The Weld Arms, East Lulworth

Found this as we were driving from Corfe Castle to Lulworth Cove and what a great little find it was!

Picture postcard quaint from the outside, the inside was warm and inviting.

Lovely pub food - generous portions, arriving promptly and hot. My 5yr old's (off menu) lunch request was catered for with no drama.

Nice seating area outside, with children's climbing frame/slide.

The sign asking patrons to be thoughtful towards the local community as they leave made us smile - as we had picked a day when there was an artillery bombardment in full flow at the nearby army camp. I just hope our chuckles didn't spoil the locals' enjoyment of the gunfire!

My rating = 9/10

15 Apr 2011 09:03

The Pilot Boat Inn, Lyme Regis

A great find - unusual in offering great quality so close to the beach front!

Stopped in for coffee and the very friendly and helpful barman gave us some pointers for shopping and things to see.

Came back for lunch and got great fresh food, served promptly by more friendly staff.

Helpful barman sorted out the rest of our day by suggesting Charmouth (5 min drive) for beachy/fossil-hunting fun!

Seating inside and out (we tried both - outside for coffee, inside for lunch). Really nice all round!

15 Apr 2011 08:26

The New Inn, Salisbury

Looked lovely from the outside - shame everything else didn't live up to it.

After ordering drinks and food at the bar at about 1.15pm on a far-from-busy Tuesday, and making three trips to the table (no tray offered) - waited almost an hour for 3 steaks and a burger - which only turned up after I asked after 45 minutes for an ETA - food still took almost 15 more minutes to get to our table. I could cooked our order MYSELF in 15 minutes!

Mediocre food, served poorly. Steaks were cold on cold plates, chips boiling hot. The only person in our party to get a boiling hot plate was my daughter (age 5!!).

Staff lacked interest, enthusiasm and experience - I didn't see anyone over the age of about 20. The passage to the toilets seemed to double as a bicycle park and builders dumping ground.

Classy.

Eating here left us barely enough time to get round the Cathedral and we missed out on Old Sarum altogether.

Hugely disappointing. Avoid if at all possible.

15 Apr 2011 08:18