The Best Restaurants in West Stafford, Dorset, United Kingdom (2025)

Decided to give it a go on our holiday as we wanted to avoid the chain restaurants nearby. Very glad we did. Waiters fell over backwards trying to help and make sure everything was okay! Mussels weee delicious, the ravioli even better and the dessert was perfect too! Wonderful atmosphere and a great place to eat

Genuine Italian warmth and hospitality in Dorchester! I went with my Mum and boyfriend and we all had a fantastic meal and loved the atmosphere. The waitresses and chef were very welcoming and the chef even came out to offer my Mum some choices for the vegan option that evening. It's a small menu with everything cooked to perfection. We will definitely be back soon!

Outstanding food, exceptional service and a really welcoming atmosphere . The chef cooks exceptional food . We had a fabulous time and will definitely return.

Just had a wonderful two course lunch here - fabulous freshly cooked Italian food, super friendly service and a great wine list. Oh and great value too! This is going to be our new favourite place for lunch in Dorch.

We ate with friends and the food was exceptional. The service was “fine” but the inexperience of the young team came across as scripted and insincere. We’ve booked to go again at Christmas, it’s a great, intimate bistro with great food options.

An absolutely brilliant restaurant offering a lovely range of delicious meals, with focus on local Dorset ingredients. The three course set menu is definitely worth the money, and I found each course to be very delicious! Even though this is described as a “bistro”, the dishes do come off as quite complex and the restaurant certainly offers fine dining. The drinks on offer were also very lovely, and the servers were helpful and friendly. Overall, our meal was an entirely positive experience and this restaurant is definitely worth a visit.

This is now my favourite restaurant and will be telling everyone I know to visit. Had a lovely Friday lunch here, the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming. The staff are friendly and the food and drinks are wonderful. We had 3 courses and they were all well balanced and tasty with my favourite being the chocolate ale cake with caramel miso sauce and muscavodo ice cream. I would keep going back just for that dessert! My husband loved the cocktails including the Japanese sour cocktail which was just one example of the great and interesting selection of cocktails available. Definitely visit again as soon as we can.

This can be recommended for its food, service and ambience. We went with two friends and we all enjoyed our starters, main courses and dessert. The wine was reasonably priced and pleasant. The serving staff were helpful and pleasant. The decor was good and there was a relaxed atmosphere. This is a real Poundbury asset- I hope, for many years to come!

Absolutely wonderful overnight stay, with excellent breakfast and dinner, extremely comfortable accommodation, highly professional and friendly staff... need I go on? I would unhesitatingly recommend this charming hotel.

Yalbury Cottage is a place where excellence, friendliness, and quality come together seamlessly. As someone who loves travelling and exploring new cities and places, I have stayed in numerous accommodations, but none compare to Yalbury Cottage. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and look forward to returning to the area. The staff at Yalbury Cottage consistently went out of their way to be friendly and did everything possible to ensure our stay was exceptional. The room exceeded my expectations significantly, with its stunning and unique view. We truly felt as if we were at home, but in a setting with beautiful new scenery. Situated in Dorchester, Yalbury Cottage offers a perfect base to explore the area and nearby cities such as Weymouth. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, have recommended this place to others, and will continue to do so. The bed was incredibly comfortable, and everything was spotlessly and well-organised. Additionally, the thoughtful touch of leaving brownies in our room upon arrival exemplifies their dedication to Yalbury Cottage and their commitment to providing each guest with an exceptional experience. I personally can't wait to return to this charming cottage for another uniquely wonderful stay.

Lovely place to stay. Food was beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. The one thing that I would of appreciated (as an older lady) would of been a bath mat in a very slippy bath. Fabulous, would certainly visit again.

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.

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.

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.

Have a lovely lunch here with my godmother. We had pork belly and it was very tender but abit too salty. It’s ok when eat with the mashed potato, it’s balanced out. Very friendly and attentive service 👍🏻

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.

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

If you are looking for a change from the usual humdrum Prem Inn Travelodge that seem to be taking over most town centres then this exquisette steeped in history creaky floored no room the same Hotel is for you. Refurbished to an excellent standard whilst retaining the period features. Staff were very friendly and helpful from the 2 receptionists we met to the lady running the restaurant to the bar person to the excellent chef we really couldn't fault it. Our evening meal in the restaurant was delicious and breakfast the next morning cooked to order much nicer than buffet style hot foods from above mentioned hotels. Thank you to all the staff we met who couldn't do enough for us and really topped off an excellent stay.

I dont leave many reviews for things; but have been meaning to write this one for a while. Came for a Sunday roast a few weeks ago and can honestly say it was one of the nicest roasts I've ever had. We chose the Kings Arms after previously visiting a sister hotel in Shaftesbury and very much enjoying our meal there. The service was excellent, with attentive but not overbearing staff, the food is delicious and the portion sizes were great. The prices arent cheap, but i felt that i got an experience that justified the price charged. Would thoroughly recommend.

Best place to have a few Christmas pints with friends. Very cosy seating areas with sofas next to the fire place. Reasonably priced beer (£4.80 ish) for a pint of Butcombe, very good quality / price!

