I'd not been here for decades and what a nice surprise! Comfortable leather seats, really well staffed, great selection of food and drink and super cheap too. Audio and video quality was just as good as others locally and much cheaper here too

Might as well review this place while I endure the adverts, waiting for Mission Impossible to start. Great cinema in Dorchester with comfy learher style seating. Plenty of leg room and vision experience (even if some lanky chap is sat in the seat infront). Alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages are available with the obligatory pop corn. Other snacks are also sold. Aircon and superb sound system (a little too loud for my delicate ears). Entrance and ticket office isn't that roomy, so be prepared to queue outside when the films are busy. As of May 2025, all tickets are a fiver!! Staff are lovely and welcoming. Booking online is also an option. In a nutshell, as my film is about to start, its a fab cinema!!

A lovely small cinema with a really welcoming feel. The seats are very comfortable and the screenings aren’t overcrowded, which makes for a much more relaxed experience. I wasn’t expecting the audio-visual quality to be as good as it is – it really exceeded my expectations. It’s a great place to take children, offering a different experience to the big multiplexes, and in many ways, a better one. A real gem in Dorchester.

Excellent, budget friendly cinema. Always plenty of films on offer, however lots of the big blockbuster films can get booked up quickly, that's why online booking is usually essential. There are 4 screens, 2 are very small (half the size of the ones at the Odeon down the road) and the others are of a standard size however those are mostly reserved for 'supportive environment' or subtitled screenings. Chairs are comfortable and have enough leg room. Again, food is overpriced but again that's to be expected. Screen is just the right size and the surround sound isn't too overpowering. Would recommend.

Smaller than Odeon, and decor highlighting past glories rather than what's coming soon. Rather old-fashioned, but none the worse for it. Seats seriously comfortable, and legroom best I've had in years. Car park barely 150yds away, so convenient.

As the other reviews say, this is great value, better still since it was recently refurbished. Not sure why there is the necessity to show the booking fee separately when booking online. Suddenly that 'great value' cinema doesn't seem so great when 29% is added to the ticket price! And why do you need to charge 5 booking fees for one transaction? Don't let this put you off though, it's still just over a fiver for a ticket.

Lovely cinema. Beautiful art deco style building. Felt like the old days cinema experience.

This is a very impressive local museum with many top quality display areas but, for me, the visit was spoiled by the arcane charging system. We live 170 miles from Dorchester and were visiting solely to see the museum's current entertaining and informative Jane Austen exhibition. At the cash desk, I was frankly shocked to find that this would cost us £15 each. As avid museum visitors, we found such a charge for a local museum, albeit a rather good one, pretty extraordinary. I was already feeling grumpy when the very pleasant young woman at the till insisted that I must give my full name and email before I could have a ticket. I suggested that it was very unusual for museums to demand personal details before selling a ticket but she explained, very politely, that she could not issue a ticket without these. This left me totally bemused until I later received an email with a link allowing me to claim an annual museum pass. Neither of us had seen any obvious indication at the desk that even the casual visitor had to buy an annual pass to get in, and this was not explained by the assistant. Living so far away, we would certainly not be visiting again within a year and, in my opinion and based on my experience of local museums, £15 is an eyewateringly high price for a single entry. The most liberal local authorities offer free entry, as does my home town of Bedford to its equally impressive Higgins museum and gallery. Some charge £3 to £6 or £7. I would associate £15 with a major collection, which, lovely though it is, this is not

Being a history lover (weirdly it bored me at school 55-60yrs ago) I enjoyed my couple of hours here , especially the Roman mosaics, Victorian hall and the library. The building itself is also worth a second look especially the windows. The cafe looked nice but I didn't use it so can't comment , likewise the toilets.

Spent the day in Dorchester and explored the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery - truly fantastic! This museum is one of the best we've visited, with four floors of surprises around every corner…

What a fantastic place!! There is so much to see, from the prehistoric Dorset coast to Thomas Hardy connections. We were interested in the travelling Gladiators in Britain exhibition which was brilliant. Make sure you allow plenty of time to look round but the ticket does allow you to go back within 12 months.

