3 replies to this topic

[Adam Lawrence]

Spent last weekend around the Bridport area, walking the coastal path, sightseeing and enjoying the sun. One restaurant meal, at the Riverside Restaurant in West Bay, review to follow. But also a few beers and light meals in some pubs. All sourced originally from the Good Pub Guide.

ANCHOR, Seatown, nr Chideock. A pretty seafront pub in a little cove underneath the cliffs of Golden Cap. Very busy Saturday lunchtime, a mix of people who'd walked there along the SW Coastal Path and those who'd driven down. More than a few braying Hoorays, but not enough to make the place unpleasant. Just warm enough to sit outside. Palmers beers OK but unexciting. Good ploughmans with Blue Vinney, homemade fruit chutney and local pork pie. Crab salad a bit pricey and rather more salad than crab - tasty though.

THREE HORSESHOES, Powerstock. Lovely pub; Palmers beers again, good nick but I just don't think this is great beer. Nice mix of locals there for a Friday evening pint or several, and tourists having supper. Grilled bream was farmed but not bad for all that;'venison sausage cassoulet' a poor order - not a cassoulet in any meaningful way, and only OK. Irritating, because lots of other dishes looked terrific coming out of the kitchen. A particularly attractive plate of grilled scallops went past me. One to try again.

ROYAL OAK, Cerne Abbas. If I ran a pub in Cerne Abbas I'd rename it the Cock, but I'm a philistine. Very busy Sunday lunchtime; only a couple of tables in the garden not booked. Terrific rabbit pie with proper shortcrust pastry and pommes dauphinoise; blue Vinney ploughmans not as good as the one at the Anchor (eg only Branston pickle). Beer selection very good; excellent pint from the Weymouth Brewery.

Lovely part of the world, something for most people. We'll go back soon.

[Wilfrid1]

Mention of Cerne Abbas certainly brings back some memories. Of sightseeing, I hasten to add. Too many years ago to recall the pubs in the area, but I did have a Withnail moment, sitting in a teashop near the Aroused Man, surreptitiously topping up my cuppa from a bottle of Bells hidden under the table. Hic.

[g.johnson]

Anyone up for the Withnail and I Drinking Game?

[Vanessa]

ROYAL OAK, Cerne Abbas. If I ran a pub in Cerne Abbas I'd rename it the Cock, but I'm a philistine. Very busy Sunday lunchtime; only a couple of tables in the garden not booked. Terrific rabbit pie with proper shortcrust pastry and pommes dauphinoise; blue Vinney ploughmans not as good as the one at the Anchor (eg only Branston pickle). Beer selection very good; excellent pint from the Weymouth Brewery.

I had an excellent meal there at the beginning of the year - roast lamb if I remember right. London prices though.

v