(We didn't stay - merely went for a celebration meal.) The food was really excellent, the service friendly and efficient, and the hotel's restoration after its long period of disuse could not be more sensitive. The bar and restaurant areas are simply beautiful!

Came here for a lunch meal as a surprise birthday party, and can't praise the restaurant enough. The food was lovely, and they managed a large group very well. I've been to other places before as a large group and it has been a disaster, so it was really nice to see how well this place handled the 23 of us. If I lived closer, I'd definitely be back more often!

Pub dinner- Just returned from the new inn pub. First visit, but not our last for sure. 3 x diners all left very pleased with the venue, great staff, and excellent menu. We had Angus burger and lamb burger, and we all enjoyed them. Very tasty and filling. Thank you.

We went for lunch as a party of 6. We had pre booked because it was the Christmas season. We were greeted by a very friendly member of the team. Shown to our table,allowed to settle, then had our drinks order taken and then shortly after that we had our meal order's taken by another charming team member. We didn't have to wait very long until all of our food was brought to the table. We had a gluten free option, a vegetarian option and 4 meals and starters off the Special menu. Every meal was beautifully cooked and presented. We had a really lovely time and will definitely be returning in the near future.

Only ate, didn’t stay. A fantastic location in a lovely village. There were 15 of us; the food was outstanding, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We will definitely be eating at The New Inn again.

It was amazing. The dinner was really yummy. Huge portion, we had the steal & ale pie with chips and veggies. The meat was sooo tender, juicy and full of flavour. We stayed for one night in the little rooms they have in their fields. Very cozy and cute. Clean toilets and the shower was working really well. A nice warm bath after a hike to the beach. Breakfast was included, a nice english breakfast. I loved the sausages, very flavourfull. We had some tea or a coffee plus the Orange juice. I asked the staff if we could feed the pigs some apples that were in the floor and she said yes, very cute piggies! The staff is very kind and helpfull.

Very fresh selection of seafood. Generous portions too. Had the white bait, the cod fish and chips as well as the mussels. Very impressed by the freshness and quality. Batter for the cod is very light and crisp. The cod was delicious and had the right texture, and ratio of cod:batter. The black mussels were very sweet and I enjoyed it very much when paired with fresh bread. Service was very organised. All in all a great experience and I’d definitely bring my friends here when we drive down to the south coast again.

Very good food, value for money, traditional pub, log fire , a bit out of the way but worth the visit

What a wonderful experience visiting the Seven Stars Inn Wool, Moreton, Dorchester restaurant. The food was first class cooked with love and care by a really good head chef and his brigade. Couldn't fault the food in any way what so ever good flavours, textures and presented very well. A really great dining experience which I will remember for a long time. The front of house staff very very friendly, professional providing a great service to compliment the kitchen Definitely worthy of a 5 star review and I would definitely recommend visiting this wonderful restaurant and I hope I will be back here myself.

Such a beautiful property and the gardens were stunning, even in October. Highly recommend a visit here. There are lots of rooms to explore in the house and make sure you watch the videos to learn about the restoration too. I didn't visit the cafe but I did buy some local foods from the shop; there's a nice little selection.

Full of history, an interesting place to visit. Worth a stop between London and Devon. Great facilities and cafe and bar. The house and garden are well setup and maintained with enough to see for several hours. Will be returning.

Recently visited this tudor house and gardens. The weather had not been in our favour but had stopped raining for our visit so we walked the gardens first before entering the house. A little overcast but the gardens were still beautiful for our walk round. The house is very picturess and in very good order. You can wander around at your own leisure with loads of interesting things to read and see. It was quite nice as their wernt loads of visitors at one time so you didn't feel rushed. All staff were extremely friendly and polite. The lady on reception was very polite and also we were given a warm welcome in the restaurant where we had some delightful sandwiches and perfectly made lattes. A very intresting place to stop with the added great customer service. Thankyou all.

A delightful and well presented house and gardens. The visual and audio displays make the visit entertaining and interesting and you get drawn into the history of the house without realising. The tea room was great with good food and fast friendly service. The team throughout were professional friendly and very helpful. A great day out

Dropped into the Black Dog for dinner for the first time in nearly 20 years. A fondly remembered pub delivered to the moment, well kept and served beers, but it was the food that blew me away. Went for the venison, black pudding and melted stilton burger off the specials board, wow! Seasonal menu and table decorations, nice touches all around, highly recomended. Whilst the venison burger becomes a must for me, great food selection, right across the board.

I was staying close by at a holiday park, and searched for somewhere kid friendly to eat for dinner. The Black Dog is a lovely pub, which is warm and inviting on the inside, with a lovely playground and seating outside. Food was absolutely delicious! Was the best lamb chop dinner I've had in a long time! Everyone enjoyed their dinner and puddings, so much so we've added this place to our favourite's list! Very kid and dog friendly! We will definitely be back again!

Such friendly staff. Found us a table for 4 adults a baby and 2 dogs at very short notice. The food was amazing and great value for money. Would definitely recommend booking as it was very busy, but the service was spot on.