Very disappointed that it closes at 17:00 hours yet at 16:10 they refused to let me enter because I was 10 minutes late and they needed to close the rooms. Also the cafe doors were locked. So you don’t close at 5:00, you close as soon as the last person leaves as long as it is before closure time. The woman just said come back tomorrow. I won’t bother!! Be aware that traffic getting in to and out of Dorchester is horrendous. I saw the beautiful church next door and got to wander around the local shops. Everyone else I met was friendly and helpful. Shame.

Great museum, lots of Jurassic coast fossils and sea dinosaurs. A fantastic collection of archaeological finds from local locations, Bronze and Iron Age, Roman and Medieval. Human skeletons and fascinating local history including Roman mosaics, funny phalluses and a hoard of Roman coins. Enjoyed the art gallery too especially the Alfred Wallis paintings.

Ticket is valid for a year. Staff friendly & knowledgeable We were directed to exactly the section we were most interested in - Thomas Hardy. Fabulous collection, wish we had more time

A busy market with plenty of choice. Plenty of parking and toilet facilities are available. Close to Vivo Lounge.

One of the best markets I've been to. SO MANY lovely stalls and great prices.

Went to the Sunday car boot was a reasonable size and although we didn't get much there was plenty there to browse through. Will be going back to check it out on a weds as well

Good local market, plenty of fish. meat and veg alongside fabric clothes and bric a brac. Difficult parking due to number of visitors.

Very small now compared to what it used to be. Even the indoor part has shrunk abit. Market cafe great for food.

Variety of stalls, Easy parking ease of entrance. Near to the town what more could you want? Public loos as well

Not the best poor lay out not many stalls indoor area is just a bunch of old plates wouldn't rush back

The small garden is beautiful, but the drought appears to be affecting it—some plants are struggling, and the grass has turned yellow. Still, it remains a pleasant place for a walk

A peaceful place for the family, good for picnics, has a play ground for children, toilets, bandstand, cafe and a tennis court. Very well maintained park. Beautiful colours of the flower beds. Massive clock near the middle by bandstand.

Fantastic area for a walk or picnic. Good play park for the children and very well kept gardens. Lovely.

Great central park with play equipment for all ages as well as open grass areas with seating. Public toilets located in the park are convenient and clean.

Visited on a day trip to Dorchester. Delightful park, with fountain, bandstand, clock tower, playground, coffee shop and toilets, and the most beautiful flower displays. Very impressed.

Lovely walk through these Immaculate gardens. A hidden little treasure just a few minutes walk from the main high street. It's worth a visit .

Beautiful gardens. A gem in the middle of Dorchester. Play areas for children are good too. A small kiosk sells drinks, ice creams, etc. The gardens always look beautiful and are well kept by the parks staff.

One of favourite places to wander whilst in Dorchester. We have bagged many a bargain and enjoyed looking at all of the displays. Staff really friendly and helpful.

Dorchester Curiosity Centre is a wonderful destination if you’re looking for furniture or antiques. It’s absolutely huge, so you’ll need plenty of time to explore — easily two to three hours if you want to see everything. This is a fantastic place to find great bargains; prices are lower than buying new, though not quite as low as charity shop prices. The variety is impressive, with plenty of beautiful and unique pieces, from cupboards and couches to beds, mirrors, and more. A treasure trove for anyone who loves browsing for distinctive home items. Highly recommended for a leisurely visit. There’s also a cosy coffee shop inside, serving coffee, tea, cakes, and light bites — perfect for a break in between your browsing. Plenty of parking is available nearby. It’s a delightful place to visit if you have a curious eye and enjoy discovering unique and interesting finds.

Staff so friendly and helpful. So many unique items I need a bigger house. The cafe is brilliant the Chef produces fresh home cooked food. French Onion soup is lush. Home baked cakes are the next level.

So much to see, and buy! You can't come away without buying something. Staff and really helpful and friendly. Also, good coffee and cakes in the cafe.

A large antiques and collectibles centre inside what used to be a bus depot. A good range of things to look, tiny and large, at all prices. Worth a visit, especially on a rainy day.

Love this place. Always something new to find. Prices are very good

What a great place to look around, I could have spent hours in there. They have everything from large furniture pieces, rugs and fireplace surrounds to all manner of antique and old-fashioned pottery, jewellery, art, crockery and ornaments. You name it, they've probably got it. Managed to restrict ourselves to half a dozen items. Amazing place, I'd highly recommend!

