please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Stayed in this pub on a recent visit to Corfe Castle and would recommend it. It has a pleasant sun trap garden that sides on to the steam railway - a nice spot to sit and relax.
Inside, it has a reasonable size bar area with four ales on hand-pull. I had something called 'Local' but can't for the life of me remember the name of the brewery, it was was something like Tisbury but I think that they are defunct. Anyway, a very good pint indeed - a view supported by a couple of friends. Bar seemed very popular with both locals and visitors and the staff were very welcoming and friendly.
Food was good - not exceptional but very tasty and good sized portions (including the breakfasts!)
Bedrooms, clean and comfy but like many old old pubs no air con so can get stuffy (but that's part and parcel of staying in old pubs) and those at the front can be a bit noisy but there is very little road traffic at night.
Enjoyed it - give it a try if you are in the area. Oh, and the village is charming.
|
much better view of the castle than from the Greyhound. Superb pint of Wadworth 6X
|
A hot Sunday lunchtime, with the Swanage Railway extension open. Just got in ahead of the rush. Palmers Dorset Gold in very good condition. Two other Palmers beers and Marstons (Wychwood) Hobgoblin on.
Will come back in the winter when it's a bit more peaceful.
|
Nice Pint of Ringwood Best
|
I didn't find the beer garden to be a patch on the one at the Fox even with its view of the castle (and Station Road). Nor was my pint of Tribute as good as offerings elsewhere although, to be fair, there was nothing wrong with it. Ringwood Best (the cheapest at £3.20) and Adnams Broadside completed the line-up of ales with Stowford Press as the cider. Didn't really have a proper look at the inside of the pub although there is a nice-looking wood-panelled room on the way out to the garden.
|
A very friendly pub with a good landlord, passionate about his beer. Excellent Everard's Tiger, Ruddles County and Ringwood Best on sale. Good food too.
|
Located on the main road but opposite the town square, it is a traditional pub with oak beams. The compact bar is in the front when you go in and the lounge extends left and right. Seating is comfortable and the lounge is on several levels. There is a good selection of real ales but food is expensive. The bar staff are friendly.
|
Looks like the Ringwood Best Bitter is a regular ale.
On my visit Otter and Tribute were the other offerings.
|
Found this place to be very friendly and both landlady and other staff all did a great job in serving the many visitors popping in for food. Sat at a table in the bar area but it's true most other tables are laid for food - but it was lunchtime. Beer was good and location on the road to Corfe Castle station was perfect.
|
Turned up today to find a beer festival in the back garden. Apparently an independent organisation ran the festival and it was nothing to do with the pub. We were able to obtain some delightful ales from Art Brew of North Chideock and Sunny Republic of Winterborne Kingston.
The pub itself is owned and operated by Enterprise Inns who of course, do not allow beers from small breweries. You will be very unlikely to find good beer here since even the guest beers are from the big brewers.
|
Well kept Ringwoods best (that or London Pride was the choice, which seemed odd when there are so many good local brews).
They also do excellent stone-baked pizzas here for a reasonable price - when you compare it to the rubbish you get from somewhere like Dominoes or Pizza hut and what they charge, this place is excellent value.
Interesting atmosphere too, part of it is done up more like an Italian restaurant than a hotel bar.
|
What the @#$% is going on?? Came in today, after 5 weeks, a regular stop off for us(semi regular for 5-6 yrs), and the place has totally changed - every ) bloody table hijacked for eating, given a new (attempted 'trendy') look, drinlers made to feel like second class citizens, for crying out loud.. Despite the well kept Ringwood, never- a - @$*%ing gain... unbelieveable ....
|
Imposing building on the main square. Dark, wood panelled interior and largish garden running down to the railway with play area. Was busy with live music outside too. Two ales, Ringwood Best and Wadworths 6X.
|
Miserable landlady and staff - cold welcome, ale expensive, really should be called cold comfort inn.
odbod - 25 Aug 2010 15:34 |
This pub seems to have everything but nothing.
Very hard to get a smile from the landlady.
Felt she would give you a good telling off if you asked for chips instead of mash.
Although we didn�t eat.
Beer was ok. Seemed warm. But I didn�t like to say.
