Top Restaurants in Swanage, Dorset
The Square & Compass
Worth Matravers, Swanage BH19 3LF, UK | Pub P: 01929 439978
Rating: 4.8 (2476) Price Level:
Keep it simple, a selection of pasties, a sausage roll, and a steak pie, plus some good cider/beer. Served from a hatch which does admittedly cause a bit of a queue, but eaten on tables outside in the sun was worth the wait. Don't miss sticking your head inside to the museum room on the far left and the atmospheric lounge on the right.
Rating: 4 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 4 / 5
Is nice pub to be there after a bit hiking around Dancing ledge, a lot britains goes there to have a glass of beer đș, nice talking, good view. Also they have a small museum about fĂłsils found around. They hay a good variety local beers đ» simple but nice taste traditional food.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Outdoor Seating
- Live Music
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
Accessibility Features:
- Wheelchair Accessible Restroom
Parking Options:
- Paid Parking Lot
- Paid Street Parking
Nearby Landmarks:
- Worth Matravers Tea & Coffee Shop - 172m away
- Woodhenge - 173m away
Down The Beach
Burlington Chine, Swanage BH19 1LS, UK | Cafe P: 07799 115158
Rating: 4.8 (123) Price Level:
Perfect breakfast experience. Very nice staff. Great food. Couldnât be better
Rating: 5 / 5
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. :)
Rating: 4 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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
Rating: 4 / 5
A food stall at the end of the beach, about a 5min walk. Outdoor seating but sometimes not enough as it gets busy, beware of the gulls!! A great view out over the beach & water. We had a bit of wait because they were flat out. It provides breakfasts up to 11am but you can still buy baguettes. Usual hot n cold drink, & other food, not cheap but youâre paying for the location.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Serves Breakfast
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Beer
- Serves Brunch
- Outdoor Seating
- Children' Menu
- Dog Friendly
- Good for Groups
- Good for Children
- Desserts
- Coffee
Accessibility Features:
Nearby Landmarks:
- Grand Hotel - 116m away
- The Pines Hotel - 148m away
- Swanage Haven Boutique Guest House - 214m away
- The Cabin - 157m away
- Crows Nest Inn - 302m away
The Narrows
67 High St, Swanage BH19 2LY, UK | Restaurant P: 01929 288360
Rating: 4.9 (42) Price Level:
Very welcoming and friendly service, and Chef came out to recommend and check for feedback. Superb food, perfectly cooked, chosen from an excellent menu. The decor is interesting and appealing. I loved the sound tracks, just perfect for a cool evening - not noisy, easy to chat. Reasonably priced, given the fine dining experience. Swanage needed quality dining like this and The Narrows delivered. We mentioned it was our anniversary and, after the best wobbly panna cotta and gooey chocolate fondant desert they presented us with a 'Happy Anniversary' chocolate plate with lovely fondants as a gift. A memorable and very enjoyable evening.
Rating: 5 / 5
Lives in the area for a year now for work and tried this place on a whim with my friend. Turned out to be one of the best meals weâve had since moving to Dorset. Really modern and needed for Swanage, great food, lovely and genuine staff and really pretty decor. Weâll be back!
Rating: 5 / 5
Just walked in off the street and staff were so friendly and accommodating. Had a beautiful meal with local beer. Would highly recommend, the food was sensational.
Rating: 5 / 5
Fantastic food. Every dish was special! What a treat. You do need to book in advance! Real good value too. We will definitely be back. The only thing that might may this place even better than it already is, is to do something with the acoustics. It was very loud ⊠but then it was busy đ -maybe find someway to soften the noise. Starters,mains and desserts were delicious. Canât wait to try more from the menu. See photos below! Looked even better in real life đ
Rating: 5 / 5
A wonderful restaurant with an interesting range of options for meat, fish and vegetarian tastes. Food produced was well presented and very tasty. Music was great. The chocolate desert was one of the best my wife had experienced. Well done. Lovely staff and highly recommended.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
- Cocktails
- Desserts
- Coffee
Nearby Landmarks:
- Red Lion Swanage - 19m away
- Purbeck House Hotel - 104m away
- Tawnys Wine Bar - 25m away
- The Anchor Inn - 104m away
- Love Cake - 53m away
The Purbeck Plaza
19 High St, Swanage BH19 2LP, UK | Restaurant P: 01929 408911
Rating: 4.7 (73) Price Level:
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
Excellent find. Food was excellent. Welcoming and friendly staff. Would highly recommend. Only thing Iâd say is that they probably need more staff as it seemed really popular. Thank you. A lovely special meal on the last night of our Purbeck holiday.
Rating: 5 / 5
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 ÂŁ35 + the jug of sangria! We will definitely be coming back when weâre back in Swanage.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Takeout
- Live Music
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
- Good for Watching Sports
- Good for Children
- Desserts
- Coffee
Accessibility Features:
Website not available
Nearby Landmarks:
- The Ship Inn - 66m away
- The Fish Plaice - 85m away
- The Parade Fish & Chips - 87m away
- La Trattoria - 37m away
- Swanage Pier Trust - 299m away
Black Swan Inn
159 High St, Swanage BH19 2NE, UK | Pub P: 01929 423846
Rating: 4.6 (1041) Price Level:
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. đ
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
Great Monday night dinner⊠our food was fabulous..the Jurassic feast for 2 ⊠great if you love pork. Couldnât 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
Rating: 5 / 5
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!
