Brewhouse & Kitchen - Dorchester — Restaurant in England

Avoid this pub at all costs.... went in there today for a lunch with my kids. It was relatively quiet for a Sat lunchtime and we were given the option of ordering at the bar or in the restaurant with table service, which we opted for - our first mistake. There were only 2 ladies working front of house, they had to serve the bar, seat people in the restaurant, make the hot drinks, serve in the restaurant, clear the tables and bring the food out from the kitchen....I felt very sorry for them as they were doing their best but with the best will in the world they couldn't cope. Neither could the kitchen staff apparently as we were told after being seated and when we were about to order that there was a 20 - 30 min wait for food....not sure why as the place wasn't that busy. Anyway, we were committed by that point so opted to order and wait - 2nd mistake! There were quite a few items on the menu they were out of as well as a bottled drink too so not a great start.The food actually took 40 mins to come out and it was sat under the lights for 5 mins with the kitchen staff ringing the bell for the waiting staff to take it to our table. When it arrived and i bit into my fishfinger sandwich the fish was barely warm so I sent it back - it took another 10mins for a fresh one to appear and when I took the first bite I realised there was no tartare sauce in this one so I had to ask for a pot of sauce to apply it myself, not only that but some of the fish pieces were blazing hot and some were lukewarm again. When I complained the waitress did remove the sandwich and chips from the bill but I actually felt a bit ill by this point - having to wait so long and then biting into 2 cold pieces of fish so couldn't finish it. On top of that they then got the bill wrong overcharging us for a kids meal deal we didn't in fact have - again rectified but frustrating. In addition, to all this the place was freezing as the doors were all open and the only handryer in the ladies toilet wasn't working and my coffee was lukewarm....needless to say we will not be returning. Oh, and don't be fooled by the hop and garlic salt fries - no taste of either of those in the fries whatsoever.....such a shame as such a lovely building and part of town but let down by poor execution and...

**review 2 years later (from 5 stars to 1 😢)

Something has gone very very wrong since we last visited....up until covid we came twice a year for family meet ups as a centre point of our longer journeys. We have never faulted a thing. Yesterday we had quite a different experience which has led to us deciding we won't be returning. We have aways taken our dog with us and have sat in the restaurant with no problem, when we booked over the phone on Sunday we advised we'd have our dog and 6 people. We arrived yesterday and sat down at our 'regular' table after be shown to it. We were then told we can't have our dog in the restaurant area. After a long debate about how this would end and being shown where we could sit in the bar instead (two of our party have mobility problems and can't sit in the tall stools) we were finally allowed to stay at our table. Apparently this dog rule changed 2 weeks ago for health and safety reasons? Next, the coffee machine wasn't working. We actually went to Costa nearby to get some for those in the group who wanted coffee and bought back to the pub. Not having items on the menu is the norm due to covid/hgv etc so cannot fault that. The food was a very different standard since last time. Two of our party ordered a pie that came with gravy, it literally came out of the jug in 3 lumps. The eggs that came with the gammon were hard and the size of the fish may as well be a goldfish. I'm sorry but the food quality difference was so stark to our previous visits. Our poor waitress was so apologetic, so many times it was hard to watch in the end. She handled it with empathy and humor, it was the only saving grace.

Previous Review... We were looking for a place to meet between Exeter and Southampton for a family get together, but it also had to be dog friendly!! Fantastic place, amazing food, great service and the dog was happy too ☺️ Will be the place we meet...

We are in the area for holiday and got recommended this place for a nice meal and special drinks, boy where the ones recommending it wrong. We arrived at the time we booked the table for to be greeted by the fact they didn't have some items on the menu, oh well this happens. Sat down and looked at the menu and after 15 mins the girl comes back with another list of food not available. When we first got the chance to order from the very slim pickings half way through us ordering the waitress left the table to go and see to someone just arriving and came back 5 mins later to complete it. We finished ordering food and drinks, and my partner wanted to add on a drink so he went up to the bar to just add it on, he got completely ignored and the staff was shouting and swearing at eachother. Nice for the customers really good customer service. So he walked away without adding on the drink. After 40 mins of us arriving we finally had our drinks, almost, one drink was missing at this point we were sick of it and just wanted the food and to leave. 5 mins after the drinks the food arrived. The kids food was cold and absolutely horrible, and the adult food was hot but absolutely horrible aswell. 3 out of us have now got an upset tummy with horrible pains and feeling sick started 20 mins after eating. Why didn't we leave to start off with? We had 3 very tired and hungry children that...