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

Perfect breakfast experience. Very nice staff. Great food. Couldn’t be better

Good food, great location just be aware of seagulls! I wasn't but when half my burger was eaten by one it was replaced free of charge which was very nice. :)

Highly recommend! Wide variety of burgers, seafood, and bites, as well as beers and local ciders available. Beware their hot food service ends at 3pm but if you're a few minutes late they're really nice and can make select menu items. Loved the chicken burger here after finishing a long hike from Studland

Had a nice egg baguette and a coffee. Unfortunately a seagull got half of it! A warning would have been nice, but the gull enjoyed it eating it in front of me.

Such a special place. Can't beat it. Frequented the place when we lived in Dorset & come back on every visit. Visited today after a lovely walk from Worth on the Priest's Way, down to Dancing Ledge for a swim & back along the coast to Windspit before heading to The Square & Compass for a Pint & a Pasty. Nowt fancy, just good honest food at a good price. Couldn't ask for better.

Is nice pub to be there after a bit hiking around Dancing ledge, a lot britains goes there to have a glass of beer 🍺, nice talking, good view. Also they have a small museum about fósils found around. They hay a good variety local beers 🍻 simple but nice taste traditional food.

All sorts of pasties is the only menu. Lots of different beers to choose from and the most amazing view, it's on a hill and best to experience when sunny. Outside seating is really unusual on lumps of stone or wooden benches.

After a lovely sunny walk we ended up at the Square & Compass. We had an ale and mulled cider with a steak pasty and a chicken leek and bacon pie. Service was quick and the staff were polite and friendly. We sat in one of the snugs. The whole place is a living museum and you step back in time once you cross the threshold. Service is through a hatch in line with the entrance, it became very congested very quickly with only a few people being present. Not so easy to navigate once you add a tray with drinks and food on it.

Delicious food, cooked perfectly with a great variety! Also love that the menu varies every time. Friendly staff and lovely atmosphere and decor, child friendly too.

We originally had booked The Pig On The Beach for dinner but when walking past Purbeck Plaza decided to cancel our booking at The Pig and try this instead and we are so glad that we did! The food was incredible and from 7pm the atmosphere picked up and the restaurant was really busy, the staff were really lovely and attentive and the owner spent some time talking with us and recommending other local places to eat as well. I would definitely recommend booking as we had booked for 6:30 and from 7 the restaurant was basically full. We really liked the fact that the menu changed daily and it was so reasonably priced! We ordered 7 dishes at it came to around £35 + the jug of sangria! We will definitely be coming back when we’re back in Swanage.

Great food. Very generous portions. Was delicious. Everything had a lot of flavour and was so well priced. Would definitely recommend and very good value for money.

This was such a lovely stop in Swanage. The highlight of the day was sitting and enjoying the view here with a nicely composed cocktail. I would definitely prioritise visiting this place especially when the sun comes out!

We came one night for a drink and some oysters and promptly came back for dinner the next night. Gorgeous views, fresh seafood and young, friendly staff. Definitely worth a visit 😊

Second time we’ve had lunch here coming by JetSki. The views are perfect and the staff attentive. We really enjoyed the food and were pleasantly surprised by the standard of it. It’s surprisingly hard to a find a decent standard of food these days at a fair price and this place does a great job and with a young team too.

Just perfect, location fantastic, food phenomenal, Staff Fabulous Well worth a visit even if oysters or mussels aren't your thing plenty of non fishy options seved with a great view and a friendly smile.

My wife and I finally made our first visit last week, and it won't be our last. Friendly, polite and efficient staff, who were so attentive at the right times. A fantastic choice of menu, and extremely enjoyable food. We weren't rushed, and we will be back. A word of advice for other diners who haven't been before - you need to probably book as it's that popular and that good. Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Lovely small reasonably priced restaurant with excellent service and delicious fresh seafood. We had the specials, a fresh lobster and a fresh fish mixed grill selection. Both beautifully cooked. It is a bit tucked away, and the location is nothing special, but the food more than makes up for it.

Gorgeous food, great service & amazing value. Big shout out to the lovely waiter. Star in the making.

Me and my fiancé tried to get in to this restaurant last year (april) with no luck of anyone answering the phone and the restaurant looking closed every time we walked past it. This year (April 2023) we managed to figure out that the restaurant is open from 6pm on I think a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (could be wrong). Anyway, we booked in and the food was quite frankly incredible. Seriously amazing with excellent service. Everyone was really friendly and we felt very welcomed. The food was also really well priced. I read some reviews about the interior being cold and having no ambience, this I agree with which I why I am knocking one star off. Overall, I would definitely recommend this place though.

