Halfway Inn, Corfe Castleback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
very much a food pub. but the ale was fine
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Limited choice of ale. First Call or Tanglefoot.
Too much emphasis on food and not enough for the beer drinker.
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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.
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I am a 62 year old living in Tasmania, an Island state south of the Australian mainland.
My family imigrated here in 1960 when I was 11 years old.
I have never left Australia since but have a very happy life here with my Australian wife and 2 grown kids.
I have vivid recollections of holidays we spent in Dorset when I was a kid between the ages of 5-10.
My parents, 2 sisters and I lived in Hooley near Croyden in Surrey and each summer Dad drove us down to Dorset towing his home made caravan behind a Thames fordson van to The Half Way Inn in Dorset.
We camped in a field next to the pub for several years and I recall that the last year we stayed there, we had an upstairs room in the Pub.
I remember that the Pub had no running water, just a pump at the door of the building.
The WC was a bucket affair in a small building opposite the main building.
Although only young I can remember how low the doors were and how one stepped down to go into the family bar where we drank a glass of lemonade with a straw.
When we stayed upstairs I rember how tight and winding the stair case was.
The field where we camped was full in the weeks we were there and people had all manner of accommodation from home made vans like ours to ex WW2 canvas tents.
People arrived in the strangest of contraptions too, I remember whole families turning up on a cycle and side car, towing tiny trailers.
We cooked on a parrifin stove, washed in a shallow canvas basin on a timber frame and the van [built on an old taxi chassis] had 2 double beds in it one on top of the other, we kids slept side by side on the top bed, Mum and Dad slept below on the lower bed.
We had wonderful day trips from the Half Way Inn to Wareham, Corfe Castle, Swanage, Poole and more.
I came across this site by chance and am amazed that the Pub is still there 51 years later than my last stay.
Pete Baker
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Very good food and beers, accomodating staff who found a table for four ,whilst busy on a friday evening .
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ONLY go if you want a restaurant experience. Very unwelcoming to passing walkers who just want a drink.
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Visited this fine country pub twice over one weekend. Both times, lunch and evening, were busy. Excellent food menu with plenty of variety and the usual selection of Badger beers. Well laided out inside, but very much aimed at the diner. Would be my first choice for food and drink when next visiting the area.
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well as we are out of town we thought it nice to venture afar and search new ground, but when we arrived it was quite the opposite, though friendly staff trying to achieve a friendly atmosphere! which quite true. We wanted to order some food first of which there were no menus on the tables, then once i found the black board only 5 hotmeals displayed we fancied something light the barman said no baguettes or sandwhiches!!!! so a ploughmans came to mind, he had no idea of the price! so we were ordered it to our dismay there was a dried up salad on the plate with a tea spoon of relish and pickle, dried up bread for �8.00 each! with no butter on the ploughmans and no knifes or serviettes!!!! we wont be coming back again.....oh and the gate did'nt shut properly on the childrens play area causing our 2yr old to keep running out!!!!
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Situated halfway between Corfe Castle and Wareham, this pub has always struck me as the best place to head for food if the pubs in the Purbecks are too busy during tourist season.
Set in a fine thatched building, with a lovely interior suited to this type of country pub, the main attraction is the food. I enjoyed a good, if unimaginitive, steak and Tanglefoot ale pie and the prices were reasonable given the location.
Beer-wise, there were a number of Badger Beers on offer and I tried the seasonal beer called 'Lemoney Cricket, which, as the name implies, had a clear but not overpowering aftertaste of lemon - fine for a summer's day in the large beer garden.
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Was a favourite of mine as food used to be good and good location, relaxed feel about the place too. Last 3 visits (all this summer) not so good, food poor (even when pub not packed), now the same as several other Hall & Woodhouse pubs so unimaginative. Friendly staff and good service though, as ever.
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We visited the Halfway on Sunday 13th Jan and five out of eight in our party plumped for the Roast Beef. It was excellent, and one of the best "pub roasts" we have had. We all had two large thick slices of roast beef,a massive yorkshire pud,five roast potatoes,parsnips,carrots,peas and broccoli. The gravy was very tasty and clearly gravy granules are not in use! Everything was cooked to perfection. As a party of eight we guessed we may be difficult to accomodate but we arrived spot on noon and the very helpful waitress rearranged the tables for us in no time. The other members of our group had the gammon (two large pieces), Lasagne and the little person had chicken nuggets and chips, all these dishes were well received and devoured with relish! I have visited his pub during the summer months and it does get very busy,so the wait for food can be a real drag.If you pick your moment, I am sure you will not be disappointed.
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Very Very Busy, but friendly and efficent.Not nearly enough seating inside.
anonymous - 3 Aug 2007 06:10 |
Although in the middle of no-where it was worth the drive! Fantastic food, great portion size, and really friendly helpful staff. They were rushing round as it was so busy, but they found us a table, and made it worth the wait!
Really friendly atmosphere - even the locals chatted to us while we had a drink at the bar.
We would highly reccomend this pub to EVERYONE!
anonymous - 7 Jul 2007 21:06 |
relies on passing trade, no locals grace it! poor all round
anonymous - 24 Jun 2007 19:06 |
Booked a table of ten people for 6.30pm for a family celebration, finally got to eat at 8.30 after sitting outside in the cold. Food when it eventually came was terrrible, lamb shank swimming in slimy cold gravy, vegetables cold, all of the meat dishes were cool or cold . . . truely poor. Got a part refund on some of the food but really I should have refused to pay and should have called in the trading standards as this food should not have been served.
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Well it's not a locals pub. In fact it is about five miles from anywhere, so it is hardly surprising that it relies on the passing trade.
I've always found the welcome warm, the food and beer good and the building and garden delightful. Unfortunately everywhere in Purbeck that's worth going to gets horribly overcrowded in the height of the summer. Personally I try to avoid going south of Wareham between June and September.
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This is an excellent pub. The fine beer is kept at the right temperature and you are always offered a choice of glass. The menu is extensive and both the quantity and quality are great.
True it can get crowded - I wonder why that is?
Ian Watson - 10 May 2004 12:13 |
You guys say you've never been there - you should, the food is very highly recommended.....
Paul Adams - 12 Dec 2003 12:40 |
Halfway in is about right. I was about halfway in this place for about ten minutes trying to fight my way through all the people ordering food. Eventually made it and sat outside in the pleasant beer garden. (Food garden would be more accurate). This place seems to owe its popularity to its location on the main road as there are plenty of better pubs in the area.
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