BITE user comments - jdb1
Comments by jdb1
Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills
Hall & Woodhouse pub,but looks to have kept most of its original features.Close to car park and the coastal path actually goes through the beer garden so covenient for walkers.Beer was fine as was service.Food was good quality and good portions.Dogs welcome,but very family oriented so not the place for a quiet pint.Busy when we were there on a Tuesday lunchtime in June and I imagine it gets rammed at weekends and holidays.
15 Jul 2013 10:20
The Anchor at Shapwick, Shapwick
Not so much a pub,more an eaterie and an expensive one at that.We stopped by for lunch recently and generally were not impressed.Food was average,but expensive.Beer was okay but again expensive - £3.40 for a pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord.Service was very good.Toilets were clean,but the Ladies and Gents are next to each other and share the same washroom so not very private.Wouldn't visit again as none of us felt the food warranted the price they charge and it's not the sort of place you'd just stop at just for a drink.
14 May 2013 11:58
Bankes Arms Hotel and Country Inn, Studland
Four of us went here for something to eat on a miserable foggy Saturday night in March.Maybe a dozen people in,mostly having a drink, and just a couple of young bar staff serving.Even so,it was a nice relaxed atmosphere (none of that, all the locals go silent and stare when strangers walk in) and the service was very friendly and efficient.Although some of it was obviously microwaved the food was actually very nice,albeit expensive given it's not made to order.The beer was good,but the locally brewed IPA was off,which is pretty poor considering the brewery is only about fifteen feet from the pub.Overall though, we enjoyed the time we spent there and would be quite happy to have a drink or eat there again.Having said that,I do think it's a very different experience in summer when the place is rammed from lunchtime onwards.
15 Mar 2013 10:25
I'd recommend this place for lunch or a daytime pint.We had our two dogs with us and so ate in the bar area and the staff were friendly and helpful and there was a nice,traditonal, pub atmosphere.Food was quite expensive but good quality and very generous portions.The Palmers beer was good too and a lot cheaper than some places.Previously,we have eaten in The Bridport Arms,which was very poor by comparison.Would definitely have lunch and a pint here again the next time we visit West Bay.
12 Mar 2013 11:56
Visited lunchtime in early September just as it was starting to get busy.Friendly and efficient service,decent pub grub at a reasonable price and a nice pint of Tom's Tipple make this a good place to stop if you're out for a walk in the New Forest.
11 Sep 2012 12:59
I've been since 2008.Three of us stopped by for a drink one early afternoon.Despite the sunny day and its proximity to the river it was otherwise empty.Beer was okay,nothing special,but one of my companions was given a glass that was absolutely filthy.Barman didn't seem overly bothered by the fact that the glass was covered in fingerprints and lipstick marks but gave him a new pint immediately.We sat outside in the sunshine,but you are right next to a public carpark,so it's not quite as idyllic as it might be.Nothing particularly wrong with the place,but I probably wouldn't go again as it is mainly a tourist pub and there are much nicer pubs in Wareham.
29 Aug 2012 12:40
Not a bad H&W eaterie/pub with the emphasis very much on food.Given it's a roadside hostelry about halfway (hence the name) between Corfe and Wareham I think it's always been thus.It has a good reputation locally and on the three or four occasions we've eaten there in the evenings the food's been decent pub grub (pork belly,burgers,fish and chips etc) at a reasonable price and there always seem to be quite a few locals eating there.The beer's okay,but it really is an accompiament to your meal.I wouldn't go there just for a drink as the bar itself is very odd and lacking in any atmosphere and feels a bit like the counter of a rundown cafe,but there's a real fire in one of the rooms,which is very cosy on a cold,wet,night.Will visit again as the food is definitely better value here than in a lot of other nearby pubs and the service is always friendly and efficient.
29 Aug 2012 12:22
The Sailors Return, East Chaldon
Not really a pub,more a place to eat, and the food is expensive, especially for what it is. My meal was very disappointing and probably the worst I have had in a pub fora few years.Beer okay,but very limited,just 3 pumps for a very big bar, Ringwood,Otter and Copper ales, some lagers.Staff very helpful and friendly, but all a bit chaotic and a bit noisy.Have been 3 or 4 times, but wouldn't visit again, especially to eat.
31 Jan 2012 17:11
Not bad. Staff are friendly and helpful.Beer's okay, but this is the sort of place people come for lunch or dinner. Food's pricey and a bit hit and miss.Had a Sunday roast here and the roast spuds were very poor,although everything else was fine.Had steak and kidney pud and chips in autumn 2010, which was very nice.They allow dogs in certain parts depending on how many are in already. Seating outside with pleasant views. I'd go again.
