Seagulls, (photo above) round the corner on Station Road, looks unassuming from the outside, but head inside for a reasonable priced restaurant with friendly staff and well cooked food. Several people have written in our guestbook recommending the place, and it is rated highly on Tripadvisor. Several visits, including one  for Sunday roast and pudding, did not disappoint.

Go just around the other corner on George Street and over the river footbridge for Rise Cafe Bar. It’s in the premises which was the Riverside for decades. The owners are the couple who put “boutique” into The Bull Hotel in Bridport. They also own Swim in Lyme Regis. With the smart interior, outside decking and festoon lighting it definitely makes more of its unique position. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as drinks and small bites. Lots of variety on the menu, including burgers, fish dishes and children’s meals.

If you fancy something a bit quirky and unique then head to West Bay’s old station platform. Not cheap but you dine well and enjoy cocktails too in Platform Restaurant‘s  two glamorously decorated vintage railway carriages and ticket office. Local seafood is a speciality and there are also meat dishes on the menu. Book ahead. Also check the website for other offers such as a pub lunch menu and takeaway evening menu including smash burgers and cheesecake.

Sladers Yard’s old warehouse provides a gorgeous rustic backdrop for breakfast, lunch, or cake and coffee, with vegan and vegetarian wholefood options available, all made in the café. Follow your food with a nose around the beautiful furniture and paintings there.On a nice day the harbour is the perfect place to sit and eat alfresco.

Try one of the characteristic wooden huts providing a variety of foods. Special mention to Rubicon Kitchen on The Mound (seasonal opening) which does great fish dishes and is very good value considering the quality of the dishes.

Baboo Gelato sells ice cream handmade in Bridport. Yummy. Just keep a look out for the seagulls.

The three pubs in West Bay are all Palmers pubs, Bridport’s brewery.

The West Bay Hotel,  just across from East Beach. We reckon the Sunday roast is a good one.

Sit in the beer garden of The George and watch harbour life as you enjoy a pint of the local brew. Good value pub grub too.

The thatched Bridport Arms on East Beach was built around the turn of the 18th century, making it the oldest surviving building in West Bay.

In Bridport

In Bridport you have a choice of cafes, restaurants and bars serving locally produced food and drink.

A favourite of ours is Dorshi, tucked down a little alleyway, Chancery Lane, off East Street. The style is Asian using mostly local produce. The menu has a selection of dumplings, small plates and noodle bowls. Eat separately or share plates in a group. We were too busy tucking in to the food to think of taking a photo of it. Instead here is one of the upstairs bar where they make cocktails in the evening.

Another place we rate is The Olive Tree on East Street serving Mediterranean food, fish a speciality with Catch of the Day, all cooked in an open kitchen which you can see in the photo above. Friendly service.

Our favourite café (we haven’t tried them all) in Bridport is The Green Yard Café, just north of East Street on Barrack Street. Friendly service and tasty lunches, desserts, cakes and coffee. Colourful courtyard and an elephant in the room, what’s not to like!

We also recommend Soulshine for a healthy salad in their lovely sunny courtyard garden and  Bella’s on Bucky Doo Square for a takeaway sandwich and slice of cake.

A welcoming pub is the Tiger Inn. It’s close to the town centre on Barrack Street, which runs north off East Street. The pub is traditional with a nice atmosphere. Popular with locals, it is friendly to non-locals too. It has pleasant courtyard seating at the front and back of the pub. There is a good selection of real ale (and it’s not Palmers for a change).

We like  The Woodman Pub on South Street too, an independent pub with ales from various breweries, lots of ciders and live music at the weekend. It is the West Dorset Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branch’s 2025 Pub of the Year.

Another treat for ale lovers is the tiny The Pursuit of Hoppiness on West Street with a range of unusual bottled and canned craft beers as well as six hand pumps serving regularly changing IPAs, stouts, milds and bitters. Cider and wine too for the non-beer lovers. It has seating inside and a few outside tables on the street.

Fancy a takeaway? You have various options, including Long’s Fish and Chips, Indian, Chinese and Domino’s pizza.

Further Afield

Big sister of West Bay’s Watch House Café, The Hive Beach Café is located right on the beach at Burton Bradstock with far reaching views across Lyme Bay and Chesil Beach. It’s short drive or you can get there walking along the cliff path east from West Bay (follow the cliff path division at West Bay). It’s a brilliant location to enjoy fresh, local seafood, homemade cakes or just a cup of tea.