Great beer garden!
|
Popped in for a sneaky pint whilst the kids were busy at the station. Impressed by the prompt acknowledgement on walking into the bar - good to be loved. Anyway ordered a Ringwood Best and very well kept it was too. �2.80 a pint - ok for around these parts. Stood at the bar chatting to the bar man inbetween him serving a steady flow of customers. Previous reviews comment on expensive prices, well people have a choice and judging by the amount of people eating in and out when i arrived it couldnt be that bad. Moved onto the Filly @ �3 a pint and exited to the garden with a menu. Agreed with wife and children on food and went back down to the bar. Two groups placing large food / drink orders which the barman dealt well with. Placed my order and was informed beforehand that there would be a wait as many orders had gone in. Fine as it was a nice day and the kids played in the garden. Food was excellant Soup (mushroom) �3.95, kids fish & chips �4.95 and I had mixed meats and olives. Very nice but at �8.95 �2 overpriced I would say? A very nice time had. One negative comment? As I walked through for the loo all the tables in the upper bar were empty of diners (it was nearly 3pm) but about 6 tables were piled high with dirty plates and glasses> But it was a lovely day, its half term. I think they did well!
|
Went in again during the Swanage Blues Festival. Note, "Swanage" - eh? I didn't think Corfe Castle was a suburb of Swanage. Chelsea and Fulham, maybe, judging from the 4X4s, green wellies and Zaras and Piers hanging around there. Anyway, back to business. It might be because the group was splendid and the mood was good, but I must say that the the beer was better and the atmosphere much improved since the last time i visited (See previous postings). If they continue in there slow improvements this place could become a sensible place to go for a pint, albeit an expensive one. )Still, the Scott Arms at Kingston's now charging �3.20p for luke warm amber liquid - but at least they have Jamaica barbeques!!)
|
Always find it bemusing that someone in the hospitality industry would berate customers for not bringing their glasses back to the bar. Whilst I agree with the sentiment and I do out of common courtesy, I can't understand why one would risk embarrasing a customer by telling them off. You don't pay these prices to be talked to like a naughty schoolboy. �3.30 for Best Bitter and �15 for all the specials. Must try harder.
|
My wife and I decided to try this place as it looks quite attractive from the outside and we wanted something to eat. We were visiting the area and after a couple of bad experiences with the local beer, which we found to be mostly badly kept and overly warm , I asked for a sample of the Ringwood Bitter. Big mistake. "We don't do samples" I was told by the imposing lady behind the bar as if I had just dropped a turd in the punchbowl. Of course that's their perogative but having read some of the other reviews of their beer I can understand why they have this rule. We decided not to drink or eat there.
The exceptional pub on our trip was the New Inn in Church Knowle (about 5 minutes from Corfe Castle).
|
II don�t normally like to write negative reviews but think I need to on this occasion as Corfe is a small place and so the choice of pubs is slim. Whatever you do avoid the Bankes arms hotel. It�s a real shame as Corfe itself is really nice but this is poor pub. First the good parts the Ringwood beer was ok and the garden was pleasant with the steam trains puffing past. Sadly the food is overpriced and poor quality. My friend had some Scallops which were overpriced at �15 plus with a salad "rancid bottle dressing" and poor chips.
My other friend had a very poor Sunday roast; grey meat, gloopy gravy and over cooked limp veg. I had a crab sarnie which was just poor, the bread was dry and under filled and for some random reason it came with tortilla chips! This tells you all you need to know about this ill thought poorly executed and over priced menu. We haven�t eaten at the other pubs in Corfe but they can�t be any worse and the food at the model village looked good (and it�s licensed).
|
OK pub for beer and food but very unfriendly. Not a pub to return to.
|
Going ito this pub reminded me of those old black and white films which used to be shown on BBC on Sunday afternoons in the 1970's or so. You know, the ones where a terribly English Englishman walks into a dim, cranky bar at night after his car has broken down in the middle of Bodmin Moor when the "Beast" is out. I walked in with a couple of friends one evening and the bar, which was not busy at the time, fell silent and eyes of customers, who I don't think were locals, followed us to the bar. All conversation had stopped. The woman behind the bar (I wouldn't like to meet her on a dark night in a forest.) asked me if she could help me (felt a bit like the "Local Shop" in Royston Vasey), and I ordered the beer for the blokes. Wasn't impressed. Overpriced and stale. Landlord ignored us whilst chatting to a crony, but that didn't bother me. What did though, was the general feeling of agression coming from the rather large barmaid, as if we had interupted the proceedings of some secret society. The reply to our query about availability of food was; "kitchen's closed".
We left after finishing our pints and continued our drive from Swanage to Dorchester where we stopped off at a very plain, but friendly little pub at Stokeford (between Wareham & Wool) where we had a reasonable pint but also some very good fare MADE BY THE LANDLADY - something you don't find very often. But more of that on another blog.
|
I dont rate myself as a tourist, as I come from Dorset but on my visit in September 08 the beer was OK, nothing exceptional, although it was much pricier than it should have been. I expect to pay a bit more in tourist areas but with burger and chips (of a mediocre standard) at an exorbitant price I would say that users are being ripped off.
|
I've been coming here for years. The beer is usually pretty well kept. The food tends to be a little on the pricey side, but is excellent. A very wide menu, too, understandably (as it's near the sea) a little biased towards fish. The garden looks out towards the Castle and on to the steam railway; every so often an old steam engine chuffs past. Personally, I feel it's best in mid-winter, when the tourists are thinnest on the ground. However, they usually cope well with quite a few customers.
|