We had a delicious meal here. I only drank tap water and as a consequence I felt the full impact of the flavoursome food. We went for the set menu, three courses for £36, which was amazing value for such top notch food. We paid a small surcharge for a couple of items, lobster paté for example, but that is fair enough. There is no enforced service charge, but of course we tipped as the waitress was very pleasant and helpful. All the food was immaculately presented and very good indeed. I would not have thought of putting a mandarin coulis with squid and lobster paté, but it worked! Other surprises were honeycomb chunks with the cheeseboard. A truly delightful meal. Recommend!

Attentive and friendly staff, warm and cosy atmosphere - a great recommendation from our hotel in this interesting and historic town. Great flavours with the food, and servings are generous PLUS appreciate them not adding the automatic service charge - we still tipped well.

The food was great, and the taste was amazing. The portions were generous, and we ended up with the Set Dinner, which was quite filling. Nice food overall – I’d definitely go again.

We have decided to leave the fish and chips dominated seaside and went for more interesting option in Dorchester. We had £36 set menu and chosen a bit of fish and meat. My option: tuna tartar was ok but not super special however the rabbit sous vide was amazing. My partner choice scallops and tuna were also super tasty and beautifuly presented. The highlight was pistachio cheese cake - quality and flavours were top notch - I could easily eat few of them:) Recommended place if you want to leave the seaside and have more quiet and quality place to eat!

Amazing food, great staff, and not expensive, hats off to the chefs. would go there weekly if it wasn't so far away, over 3h drive but well worth it.

What a great place to eat! The food was great and the flavours were amazing. Scallops were cooked really well and the rabbit was superb. The pistachio cheesecake was delicious. I’ve not had such a good 3 course meal in many, many years. The service was excellent and Verity was so attentive and personable.

Beautiful food had 3 courses and all were beautiful, service was well paced and not fast so you get to enjoy the dishes . Steak was more than an 8oz fillet and my wife’s seafood linguine was in her words divine. Waiters were lovely and honoured to meet one of the chefs . Thank you

Have organised a couple large group functions for events here. Manager Kyle goes above and beyond to deliver a great service even when things don’t go quite to plan. He is happy to listen and act on constructive feedback. Food always been good, the only reason one star off is due to my disappointment of my pudding not being unavailable, but I have been assured next time I visit this won’t be a problem. Atmosphere great. Service always as helpful as can be.

My first visit turned out to be one of the biggest disappointment. We used to visit this place when it was Carluccio's and absolutely loved it. Luccio's food and service were both very disappoing. While presentation on some of the food looks nice, they all tasted really bland. The Burrata was served with 3 cherry tomatoes not the beef tomatoes as stated on the menu and 3 basil leaves. There was no seasoning so the dish was very bland. Meatballs were so tiny and over cooked to the point they were very dry. They were burnt on the top which I was surprised the chef felt was ok to serve to the customers. The Pomodoro sauce was very salty but lacks depths. Supermarkets' sauce taste better than the rubbish we were served. On the menu, it said WHOLE roasted seabass which we expected to see whole fish intact. It was not. The fish had it's head and spine removed but not pin boned. There were lots of bones and the fish was also lacking flavour as again, it was not seasoned. My husband ordered his steak medium rare but was served medium well. The mains came with very little salad and no carb at all. To make it a substantial meal, you'll have to order sides, too. First glance of the menu looks like a very reasonably priced menu but there is supplement to pay on most dishes. There is also a service charge of 12.5% added to the bill. It wouldn't have been a problem if we had a good evening. Unfortunately, the waitress who served us was very cold and nonchalant. It is safe to say that we will not be visiting again. I think Marco Pierre White Senior should drag his son's behind back to his kitchen and give him some proper lessons.

Location amazing ,love the building and the little square just in front of it .I had high expectations about this place ...Menu was not bad but when I asked how Carbonara is made and they told me with "cream" I changed my mind!!!!We ordered spaghetti with tomatoes ,carbonara and tagliatelle ..we had tagliatelle for everyone(no one told us that the pasta was just in one shape )!!Gnocchi with Ragu were delicious ...fries with truffle taste cheesy and the focaccia dough was not baked properly plus too oily.Very good the Spritz ,the burrata and olives .Staff super nice and friendly .

