The Thimble Inn, Dorchester

A thatched village pub with 17th Century roots, renovated and extended to make it an imposing detached building, more like a private house. There is a large car park with grassed seating areas on one side and a stream running through the grounds. There is another seating area with benches and tables immediately at the back. Inside, there are flag floors, low ceilings and lots of rural charm. The single large bar is irregular in shape and is subdivided by low walls into various areas, mostly laid to table for diners. At one end of the bar is a brick chimney with a wood burner, while some of the original brickwork is exposed in some places. Food was mainly cooked freshly from locally sourced produce and was well-cooked and tasty, but the presentation was ruined by being served on bits of old driftwood and un-classy enamel soap dishes. Why? There were five ales on, 4 from Palmers and a guest. I had Palmer’s Copper Ale, which was in OK condition. The staff were polite enough, though not very engaging, while the customers were a mix of grockles and locals. They host live music on occasion, and it does get busy so best to book if you want to eat. A decent place to eat, drink and generally enjoy life.

Beautiful pub and village spoilt by awful chef/owner. Chef/Possibly Owner was rude in the extreme, service was incredibly slow, food was missing key ingredients from the Menu we'd seen and ordered from. Culminating in the Sherry Trifle i received being nothing more than sponge, minimum fruit and then double cream - the trifle resembled a soup more than a trifle. In addition to this the pub were catering for a large coach party, and it seemed anyone else wasn't worth bothering with (at the £25 a head for our party of 5 - which i would think most pubs would be glad of). To cap the evening off, the driver of the coach parked across the exit of the pub car park meaning we had to wait in the car park 10mins before we could leave - awful.