On a trip away with work in Dorchester I stumbled across this little hole-in-the-wall. You go in and it looks tiny, largely, because it is tiny. I was taken downstairs - where the main seating area and instantly liked the atmosphere. It is a well decorated and lit cavern - as the name suggest. But unlike the name suggests it is very small. Not small cramped, but small cosy.
One thing I especially liked about this was that they stock delicious local ale - I had a lovely ale called 'piddle' to which the waitress joked 'piddle in a bottle'. This amused her more than it did me in fairness. The food was delicious, I had a crab and salmon pasta that was really delicious. They also brought free bread with oils, olives and (oddly) radish. I like free stuff so this got them points with me.
If I could complain about one thing it's that the service was not quite perfect. They clearly had a new girl starting and it was strange to hear her being told off for cutting me too much bread - "he's just by himself you'll ruin his appetite with that much bread" I heard across the small restaurant. This was more funny than it was rude, but perhaps I was slightly annoyed at the motherly implication that I can't manage my own appetite ,which I have been doing successfully for almost 2 decades now!
Best part of all this, my beer and delicious main course cost only £15.
I'd recommend this place highly. I went on a Thursday night and loved the atmosphere, so I imagine on a Friday or Saturday night it would be excellent. read more