Very pleasant atmosphere, very warm and welcoming staff. Great food…read more Starters we ate the scallops and black pudding scotch egg. Delicious.

great pub ,extensive menu, excellent range of beers, situated in alovely quiet part of dorsetread more

What a hidden gem of a pub, recently reopened after many years. It has been fully refurbished with…read moretouches of rustic wood and is a very comfortable, warm pub with a lively atmosphere, down a Dorset lane. All home cooked food, quickly prepared and brought to your table. There is a menu of light meals but more substantial offerings are on a blackboard above the bar, such as: roast pork with vegetables, Boeuf Bourguignon with vegetables or cauli/broccoli cheese crumble with/without new potatoes to name a few. There's also a special puddings menu. Delicious coffee is served with Pringle type mint chocolates. Prices are very reasonable. Upstairs is a complete surprise, with lots of comfy chairs and books to browse. This floor leads onto a large decked, roofed area which would be ideal in the summer of a leisurely evening drink. The loos are great too! Well behaved dogs allowed and are even given a few chews as a reward. Highly recommended.

We were recomended to come here so we gave it a go. Lovely pub from the outside. Very pretty on the…read moreinside too. The dining area is very spacious. The staff was super friendly and service was good. Not rushed. The food was very very tasty. Portions are quite big so a main meal is probably enough. It looks like everything is homemade.....certainly the steak and ale pie! For an animal lover the best part is also to be greated by the pub cat Smokey: super friendly and full of cuddles

Of course you want to come here for a pint or a pot of tea after a blustery time at the castle…read more Lovely atmosphere and decent food, nice folks helping to get your food and drink to you. I'm glad we went.

If you're down in this part of Dorset, everyone's going to tell you to go to the Square and…read moreCompass. Which you should do. It's old and lovely and a fantastic destination pub. But you should make a point of heading to this place as well. Perhaps the friendliest landlord I've seen in an age. Serving a wide selection of very well-kept local ales, with his thoughts on the condition of each. And really fab food. There's a very standard pub grub menu, but we ordered the specials. I was fabulously full but he said "try the Shepherd's Pie". Which I did. And it was, quite honestly, the best shepherd's pie I have ever eaten. I am still, 24 hours later, recovering. Fabulous food, service, beer, etc. This is a local pub for all sorts of people-- local or not. It's unknown but it shouldn't be.

The Square and Compass is such a gem if you're looking for an authentic pub experience in the…read moreEnglish countryside! The views alone are worth the visit, but the unique character of the place makes it even better. From the beer garden in the back to the small museum of fossils and local artifacts, it really has a one-of-a-kind charm. One thing I loved was the quirky "Woodhenge" sculpture in the parking lot--made from tree trunks, it's been standing since 2015 despite the local council initially wanting it taken down. It's still there as of my recent visit, and it's a fun little sight that adds even more personality to the place. The menu is limited, but that's part of the charm! I had the sausage roll, and it was sooo good! The warm, flaky crust and flavorful sausage made for the perfect pub snack. We sat inside since it was a warm day, and the locals couldn't have been friendlier. My friend and I (a pair of Americans) were welcomed like old friends, which made the whole experience even more special. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area--especially if you want to enjoy the local history, great beer, and a fantastic countryside view.

A couple of friends and I once went for a hike along the South West Coast Path in Dorset. It took…read moreus a couple of hours and was really nice: good weather, beautiful sea views, rolling pastures, and a great pub at the end. That pub turned out to be the Square and Compass. When we arrived it was warm and sunny, and most people were sitting on the dozens of outside tables, rocks, or just on the grass, enoying the sunshine. Oddly, a large number of chickens were strolling through the assembled patrons, but no one - drinker nor chicken - seemed to mind. There was a band playing some Beatles covers, too, though they finished shortly after we arrived. This is a proper country pub, long, low and very old wood and stone. They keep kegs of real ale and cider in a pump room here, so you order at the hatch. Check the Dinosaur Room while you're there. I won't say any more, since it deserves to be a surprise. I can't imagine a more relaxed, laid-back, country pub. The only downside was that although we'd planned to take a local bus back to Swanage, where our car was parked, those services don't run on Sundays. The day was so nice we decided to walk back anyway (along the road, though, a much shorter trip than the coastal path). EDIT: I was back again today, and despite the weather being crap - or maybe because of it - this pub was even better. We walked down to the ocean, to watch the surf pound the cliffs by the old quarry. We wedged into one of the tiny rooms and ate pasties and drank Ringwood ale. We gazed in wonder at the bizarre little fossil-and-beach-item museum at the back.