7 Apr 2011 14:02
Lovely old pub in a fantastic position on the quay and nice barmaid, but that's about it.We had lunch here last week and I definitely wouldn't recommend it unless you're just going in for a drink out of season.The beer's okay,Ringwood Best and Fortyniner, but the food was a big letdown.I had pan fried haddock,which turned out to be a small fillet which the cook hadn't even bothered to crisp up the skin on,one boiled (old) potato cut into 4 pieces and some frozen peas - �8.95.The whole meal was dry and tasteless, no seasoning on anything, no tartare sauce offered,nothing.My wife's fish pie was okay,but came without any vegetables and just a supermarket bake in the oven bread roll - �8.95. Very poor value.Wouldn't go here again.
10 Jan 2011 10:41
The pub might have changed hands, but it doesn't seem like much else has changed.The prices are expensive, even for Purbeck - �6.80 for a pint of bitter and a pint of shandy.�12 for fish and chips, which, although a good sized piece of fish, came with what looked and tasted like tinned mushy peas. �10.50 for a burger, which was just that - an overcooked beef patty in a bun - with chips and half a tomato and 3 small pieces of lollo rosso on the side.Oh, and a tiny bowl of salsa which may have been home made, but given nothing else was, probably wasn't.
Personally, if I'm paying 12 quid for fish and chips I expect better than a couple of sachets of Heinz tartare sauce to go with it, or a sachet of Heinz ketchup to go with a �10.50 burger. High prices and absolutely no effort made, the chef can't even be bothered to squeeze a bit of sauce into a bowl so that you might at least think it was home made.For the prices they charge this is very, very poor service.As for the food itself, it was okay, but certainly no better than most places charging half the price.
22 Jul 2010 14:00
Good pub for a drink, but dismal for food, which seems like it's for people who just want big portions and don't care about how well it's cooked. We had four meals, two badly overcooked, you could have drunk the baked potatoes with a straw, and two not as described on the menu.Still, go here for a drink or two and you won't be disappointed.Good, relaxed, atmosphere with a decent selection of guest beers and a nice little garden out the back.As a pub I'd give it 7.5 as a place to eat 2.5.
14 Jul 2010 13:53
Changed its name and under new management, but judging by letters in the local press and other reviews online nothing much has really changed.
20 May 2010 16:13
Staff are young, fast and efficient.I had a pint of Piddle, which was alright, but nothing special.Quite a large menu, but we only stayed long enough for a quick pint. The decor and the atmosphere could be any urban pub anywhere although a couple of the "locals" were very keen to impress upon some other Londoners that it was all very London on Sea. Flat screen tv showing F1 with the volume up at the same time as they were playing anonymous cocktail bar jazz over the pa system. Not my kind of place and the beer's not good enough to lure me back.
Incidentally, cheshirecat , the Piddle beer is from the Piddlehinto brewery and has nothing to do with Wyre Piddle.
18 Nov 2009 15:51
Whoops, that last review was actually for the White Swan. Don't go in here because they don't allow dogs (there's a joke there somewhere if you can be bothered to make it). Mind you, I've stuck my nose in the door, as has the dog, and it didn't look totally unfamiliar from the White Swan.
18 Nov 2009 15:46
Staff are young, fast and efficient.I had a pint of Piddle, which was alright, but nothing special.Quite a large menu, but we only stayed long enough for a quick pint. The decor and the atmosphere could be any urban pub anywhere although a couple of the "locals" were very keen to impress upon some other Londoners that it was all very London on Sea. Flat screen tv showing F1 with the volume up at the same time as they were playing anonymous cocktail bar jazz over the pa system.
18 Nov 2009 15:40
Very nice little pub.Dogs welcome. Walls display local artist Janine Drayson's charming pictures of Purbeck. Very nice pint of Adnams.The food is good too, but, typically for Purbeck, expensive. Pleasant staff and landlady. They have live music too. Definitely one to visit if you've got a dog.
18 Nov 2009 15:29
Had lunch here the other day. The food was okay and the beer was good, Yeovil Brewery Summerset. Friendly and helpful staff. We were allowed in with the dog and ate in the public bar, which was a bit tired, although clean. Like most pubs in Purbeck the food is largely overpriced for what it is, although, for once, the beer was under 3 quid a pint. Nothing much to complain about, but nothing much to rave about either. Food's not good enough to make it a destination eaterie and the location doesn't help, but if you want a simple meal and a decent pint you could do a lot worse.
