The Olive Branch, Wimborne

This is a very large pub not too far from Wimborne’s main square, which has had a significant makeover to create a very food-led environment. The pub has a roughly centrally positioned servery, off of which a number of different seating areas can be found. The front entrance takes you past two such spaces, each fitted out with plenty of sturdy seating in smartly decorated areas which have a contemporary feel to them whilst retaining some sense of a rustic pub, such as exposed beams and nice open fireplaces. Moving beyond the bar, coffee and cake counters belie the location of the main dining room, part of which is on a raised section to the left which is obscured a little from the main room by some sections of partitioning wall and has a view to the open kitchen. From here you can move on out to a rear garden with a reasonable amount of bench seating and a decent sized car park beyond. Seating throughout is a real mixed bag, with padded canteen style benches giving way to plush leather sofas and lots of good quality chair and bench seating in the dining area. The décor has a bit of a corporate feel to it, rather than feeling part of the pub’s fabric, although there are a few nice displays including beer bottles wedged between ceiling beams, a collection of decorative plates on one wall and some framed posters high up under the gabled ceiling nearer the bar. This is a Hall & Woodhouse pub, so the bar is limited to their beers, with Tanglefoot, Badger Best, Pheasant Plucker and Fursty Ferret all available on handpull. My pint of Pheasant Plucker poured a little flat but was drinkable and we also had some food here and found the portions a little tight for the prices. We also had a remarkably long wait for food, apparently due to a recent intake of new staff who were struggling to keep up with orders on a moderately busy post-Christmas afternoon. Like many of Hall and Woodhouse’s modernised food-led pub, I found this place very hard to warm to. It is aiming squarely at family groups wanting to eat and therefore has sacrificed much of what might make it an appealing pub to make it feel like an appealing restaurant. The lack of diverse beer and the slow service were also off-putting and whilst your Nan might enjoy a Sunday roast down here once in a while, drinkers would be best advised to try any number of other pubs around Wimborne.

Previously The Dormers, this huge, impersonal building is popular with families and groups due to its food and large garden. It was first licensed in 1967 and is currently owned by Hall and Woodhouse. The has the feel and ambiance of a garden centre, complete with coffee bar, while moving around it to find things like lavatories or the bar brings back flashbacks to Wolfenstein 3D due to the geometric regularity and colour variety of the cuboidally demarcated areas which creates nooks, crannies and annexes with a mix of wood and tiled floors and walls. The garden itself is large, well kept and ideal for families. Humanoid service bots in pink and blue uniforms mill aimlessly around, dropping mass-produced enamel dishes full of condiments, and bits of driftwood sporting piles of 'novelty' breads, on the tables, while various species of customer spawn randomly in front of as you navigate the game-space. There are 3 ales on, but whichever one you order will just have run out, so you have something else. I ordered Tanglefoot, the pint of First Call I was given was quite good but not brilliant. When I ordered First Call, the bottle of Golden Glory I received was very refreshing and kept at a decent temperature. The Hopeful Hop which turned out to be Tanglefoot hit the spot. The pub is perfect for those who enjoy second life gaming and closet sociopaths who want to lose their families for a while, but it's not really my idea of a pub. Virtual portals permitting, I don't intend rushing back although, to be fair, the beer is OK, there is free wifi and it is a pub ahead of its time.