Also in Burton Bradstock, on the cliff top, you’ll also find The Seaside Boarding House with  restaurant and bar. It has an open air terrace overlooking Lyme Bay. Menus have a local seafood bias, and you can pop in for breakfast or afternoon tea too. We’ve not been there ourselves yet but a walk from the cottage for a cream tea is definitely on the to-do list.

Book well ahead if you want to eat at The Three Horseshoes in Burton Bradstock village. It’s a lovely old stone-built pub with a thatched roof. Fires burn in wood burners in the winter and there is a beer garden for the summer. Their website says “Dog friendly, children welcome, muddy boots allowed.” The best Sunday lunches with an additional jug of gravy.

Approximately a mile inland from the coast road near Burton Bradstock and about 10 minutes drive from the cottage, there’s an Italian restaurant we’d like to try after reading good things. The Parlour is based on Bredy Farm within a disused milking parlour on the farmyard.

A few years ago now the Hive Beach Company turned its attention to another venue a little further down the coast in West Bexington. Taking on the slightly shabby cafe on the beach there, they transformed it into The Club House. It now has two AA Rosettes and is mentioned in the Michelin Guide. The manager helped push our car out of their carpark when it got stuck there. too!

Walk west along the Coast Path and visit The Anchor at Seatown right on the coast. Carry your drink up to the terrace at the side of the pub to sit and sip with one of the best beer garden views in the country. It has been winning lots of awards recently.

A favourite of ours for a quick bite in Lyme Regis is a pork bap and doughnut from The Whole Hog. The only problem is that it’s takeaway only and, from bitter experience, the seagulls on the front at Lyme are positively evil.

An interesting choice is The Avenue Restaurant based at Weymouth College. Full-time students cover all tasks in the kitchen and front of house. Book a table if you are after top quality food at a very good value. The restaurant is only open certain days during term time, check the website.

Eating In

Discover freshness and flavour, support the local economy and cut food miles by using local produce. Farm shops abound in the winding lanes of the county. The nearest is Washingpool Farm, just outside Bridport, with over 80 acres of working farmland. Their farm shop sells their own vegetables, meats, and ready meals plus a large selection of food and drink from local suppliers. You may recognise it as Lenny Henry’s farm shop in Broadchurch season 3.

Alternatively drive 10 minutes west along the A35 to Morcombelake to visit Felicity’s Farm Shop, a family-run business with great views. They sell a range of local foods and there is a take-away kitchen selling breakfast and lunch, cakes and hot drinks. You can sit outdoors with views over Golden Cap and the sea. You’ll also find a Baboo Gelato trailer there.

Farmers’ Markets are a great place to buy local produce and chat with farmers, producers and growers. Local farmers’ markets are held in Bridport (second Saturday of the month) and Poundbury (first Saturday).

Bridport has the oldest family-run business in English, established in 1515, the butchers RJ Balson & Son.

Fish is sold fresh off the Razorbill fishing boat in the harbour, message them for daily updates of catch and times, see their facebook page for info.

Palmers Brewery, on the left as you drive from West Bay into Bridport, has a shop, Palmers Wine Store, selling wine and their bottled ale.

When you are in Dorset try a Dorset Knob, a dry biscuit usually eaten with cheese. Moores Biscuits make them, a company based in Bridport and established over 130 years ago. Dorset knobs are normally sold in a bag or tin in Dorset delicatessens, farm shops and independent food stores. I think our nearest stockist is Harbour Gifts and Groves Nursery. They would make a nice little present to say thank you to someone who has been watering your garden / feeding your goldfish / looking after your hamster (etc) while you holiday in West Dorset. But be warned, supplies are limited. When they’re gone, they’re gone, until next year anyway.

Tours

Palmers Brewery run a two hour tour and tasting. For details and to pre-book please see here.

Less than 20 minutes drive beyond Bridport is Furleigh Estate, a prize winning vineyard and winery. If you’d like to try some English wine you can book a vineyard tour and tasting with them.

Food Festivals

Keep an eye out for food festivals across the county. Pick up tips as you watch demonstrations by chefs and experts. The most local festival is the Bridport Food Festival, held in June.

Have you eaten out somewhere fantastic? We’d love to hear from you Contact us