10 Nov 2009 15:04
The Carpenters Arms, Ilsington
Good local. Friendly and helpful landlord.Nice beer. What more could you want? We ate there and the food wasn't bad either.Typical pub food.Nothing to rave about, but not much to complain about either.We sat outside and enjoyed the sun in the tiny beer garden at the front. Lovely village.Did I mention the beer was very nice?Well it was.
3 Jul 2009 15:58
The Rugglestone Inn, Widecombe in the Moor
Despite being a busy lunchtime the service was reasonably quick and the beer was very good. We sat outside and watched an old lady accidentally dump her friend's Yorkie upside down in the little stream. My wife had baked potato with prawns, which she said was very nice. I had the pasty, which wasn't. Overcooked and far too much pastry and too little filling. Not a patch on the one's you get at the Square & Compass, but twice as big, although, as I keep telling my wife, size isn't everything.Nicer location than the Old Inn down the road and much better beer, but in my opinion worse food. 7.5 out of 10 for just a drink,6 out of 10 if you have a pasty
3 Jul 2009 15:52
The Old Inn, Widecombe in the Moor
Bit of an oddity, this one. We came in from the car park at the rear and wended our way through a series of small rooms with flagstone floors that promised a traditional old country pub, but that eventually led to one huge bar room done out like a thousand modern, trying to look old, town pubs. Still we were early so the service was fast and efficient, but unfortunately the beer was Badger, which was renowned for being weak as p*ss when i were a lad and hasn't improved in the intervening years. I had a lamb burger which was nice, but with too little lamb burger, although the bun was very tasty. My wife had the sussex or surrey something or other, a fish pie with breadcrumbs. Very tasty.But the whole place was a bit soulless and not at all what we had expected from the outside. However, the burger was nicer than the pasty I had at the Rugglestone, just up the road, the day before.
3 Jul 2009 15:44
The Old Inn, Widecombe in the Moor
Bit of an oddity, this one. We came in from the car park at the rear and wended our way through a series of small rooms with flagstone floors that promised a traditional old country pub, but that eventually led to one huge bar room done out like a thousand modern, trying to look old, town pubs. Still we were early so the service was fast and efficient, but unfortunately the beer was Badger, which was renowned for being weak as p*ss when i were a lad and hasn't improved in the intervening years. I had a lamb burger which was nice, but with too little lamb burger, although the bun was very tasty. My wife had the sussex or surrey something or other, a fish pie with breadcrumbs. Very tasty.But the whole place was a bit soulless and not at all what we had expected from the outside. However, the burger was nicer than the pasty I had at the Rugglestone, just up the road, the day before.
3 Jul 2009 15:43
The Old Inn, Widecombe in the Moor
Bit of an oddity, this one. We came in from the car park at the rear and wended our way through a series of small rooms with flagstone floors that promised a traditional old country pub, but that eventually led to one huge bar room done out like a thousand modern, trying to look old, town pubs. Still we were early so the service was fast and efficient, but unfortunately the beer was Badger, which was renowned for being weak as p*ss when i were a lad and hasn't improved in the intervening years. I had a lamb burger which was nice, but with too little lamb burger, although the bun was very tasty. My wife had the sussex or surrey something or other, a fish pie with breadcrumbs. Very tasty.But the whole place was a bit soulless and not at all what we had expected from the outside. However, the burger was nicer than the pasty I had at the Rugglestone, just up the road, the day before.
3 Jul 2009 15:43
The Ship Inn, Langton Matravers
Just re-opened and very welcome, too. Very good selection of beer with Isle of Purbeck Breweries taking pride of place (for me,anyway), brewed at the Bankes Arms at Studland.. Highly recommend the IPA. The staff are friendly and helpful and the food's not bad, typical pub food, but apparently all cooked fresh, and reasonably priced. Lovely views from the garden, but defintely worth a visit just for the beer.It's up for sale again, as a going concern, and I just hope that if someone buys it they keep up the good work.
22 Apr 2009 13:21
This and the Alice Lisle were 2 pubs people from Bournemouth always used to go to when we fancied a drive out to the Forest and a drink in a country pub.Due to increased trade the Red Shoot has lost a lot of that country pub appeal and is now even busier than it used to be.Despite the fact that it doesn't really have much of a country pub atmosphere anymore,judging by our recent Sunday lunchtime visit, you need to get there early to avoid the crowds.We arrived about twelve and it was easy to get served,but when we left about half past or so,the place was rammed with more people turning up every minute.I'm told the food can be a bit hit and miss,but the pint of Forest Gold I had was pleasant enough,with an unusual,but not unpleasant,aftertaste.