Rating: 5 / 5
Had a really lovely meal yesterday with seven of my friends,I genuinely think they all enjoyed their meals.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Outdoor Seating
- Live Music
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
- Cocktails
Parking Options:
- Free Street Parking
Nearby Landmarks:
- Purbeck House Hotel - 251m away
- Swanage RBL - 165m away
- Swanage Railway - Swanage Station - 324m away
- Co-op Food - Swanage - Kings Road West - 257m away
- Swanage Hospital - 302m away
The Cabin
Burlington Rd, Swanage BH19 1LW, UK | Cafe P: 07342 322162
Rating: 4.6 (407) Price Level:
Absolutely stunning little cafe fresh crab was perfect and right on the beach âif the flags are flying theyâre openâ â€ïž
Rating: 5 / 5
A lovely rooftop beach bar with views to just sit and admire. Beautiful spot for a bite to eat and a pint. Good selection of snacks like baguettes and kid friendly food too.
Rating: 5 / 5
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?
Rating: 5 / 5
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!!
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Serves Breakfast
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Serves Brunch
- Takeout
- Outdoor Seating
- Children' Menu
- Dog Friendly
- Good for Groups
- Good for Children
- Desserts
- Coffee
Accessibility Features:
Nearby Landmarks:
- Grand Hotel - 73m away
- Crows Nest Inn - 175m away
- The Pines Hotel - 299m away
- Swanage Haven Boutique Guest House - 205m away
- The Castleton Bed and Breakfast - 155m away
Chilled Red
1-5 Commercial Rd, Swanage BH19 1DF, UK | Restaurant P: 01929 426066
Rating: 4.6 (139) Price Level:
A little bit of an enigma due to limited online presence. However, I do encourage you to pursue (several others do judging by the busy dining room). Limited but good menu offering many interesting dishes, often on the more luxury side (lamb, monkfish etc.). And yes, they do a chilled red wine.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 4 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
Gorgeous food, great service & amazing value. Big shout out to the lovely waiter. Star in the making.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Restroom
- Desserts
- Coffee
Website not available
Nearby Landmarks:
- The Mowlem Theatre - 70m away
- Chococo - 28m away
- Boots - 33m away
- Wimpy - 65m away
- The Salt Pig Too - 39m away
The Royal Oak
Royal Oak, 417 High St, Swanage BH19 2NR, UK | Pub P: 01929 422498
Rating: 4.7 (88) Price Level:
Amazing hospitality, fantastic food, excellent service. So friendly and accommodating, lovely atmosphere and excellent beer..!
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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!
Rating: 5 / 5
What a gem! The pub itself is really nice, with lovely owners. The locals are good fun and everyone was chatting. The atmosphere is nice and it's much quieter than the busier pubs further into town. Would come again.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Outdoor Seating
- Live Music
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
Website not available
Nearby Landmarks:
- The Swanage School - 43m away
- Costcutter featuring Bargain Booze - 397m away
- Herston Fishbar - 260m away
- The Globe Inn - 339m away
- Golden Bengal - 319m away
The Roof Terrace
1 High St, Swanage BH19 2LN, UK | Restaurant P: Not available
Rating: 4.7 (47) Price Level:
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!
Rating: 5 / 5
Previously visited The Roof Terrace and was keen to return. The menu's exciting, if it doesn't bring on a decision crisis then nothing will. As a foody I'm always on the look-out for something unusual, the crab nachos jumped out at me straight away, and we weren't disappointed. Succulent fresh crab, tossed through peach salsa and spring onion, piled onto home-made nachos and topped with finely sliced red chilli. We also had scallops, served in their shells with lightly grilled Chorizo. The wine list is simple but thoughtful, we had the organic Sauvignon Blanc which was a perfect match.
Rating: 5 / 5
Second time weâve 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. Itâs 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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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 đ
Features:
- Dine-In
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Outdoor Seating
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
- Cocktails
- Desserts
- Coffee
Accessibility Features:
Nearby Landmarks:
- Swanage Pier Trust - 221m away
- Gee Whites Seafood Restaurant - 8m away
- Hideaway Cafe - 43m away
- The Parade Fish & Chips - 138m away
- The Fish Plaice - 148m away
The Salt Pig Too
7A Station Rd, Swanage BH19 1AB, UK | Restaurant P: 01929 423616
Rating: 4.5 (848) Price Level:
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
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
Rating: 5 / 5
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!!
Rating: 5 / 5
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!
Rating: 5 / 5
Fantastic meal, great staff and atmosphere! We had a great view of the chef and barbecue oven, the team were loving their jobs! Lots of regulars eating. The grilled pineapple dessert was off the dial! When back in Swanage we will definitely be back! A great night
Features:
- Dine-In
- Reservable
- Serves Breakfast
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Serves Beer
- Serves Wine
- Serves Brunch
- Takeout
- Dog Friendly
- Restroom
- Good for Groups
- Good for Children
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Cocktails
- Desserts
- Coffee
Accessibility Features:
- Wheelchair Accessible Seating
- Wheelchair Accessible Restroom
Parking Options:
- Paid Street Parking
Nearby Landmarks:
- The Mowlem Theatre - 60m away
- Budgens - 89m away
- Funworld Amusements - 43m away
- Boots - 25m away
- Santa-Fe Fun Park - 100m away