Once again the restaurants in the UK have been reviewed Which?
You have to travel 20+ miles from Swanage to find a restaurant which gets even the entry level of 1 out of 10: “capable cooking, with simple food combinations and clear flavours”.
The whole of Dorset gets 9 mentions. There are twice as many in Mayfair alone. Cornwall gets 28. That’s a good reason to favour Cornwall for your holidays if you are a rich Londoner.
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I have been watching this post with interest for a fortnight. The lack of response may provide your answer! Not even to paid minions of the Swanage Tourist Centre could post anything about this subject.
Swanage is too far from Poole (via the chain ferry, when it runs) to attract the Londoners that Devon and Cornwall might attract. Believe me, that is its attraction -its isolation! So build your retaurant on that point. Fresh (ie) fish/shellfish off the boat!
Poole/Sandbanks is all 'new money' (aka 'rather ghastly'), Bournemouth is all drunks and yobs, and I know many from the London/M40 to Oxford belt(uber-rich sophisticats who san afford Michelin-starred restaurants) who rule out Poole as now a place to go for good dining, or anything else for that matter. Sunseeker yachts are all gauche/new money! Sandbanks is for new money footballers or pop music moguls! New Milton, Boldre, Lymington, and the New Forest are just about acceptable for this crowd, but not Poole, and by association, Swanage. They byepass us and head west in their Chelsea tractors.
Hence we must cater for the average holiday maker who wants good nosh at a good price , if they can find it. (Criticism : too many Swanage restaurants overcharge for mediocre food. Sort this out. Sorry - fact). Go two for a tenner, and make your profit on drinks. Keep it fun and simple. You won't find a Jamie Oliver opening a place here. It just doesn't 'fit' the image of Swanage.
And exactly what is wrong with fish and chips by the pier????? Let's be honest, be ourselves, and do what we do, well! And if you want posh nosh, your guide will tell you where to find it! And create a really good cheap restaurant for the locals, one which prospers through repeat and loyal business (which tourists do not provide). Perhaps somebody can suggest such a place? I haven't found it. They all charge tourist prices!
So have I.
Swanage Tourist Centre probably not allowed to post anything about this.
“(via the chain ferry, when it runs)” – almost always, 3 times an hour.
“ -its isolation! “
Yet you cricise Swanage for being too, um, isolated!
“So build your retaurant on that point. Fresh (ie) fish/shellfish off the boat!”
Shell and Ocean Bay restaurants already do this – both are good, but overcharge.
“They byepass us and head west in their Chelsea tractors” (SIC).
I can believe this
“(Criticism : too many Swanage restaurants overcharge for mediocre food. Sort this out. Sorry – fact).”
Couldn't agree more – The Trat is good, even if a bit pricey.
“And exactly what is wrong with fish and chips by the pier?????”
Absolutely nothing.
Let's be honest, be ourselves, and do what we do, well!
What do we do well, um, overcharge a captive market?
“And create a really good cheap restaurant for the locals, one which prospers through repeat and loyal business (which tourists do not provide). Perhaps somebody can suggest such a place?”
That'd be good, although I haven't eaten there for some time, the Wine Bar used to be good, and I heard good reports about the Barking Frog and The Red. Mickey's place on the Quay get's good reviews.
What Swanage needs is a risk taker – a rich risk taker.
The Mowlem is an huge opportunity to create a class place.
If any of you remember New Years Eve – if people think somewhere is worth going to, they'll go.
Swanage, naturally, didn't do anything to capitalise on something that rivalled Capital cities, and so it died.
Now, call me a naïve optimist, but with money going into Durlston Castle, with the Olympics just round the corner, couldn't someone just be thinking about risking their Wedge?
I do hope so.
This is obviously very subjective, but for “good”, think – I cooked this and IT'S GOOD!
Naturally, I think I'm a good cook.
Swanage
The Trat – good, a bit pricey, but not enough to stop me eating there again.
The Chinese in the middle of town – OK, consistent, and reasonably priced.
The Wok Chef – I've only used it once!
The Indian in Herston – was very good, but seems to have gone off a bit.
The Indian in the centre of town was naff. I've been told that it's improved
The Fish Plaice – naff
The chippie on the sea front – next to the Fish Plaice – good chips, OK fish
The chippie in Herston – was the best, but under new ownership I've been told that it's not so good.
Bere Regis
The pub in the centre of the village – good and not expensive.
The New Forest
The Old Inn – solid, good food, well presented, well priced.
The Rockingham Arms – good food, good price.
Crewkerne
The Travellers Rest – good food, well presented, fantastic value – terrible décor!
Piddletrenthyde
The European Arms – or Inn – fantastic food, price OK, and fantastically well presented – if you get my drift!
Ansty
The Fox – good food, beautifully cooked, overpriced.
That village just outside Mere
Good food, well priced and fantastically well presented!
That place in France.
Superb food, well presented, CHEAP.
A friend who has eaten at The Ivy said that it was nearly as good, but it cost us £40 per head rather than £100.
Says it all really!
If you pay £10 for two people, working on the normal margin the Inland Revenue would expect from a restaurant, the food cost per person would be £1.07. You ain't gonna get a lot of fresh local seafood for that!
When folk say Swanage is not the sort of place Jamie Oliver or the like would open a restaurant, this is characteristic of the running itself down Swanage does. It only sees the mud and never the stars. I think there a quite few with an interest in maintaining the status quo, or maybe it’s just scared to make changes.
The challenge for Swanage is that trade is great at weekends but relatively quiet on weekdays. To invest in a restaurant you would need reasonable business seven days a week, all year. Summers carry the trade. I would guess that half the business has to be carried on in July and August to get through the other 10 months.
It must be the same for hotels and bed and breakfasts.
Look at the Mowlem. Forget the architecture. What a location! Yet it has been through many reincarnations and still can't find a niche that will make it sustainable. Anybody could invest a wedge in it, but whether it would pay a return is in doubt.
Except perhaps a McDonalds. It would be a perfect site, and would probably be able to support the theatre as well. McDonalds is renowned as experts on finding new sites. You can bet that they have surveyed Swanage. The fact they have not opened here indicates that they do not see a market in our town. If they can't see it, who could?
Be glad; a McDonalds would utterly change the town. Whether for good or bad I leave to you....
A really good cheap restaurant for the locals, one which prospers through repeat and loyal business?
Take a look at the Moonlight Bistro. During the summer the place is busy from 6pm onwards, out of season you're wise to book, just in case. They offer a wide range of good food, and for what you get it most certainly is not expensive.
If you want something special, ask Russ the chef. He's willing to cook special dishes not on the menu, if he's not really busy or if you give him advance notice.
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