25 Feb 2008 13:47
The Ship Inn, Langton Matravers
Currently closed and up for sale - �550,000, if you're interested.Good place for a gastro-pub.
19 Feb 2008 14:38
The Square and Compass, Worth Matravers
Usually a good selection of beers,although you often find that one you like has disappeared a week later.Usually a good atmosphere,but it's too often overrun with posho's and 2nd homeowners and it's as good a place as any to discover how staggeringly arrogant and rude National Trust members can be.Fires in winter,great views on fine days,friendly staff and homemade pasties.Very busy in summer and weekends,which means you usually have to queue behind someone who's ordering for a party of eight,but the service is fast and friendly.Best avoided on pumpkin festival weekend when you can queue for 40 minutes just to get a drink. Great place to stop if you're on a walk.
18 Jan 2008 20:38
The Richmond Arms, Charminster
Crap. Asked for an irish whiskey,but they didn't carry any. All they had was Teachers or Bells.If that's the choice,sliced white bread or white sliced bread,why bother?Why not just stock one?In the evening it's full of students,so I guess they think they can serve what they like.During the day it's like being trapped in a chain pub in the 1970's.Staff generally unhelpful.One to avoid if you're over 25.
18 Jan 2008 18:59
We've been here several times for lunch. The food's usually very good - the fish and chips is massive.Beer's okay.Always a friendly and welcoming atmosphere and good service.A large car park round the back,but the garden gets full quickly.Next door to the Margaret Green Foundation ,so you can always walk off a big lunch with a stroll round pet sanctuary.
18 Jan 2008 18:28
Despite having possibly the best view from a pub in Dorset nobody local drinks here much because it's too full of London posho's down for a few days to stay in their weekend cottages.Beer's okay,big beer garden with fantastic views,but it's awful inside with a weird,modern bar that's completely out of character.
Never actually managed to eat here,but their Christmas menu was laughably expensive - �50 a head,children under 10 eat free.But pick your time,a sunny weekday out of season,have a beer and sit outside and it can be a pleasant place to waste half an hour.
18 Jan 2008 17:15
We've eaten here several times and although the food's a bit hit and miss,the beer's good,Ringwood Fortyniner and Best,and there's always a very friendly welcome and helpful service.Odd layout inside,and a small,sunny garden which is okay,but not great.A good place to stop and have a simple homemade lunch,ham and eggs,soup,ploughman's,and relax and have a beer.
18 Jan 2008 16:42
This place is a dump that relies entirely on its sea views.A rundown Sixties building that is a blot on the landscape.
My steak bagette was a lump of tough,fatty overcooked meat in a supermarket "bake in the oven" bagette.My wife's celery soup was khaki coloured and looked more like mushroom soup yet,bizarrely,tasted like it had come out of a packet.1 point for the view,otherwise avoid.
18 Jan 2008 16:21
Six of us went here for lunch in early January.We had some trouble parking despite the large car park and expected the pub to be packed.Surprisingly, it wasn't and the service was very quick and attentive.We were expecting a typical Purbeck pub.However, it appears to have been completely refurbished throughout to allow for more diners and is quite impersonal.
Our pints of Ringwood Best were stone cold and very disappointing. The food was very patchy.2 portions of steak and ale pie with chips and peas were very good,although the suet pastry was very stodgy the steak was perfect and the chips were delicious.However,my wife's salmon steak was tough and overcooked and both it and the vegetables appeared to have been kept warm for several hours and looked very unappetising.The chocolate pud was very nice and the penne carbonara was okay,but I didn't get the impression that any of our party would be in a hurry to return.
Curiously, when we left there were only about 4 people still in the pub and yet the car park had about 20 or more cars in it.
18 Jan 2008 15:54
The King John Inn, Salisbury
Stopped here for lunch.I wouldn't recommend it.I had a pint of Butcombe Bitter which was very ordinary and a bit like Ringwood Bitter,but a lot more expensive.The food was average at best and poor at worst and very,very overpriced for what it is.Lovely setting and the pub's done up nicely inside,although lacking in country pub charm.The sort of pub that appeals to Londoners who don't find the prices off putting.
13 May 2014 10:18