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Submitted on Monday, 27^th May 2024
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Convivial Rabbit, Dorchester

Pub added by E TA

Trinity House, Trinity Street
Dorchester
DT1 1TT

Correct details

Served areas

Dorchester Town

Reviews of Convivial Rabbit (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

paulof horsham left this review about Convivial Rabbit

The Convivial Rabbit is a town centre micropub, largely to format, though with a Budvar tap positioned on the bar. There were 6 ales drawn directly from the cask, as well as a couple of ciders. All of this is listed on a blackboard above the bar in terms of name and price and ABV, with pump clips as well to provide extra information. The beer is well conditioned but could be a degree or two cooler.

There's quite a bit more room inside than some of the genre, with seating for around 30 and even space for a piano.

In a town of surprisingly few pubs, you'll probably want to visit and there's no reason why you shouldn't.

On 16^th June 2024 - rating: 7
[User has posted 554 recommendations about 516 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about Convivial Rabbit

Hidden away down the most unpromising looking of alleyways, a short walk from the High Street, this is Dorchester’s contribution to the micropub scene. I’m not sure what this place used to be, but it had the feeling of a former workshop, with its concrete floor, whitewashed brick walls and high ceiling. As you enter, the bar is to your left and has a timber fronted counter with a series of casks racked high up on the bar back and beer boards along the dark painted canopy. The room is actually of a pretty decent size, so there’s a good amount of seating available, mainly in the form of tables and chairs plus a few pews here and there and some armchairs in the front corner. Visiting just before Christmas, some of the tables had festive looking jars on them, each full of Quality Street sweets. An upright piano stands on the back wall and it had an ‘Easy to Play Pub Songs’ book on it, suggesting that impromptu sessions and singalongs might be in the offing. The walls are decorated with lots of nice breweriana, some comedy-themed pictures and various arty bits and bobs. In the centre of the room, there are a couple of broken wooden pillars, one of which has a rack holding the day’s papers on it. We turned up on a random afternoon and found the place doing a pretty good trade, with all of the tables in use by the time we left.
A quick perusal of the beer boards revealed a decent ale range comprising Titanic Plum Porter Grand Reserve, Milk Street Funky Monkey, Settle Mainline, Nomadic Nymph and By The Horns Hibernate, along with four of five real ciders and a festively appropriate mulled cider option. My pint of Hibernate was a reasonable £3.50 and in excellent condition, whilst my Dad was very complimentary about his pint of the Funky Monkey. The landlord was very friendly and didn’t grumble too much when one of our party decided they wanted a cup of coffee.
This isn’t somewhere you’re likely to stumble across, but it’s very much worth making the effort to find as I thought it was a very nice little pub with a warm welcome and a good atmosphere in a decently fitted out room. The ale range suggests they source beers from reliable breweries nationwide, so you should be well rewarded for repeat visits – something I hope to be able to do sometime soon.

On 28^th January 2022 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.