The Old Thatch, Wimborne

Is this a pub?? At first sight it looks like there is a subdivision between a pub-area and a restaurant area. But, unfortunatelly if you call on a busy night staff does treat drinkers not willing to order food very gently and you end up drinking at the bar next to queing restaurant-customers. In the afternoon many elderly couples gather for tea and coffee thus again the pub-atmosphere gets lost in the whistling of the coffee machine. There are several ales on offer and three pumps were working , but only London Pride is well-kept. I cannot rate this "pub" as i perceive it as a restaurant: they serve excellent inexpensive food. Friday is curry night, Saturday is steak night and on Sunday they offer an amazing carvery: a very friendly chef serves abundant portions of first class beef, pork or turkey. The fact that you have to book your table in advance says it all.

Very much a theme park pub, this piece of suburban mockery occupies the site of a former gatehouse in its own grounds with a good size car park. The there is plenty of oak, exposed brick and leaded glass on display, which, with the fairy lights and prevalent painted pine panelling, makes it all feel a bit Disneyfied. The majority of the naffly carpeted floor is given over to empty dining tables, reserved for absent diners. The staff are fairly amateurish while the locals, at least the younger element, are ignorant both of manners and of modern products like soap and shower gel. The presence of a row of high chairs adds a hint of subtle menace to the atmosphere and sends an involuntary shudder through any drinkers who wander in. There were 3 ales on draft – I had a pint of Dog's Bollocks which, if it lost the first word of its name, would better describe the beer – badly kept, over-gassed and much too cold to enjoy. It does, however, complement the pretentious over-priced food. Best left to the office party set, 'event' drinkers and for tourists who like to think they are in 'the country'.