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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 you’re paying for the location.

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

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

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.

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.

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 😊

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!

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

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!

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

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!!

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

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!!

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.

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?

Had a really lovely meal yesterday with seven of my friends,I genuinely think they all enjoyed their meals.

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.

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. 😃

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Excellent find. Food was excellent. Welcoming and friendly staff. Would highly recommend. Only thing I’d 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.

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.

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.

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. 🤔

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.

Was an amazing experience - came here with my partner after searching online and seeing it had some good vegan options on the menu (we're both vegan!). They had a veggie enchiladas on the menu, which I asked if it could be veganised (aka vegan cheese). The waiter was so kind he popped out to buy me some vegan cheese and the chef made the most amazing meal! My partners' vegan sausage and mash (as per their menu) was also exceptional. Really appreciated how they went above and beyond, as well as everyones' friendliness.