady of the cottages we rented highly recommended the pub and even contacted them about allergens in their foods to help support one of our party who is suffering some medically induced food issues at the moment. The staff were absolutely superb and did everything they could to ensure we had an excellent experience there. The food was typical pub grub, but at its finest and the prices were absolutely spot on. We will be visiting again.

I visited this pub on Sunday on a staycation in Dorset, we just popped in, and were very pleasantly surprised. A girl named Ruby served us & recommended some cider for us (as we’re not from the area) which was great. She was so personable and helpful and made our experience great. Amazing service, thank you for your hospitality.

We popped in for Guinness at lunchtime and really enjoyed our visit primarily because of the very friendly locals. It was my birthday and we decided to come back in the evening for dinner. Unfortunately our second visit was completely different from our first. My partner had anchovies for a starter which were lovely and beef scrumpet for his main, I had rump steak with chips. We had never heard of scrumpet, it was a thick square of brisket that had been coated in breadcrumbs and fried. I asked for my steak medium rare, but it was dry and over cooked. I had mine returned to the kitchen so another could be prepared. This meant my partner ate his dinner on his own. My dinner returned and it was perfect, but I ate mine on my own. It wasn’t the birthday dinner I had hoped for. No discount was offered, or complimentary dessert. Very disappointing!

Lovely village pub. Only one server to convert bar and restaurant so a bit slow but very friendly and good good though fully priced eg fish and chips 18gbp

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.

Really well looked after when they were busy with a birthday tea party. Delicious cream tea in a beautiful garden. Excellent staff. Made really welcome. Looks a pleasant place to stay too.

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

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.

Visited by chance on a wet Wednesday and so glad we chose Al Molo. Restaurant was busy but staff were excellent, very friendly and attentive and despite being rush off their feet always available when needed. Food was fabulous and when we visit Dorchester again will definitely be back.

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.