My visit on this occasion was fab. A meal with friends in a warm and friendly atmosphere. A semi formal restaurant experience followed by dancing to a live band. These type of evenings are programmed regularly through the year. 4 of us had two courses, 2 bottles of red, pre drinks and a post drink for £215, a little over 50 quid each.

Luccianos was quite a casual place to eat but tasty. We had foccacia for the table which was delicious and prices are very decent especially with getting a complimentary drink with your main! Food wise - it's tasty, my pasta unfortunately was slightly overdone and clumped but the ragu was delicious. Very simple and small range for a menu though with only really 2 options for meat eaters and 12.50 for a pomodoro pasta was a bit much? Our carbonara came with very crispy and streaky pancetta which was a but unexpected but the rich egg yolk sauce made up for it. Service wise - we got served a random starter we didn't order and also served a bottle of wine again we didn't order. Of course we declined each one but shows a bit of unorganisation and inexperience in staffing for table numbers. Our mains which were carbonara, ragu and pomodoro pastas took over 50mins and took us 2mins to eat so that was quite disappointing. We assume the waitress forgot to submit our order as it came 5mins after we asked for an update on them. Overall, food was good and so were the prices. Service just needs a bit of adjusting. Will still try it out again but wish the menu had more range as it only seemed to have ragu, tomato or csrbonara based dishes.

Really enjoyed our lunch ,first ever visit,and the manager Kyle was great ,friendly and cheerful

Had a great evening at Luciano’s last night, we went in during happy hour and so had cheap cocktails before our meal. The drinks were really good and when we ate we were all delighted with our food. The service was brilliant, really attentive and helpful and also really knew their menu when we had questions. It was pretty quiet while we were there but still had a great atmosphere. We’ll definitely be back.

Simple pub with multiple real ales, plus a handful of other options for non beer drinkers. It probably is more for those who like beer than anything else. Superb selection and ever changing, often while you finish your first pint a new option will arrive, always good service and decent price too. Easily the best pub in Dorchester.

Excellent hidden away pub,, the owner/barman obviously knows his beers. Ask for advice and you'll be given guidance and what suits your pallet and be given a well kept beer. The pub allows board games and has that inclusive atmosphere that is often sought by smaller pubs. You'll come in here for one and stay for a couple, you can't really argue with that.

They kindly let us bring our fish and chips to eat outside. The beer and wine were excellent, staff even better. Cant recommend enough. Enjoy.

Ale condition isn't as good as it used to be. Shame, as it used to be great here when Nigel ran things.

“Fantastic pub with a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The staff are friendly, and there’s an excellent selection of beers and spirits to suit all tastes. This is exactly how a proper pub should be — cosy, inviting, and full of character chris was a right laugh”

Fantastic place. If you're looking for live entertainment, a good atmosphere and some cracking micro brews. This is the place to go

Such a wonderful place ! Every time we visit Dorchester we come here So welcoming Dog friendly Great beer 🍺 Lovely staff Great vibe All round great place to visit and savour the atmosphere 💎❤️😍

I had a perfect dining experience here. The food was absolutely flavorful and delicious. From the starter to the dessert. The customer service was amazing, our servers were very very hospitable and pleasant. I will absolutely be visiting again. Overall I give this restaurant a solid 10/10!

As always food is outstanding and delicious. Service is top class, always our go to place. 100% recommend a visit to the king and thai dorchester

My partner and I decided to visit this restaurant for lunch. We have visited this place before, and have always found food excellent. The staff are always friendly. This venue is clean and tidy. There is no car park, you would have to park in one of the local car parks. Would recommend this restaurant to family and friends.

Food didn't just taste good but looked the part as well. Desert was out of this world!

Lovely atmosphere and beautifully clean restaurant! The service was impeccable - but the food! Freshly cooked and bursting with taste and subtle flavours. Served very hot - just how I like it; and good sized portions. Huge prawns, fresh pork and chicken - no preformed meat. The handmade coconut ice cream is a real treat and not too sweet. It really is a wonderful experience, you are not rushed eating the food and we cant wait to go back!

Just had a lovely meal here. Good service, very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. Highly recommended.

Amazing food as always. 5 star service. Love coming to the king and Thai as always guaranteed to have fresh home cooked food. Would highly recommend