I just stayed here for a wedding. Decent sized parking area with a very nice garden. Beautiful…read moreplace. It was very welcoming and clean with all new bathrooms with cozy robes, complimentary beer, fizzy water, biscuits, and we enjoyed some great food. Breakfast was included. Also very dog friendly! They provided a dog bed for the family dog. Oh and very lovely beer brewed on side! Will be back for sure!

An absolute gem of a pub in one of Devon's prettiest, most tucked away coastal villages. The…read moreMason's Arms is, quite simply, a fantastic place in every sense of the word. I've stopped off for a snack or a quick drink a couple of times, and it's always really impressed me, and the lunch my parents and I had recently ranks as one of the best pub dinners the Andrews family can remember. Their crab sandwiches were fresh, as were the fish in their delicious creamy leek fish stew, while the ploughmans was huge. Desserts of chocolate and pecan brownie and banana fritters with toffee sauce were gobbled up. Ok, it's not cheap for a Devon pub, but the food is worth every penny - there was hardly anything on the menu I didn't want to scoff down. The pub itself is a charming sprawl of wooden rooms, and a small seating area out the front. It's homely and although the staff run a slick operation, they're still friendly and helpful. The pub was recently taken over by St Austell Brewery, so there's a good range of their beers, plus a couple of guest ales. This includes one local beer brewed in Branscombe. It's quaint, delicious, comfy and sits in one of the most stunning areas of the Devon coast. It is, quite simply, a perfect pub.

The bartender was really nice-she chatted a bit about the area and responded to my request for a…read morelocal beer.

Visiting Bath for a couple days and stepped in here for a pint to cap the day of sightseeing. Local…read morefolk were welcoming, and we had an interesting chat. I'm thankful for this Yelp app and our reviews which is very helpful in finding great spots we might miss otherwise.

The White Horse was recommended to my husband and I from our Air BnB host in Durweston. It was only…read morea short 15 minute walk to the place, and we were incredibly pleased with our experience. In fact, of all of the pubs that we visited during our week in Great Britain, this was truly our favorite. The bartenders, Mandy and Zoe were kind, friendly and made an effort to make us feel welcome in their place. We both ordered the Chicken in tomato/onion sauce topped with bacon and sides of veggies and it was delicious. For dessert we shared a special raspberry/sponge tart that Mandy recommended to us, and it was hands down spectacular. In addition to the warm atmosphere and good music, I felt the the locals here really went out of their way to get to know us. I could not have asked for a better experience for dinner/drinks and I would highly recommend this pub to anyone in the area. The delicious food, perfectly poured drinks and top notch customer service was a highlight of our trip to Dorset and Britain.

Nice drive out there today. Car park looked empty, and no one outside enjoying the last of the…read moreautumn sun. Beautiful setting, with a well thought layout. Packed inside, managed to get a table though straight away. Dining alone, always seems to attract attentive wait staff, maybe they think i'm a critic LOL. Tried the soup of the day, and the roast beef lunch. Good quality, apart from the beef which was a little tough. Again I skipped desert at a restaurant, due to loud mouth blokes, sitting next to me discussing which of the staff they'd like to do, and how they'd do it. Not sure if they have a true bar area, where one can have a beer and a snack. Other than that, great place. I'll be back.

6 star brilliant pub. Amazing food, great service and the playground kept the kids busy for hours,…read moreleaving the adults free to enjoy themselves. Would come again.

This place has a great atmosphere, a mixture of modern and traditional. Everyone is welcoming…read more But the kicker is the food. It's absolutely fantastic. I had the Lamp Rump with Dauphinoise ... quite simply melt in the mouth. Followed by vanilla and white chocolate panna cotta... also melt in the mouth with a beautiful hazelnut crumb. Although this place isn't cheap for sure, I think the food is absolutely worth the money. It's about 20 miles from where I live but I will happily drive back here for lunch or dinner.