Many of the surrounding West Dorset villages have excellent pubs, some of them award-winning.Booking in season is advisable, and ordering after 9p.m. can be difficult.

Recommendations are based on our own experience and feed-back from our guests. Inevitably not everyone agrees!   If you have opinions or suggestions to share, we would love you to email us.

The Three Horseshoes Powerstock 01308 485328 excellent fish,
very friendly service, lovely village setting. A great favourite with our guests.

Spyways Askerswell 01308 485250 on edge of Eggardon;
good value, very friendly, but our guests' opinions of the food vary!

The Marquis Of Lorne 01308 485236 Good with children. Very friendly, relaxed atmosphere; Good value; marvellous setting in Nettlecombe, below Eggardon.

The Crown Uploders 01308 485356 Good value; popular; no children.

The Loders' Arms 01308422431, characterful old inn in lovely village of Loders.

In addition a little further away there are many others:

A short drive east from Beaminster, we strongly recommend
The Fox at Corscombe;
Dorset Pub 2000. Like us they were selected by 'Country Living' Magazine for inclusion in their first booklet of favourite pubs and B&Bs.

01935 891330

The well-known Riverside Restaurant at West Bay (booking essential) Speciality: fish. Nothing to look at from the outside, but wonderful service, superb food, festive atmosphere. 01308 422011

Recently the West Bay Hotel has acquired an excellent reputation, especially for fish. 01308 422157

For good value fish in West Bay, in unpretentious, simple surroundings, try Seagulls Restaurant 01308 425099

In Cerne Abbas we particularly enjoy Sunday lunch at The Royal Oak which makes an excellent stopping off place on a walk. 01300 341797

The Hive(01308 497070) a café on the National Trust beach at
Burton Bradstock, excellent sea-food soup, crab sandwiches, good snacks. Very popular and queues and waiting time can be a problem. Dinner served Thursday- Saturday- advance booking essential: a real treat in fine weather.

Saw Mill Cafe at Mapperton Manor. Old stone barn in magical setting, serves lunches and teas daily in season. Excellent, quite expensive but well worth it: a real treat! Recently the vaulted roof-space of the barn has been covered with an enormous specially-commissioned Indian wedding canopy which is utterly stunning. You can read all about it and see photos of the village women at work on it. 01308 862645

In Dorchester, guests have recommended the following:
The Judge Jeffreys 01305 264369
The Mock Turtle 01305 264011

The Rajpoot is an excellent Indian restaurant. 01305 257492

Abbotsbury Subtropical Garden has a restaurant that serves light luches and teas and there are a number of places to eat in the village.

01305 8711387/ 871153

Guests have recommended The Bridge Hotel in Beaminster
01308 862200

Teashops in Lyme Regis, Beaminster and Cerne Abbas seem popular; Kingcombe serves excellent cream teas at weekends in summer.