The Salt Cellar — Restaurant in England

My family and I visited this Cafe yesterday. Our party consisted of myself, my husband (mid 50s), my elderly dad (mid 80s) and my three dogs (cockerpoo, cavapoo and a working cocker).

As we had our three dogs we intended to eat on the tables outside but it started to rain heavily so we went inside along with other customers.

We found a table for 3 and a table for 2 and sat down. The tables were very close to each other and as we had 3 dogs we thought it would be okay to sit there. The tables were in a corner and I thought we would then be out of the way of the other customers as we had the dogs.

As we walked to the table we walked past a lady who said she can't be near dogs. I said I was sorry and I would leave with the dogs but she said it was okay and she and her partner moved to another table a few tables down.

After five minutes a waitress came over. She had very short blonde hair and glasses that she put up on her head.

There was no warm welcome. We gave her our lunch orders and she seemed to have a 'tone' with us. As she walked away we all looked at each other and wondered why she was so off with us.

About 5 minutes later I heard the waitress speak to customers who'd walked in. They said they needed a table for 3 please.

The waitress came over to us and said "I need to move him to your table as I need a table for 3". I said we've not got a lot of room as husband and I were on a table for 2 with 3 dogs. She said you are a table for 3 aren't you. I said we'd need another chair please (only being a table for 2). She got my dad another chair. So three of us were now on a table for 2 with 3 dogs.

The family that sat down had watched all this commotion and I said to the lady, I wasn't sure why the waitress was being like this towards us and I apologized for the lack of space. The lady said it was fine, she'd had 3 dogs before so not to worry.

A lovely young waitress brought our drinks over. My dogs greeted her and she said she loved dogs and had dogs herself. She was lovely, chatty and friendly. I said I'd only come inside as it had started to rain and would have stayed outside with them. She said it was fine.

It says it's a dog friendly cafe on the website!

Then the blonde waitress approached the table of 3 next to us and said as bold as anything "I'm going to move you to another table as apparently they feel a bit crampted so I'll move you to a nicer table with a much better view"

My husband and I couldn't believe what was going on around us. The waitresses rudeness which came out of nowhere! To talk about us as if we weren't there! It was like a Basil Faulty sketch, absolutely unbelievable!

The blonde waitress then brought our food to our table. I said to her "I don't feel you're very happy with us" she said "pardon" I said "it feels like you have an issue with us as you don't seem very happy with us" She just walked off. She came over to us and asked if our food was okay to which we said it was.

The waitress then sat another couple down next to us, on the table she'd moved the other customers from. It just seemed like she was trying to create another issue. It was quite unbelievable! There were free tables in the cafe!

So all in all, the food was very nice. The cafe said it was dog friendly. The cafe was half full at the time we were there. The young waitress with the long hair was lovely. My dogs were exceptionally well behaved.

Sadly we are going to remember this cafe for the wrong reasons. I think the waitress is most definitely in the wrong job. She was exceptionally rude, antagonistic and simply awful for no apparent reason. We've never experienced anything like it it...

My recent visit to Shaftesbury was partly inspired by the Bill Hicks routine from his album “Arizona Bay,” specifically the track “Hooligans,” so I kept repeating in my head as I walked around: “No one knows what it’s like, to be a dustbin, in Shaftesbury with Hooligans.”

I was not aware before I arrived that Ridley Scott, the director of some of my favourite films, had directed a bread ad in Shaftesbury in 1973.

I learned that while observing the hill used in the ad, and turned to see a cafe called “The Salt Cellar”, it not only offers an amazing view but also delicious food that enhances the scenic beauty, and allows it to be even more enjoyable.

I went with family, so had the pleasure of trying a few of their homemade pies, the risotto, and a sandwich. Each dish was a delight, with the pies standing out due to their fantastic pastry, the risotto being perfectly cooked, and the sandwich was excellent. The side salads with the pies, which seemed unusual at first, turned out to be a delicious surprise combo.

The range of food and drink options looks extensive and impressive, it was refreshing to find a place with a stunning view that doesn’t rely solely on the scenery to attract customers—the food here is genuinely worth the visit.

The service provided by a young gentleman was great, he had a lovely manner, and our food arrived quickly. The excellent service and food was also great because the bill didn’t sting at the end, The Salt Cellar is great value for money.

The view alone is worth the look, but I highly recommend making The Salt Cellar your lunch destination if you’re visiting...

An absolute stunning & picturesque cafe that has outstanding views of gold hill plus further afield, this cafe has seating both indoors & outdoors, and has both the most politest of staff & great food.

I visited on Monday of this week passing through to ilminster and decided to dine here, very warm & friendly welcome, I ordered the breakfast & a coffee with cream from their very extensive & well priced menus (they have 3 on the tables), when my breakfast arrived it was utterly delicious, the scrambled egg was so tasty, plus I usually hate mushrooms on breakfasts, but these were beautiful, only downside was my coffee wasn't very strong & was tiny, I didn't see that you can have large for an extra 50p.

I was so impressed that I visited again today, but it was so busy that I don't know how they managed to get me a table quickly cleaned & ready, they had a lot of reservations booked, I had the tuna sandwich & a large cappuchino, again friendly service & outstanding quality of both the food & the drink, I am really disappointed that I won't be back for a while but left quickly on this occasion, as I didn't want to take up a table when others...