Amazing spooky old pub. Was here just for drinks as we missed the food time. Interesting place. The garden is awesome, quite a few tables on a bit of an incline. Mini stone circle and memorials out there.

We just stopped in for a quick drink on our way out of Swanage as all the pubs in the town were busy. Such a lovely place cozy and quirky with a lovely garden, really friendly staff who clearly loved engaging with anyone who walks through the door. We'll happily visit again if we're back in the area.

What a fabulous atmosphere, warm and cozy pub. The Sunday roasts were to die for! The staff so pleasant and welcoming, pubs like these are a dying breed. 5 stars from me!

Amazing hospitality, fantastic food, excellent service. So friendly and accommodating, lovely atmosphere and excellent beer..!

Went to the salt pig last night. Great service and great atmosphere. Locally sourced ingredients and everything tasted vibrant, fresh and well cooked . 10/10

Love this place. We are regulars at the little Studland Branch but first trip here. Love the decor, atmosphere, beautiful food at amazing prices. Staff are lovely and got to buy a whole trout on the way out to cook later!

10/10 on all accounts! Fantastic menu, quality meat cooked to perfection and amazing presentation and flavours, kind and helpful staff. I had the steak and also tried the pulled pork and pork chop, the whole group were beyond happy! Pulled pork had amazing flavour. Desert was delightful too. Highly recommend this restaurant and as a big foodie, I'd invest in opening one up in my hometown if I could! Come to Oxford please!!

Came here on a Saturday afternoon. The food was already cooked and displayed in the shelves. Ordering is easy. Food is tasty. Just the portion is not enough for the price I pay.

Amazing food with great service! This old pub looks amazing inside. The toilets were a little cold as you had to go outside to get to them and there is no heat but it suits the rustic atmosphere. The chef would pop out every now and then to talk to people just to see how they were enjoying their meal. It was very nice to see his smiling face. You can tell he really enjoys his career. 😃

Lovely old pub in Swanage High Street. Absolutely fantastic food and great beer/wine at very reasonable prices. Menu specials vary day to day .You need to book a table if you want to eat.

I visited the Black Swan Inn with my large family for a meal on Sunday and we all absolutely loved it. The food was delicious, the service was 10/10 and the chef even came out twice (unrequested) to chat to us about different food intolerances. It was such a friendly atmosphere and the garden is a beautiful sun trap! We will 100% be back!

Great Monday night dinner… our food was fabulous..the Jurassic feast for 2 … great if you love pork. Couldn’t finish it. All meals looked great. Bonus was staying across the road from a great food venue. Pretty quiet otherwise.. but make sure you book if you can as it is booked out by early afternoon

We just had the most delicious dinner at The Cabin. The food was lovely, the view spectacular and the staff were incredibly friendly. Contrary to a review below, portion size was very generous. Will definitely be coming back here!!

This is the most awesome cliff-side cafe around, well, it's the only one I know of so... a well deserved title! Opens at 9am, perfect to grab a delicious fried breakfast at the start of the day before enjoying the surrounding scenery / beaches. Get there early and you can sit half way up the cliff (on top of the café roof to be precise - the cliff isn't very high!) and take in the lovely view of Swanage bay at the same time. Quick, friendly service, not too expensive, they also take card/phone payment... what's not to love?

Absolutely stunning little cafe fresh crab was perfect and right on the beach ‘if the flags are flying they’re open’ ❤️

An amazing place to stop and eat and drink. Food is amazing, the staff are friendly, plenty of seating however can get very busy. The view is beautiful, the perfect location for food and drink. Highly recommend and we will definitely be returning.

Cane here for an evening meal having booked a table. Lovely and warm as was the welcome. Very basic food and the sausage and mash had no accompaniments at all ...just gravy and there was no option for extra veg. Salmon was ok'ish but not very warm at all. Overall the food flattered to deceive.

Top pub! We arrived just after food service had finished and commented how good the chips looked. Thanks Julian for knocking us up an extra bowl - delicious and highly recommended! The rest of the food look great.

Spur of the moment booking. Extremely friendly staff. Lovely food, we had lamb shank, scampi & fish pie which we all enjoyed. Staff had time for a lovely chat with us. It was so nice we are planning to go back today if we can get a table. 🤔

Stopped in for a late dinner. Delicious food. Had the local sausages, soup and prawns. We prepared, fresh and delicious! As an American, I like more salt, but it was happily supplied. I definitely recommend the sausage with mash and wine gravy! Outstanding. Definitely recommend.