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Built over 250 years ago as the home of Charles Hall, The Fox Inn is buried deep in the beautiful Dorset countryside. Renovated and redesigned to meet modern facilities, there's state of the art kitchen, upgraded bedrooms and landscaped gardens. You could choose to dine at the Woodhouse Restaurant, traditional yet elegant, with oak panelling and low ceiling, or at the light and airy Garden Restaurant. In summertime, there is a large outside patio area to dine al fresco.

The kitchen, headed by Ian Chalmers, makes fine use of freshest seasonal, local produce to create the likes of pressed terrine of pigeon, pheasant and hock with fig chutney and toast, Portland mussels' mariniere and garlic fried field mushrooms baked with goats' cheese and red onion jam. To follow there’s the honey and mustard glazed belly pork with sage, apple and smoked bacon, mashed potato, cider reduction and a selection of vegetables. The sticky toffee pudding topped with toffee sauce is a must.

The Gaggle of Geese is a traditional village pub serving British food, sourced from its own farm and other local farms.  It is a popular meeting place for people from all walks of life.  There are five acres of grounds including an orchard, where sometimes you will find sheep grazing alongside chickens, goats and geese. During winter guests can relax on a sofa in front of the fire or play skittles while during summer they can unwind outside with a pint of local cider.

Start with roasted red pepper hummus with crudités and spinach and courgette soup with basil pesto. Move on to Pecker's pan fried pigeon breasts with crushed new potatoes, veg and red wine jus and beer battered haddock, triple cooked chips and mushy peas. To end your meal on a sweet note choose sherry trifle and scrumptious chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce and clotted cream.

Minimalist and contemporary, No 6 Restaurant is just a stone's throw away from the Corn Exchange and is situated in the heart of Dorchester. A lively ambiance and a relaxed al fresco seating makes it a preferred place to catch up with friends over coffee or meet a business associate over lunch.

A modern British menu with shades of French influences, intelligently designed by chef Christian Lohez is based on locally sourced quality ingredients. Amongst the curtain raisers Cornish sardines cooked in Portuguese style and homemade coarse pork paté served with gherkins and port jellies are two local favourites. Follow these with a marinated Dorset lamb or a chicken breast with chorizo. A variety of pastas, salads and roasted vegetables are available on request. Desserts take in classics such as crème brûlée, rich chocolate torte with double cream and raspberry cheese cake.

A globe trotting wine list accompanies.

Yalbury Cottage is a delightful three hundred year old thatched cottage, in a rural setting two miles from Dorchester with ample car parking space.

It has all the necessary ingredients to make it a real home from home. That contradictory combination, which we all seem to love, of good modern food served in historic surroundings, works well here and there are bucolic, sturdy dishes which are instantly recognizable sitting alongside more modern offerings which have their genesis in Europe. Thirty seats only means booking ahead is advisable. Good wine list with house wine from £12.50.

A meal could begin with a choice of pressed ham hock and leek terrine on a sweet mustard sauce; baked shallot tart tatin beetroot relish and chive cream cheese spread; 'cauliflower cheese' - a crisp gruyère beignet on an almond and cauliflower purée or poached ballotine of salmon with a light saffron and mussel casserole.

With thoroughly tempting main courses such as butter-roasted loin of veal roasted cocotte potatoes with baby beetroot and sherry vinegar jus; coriander-glazed duck breast Cracknell farm organic duck, braised red cabbage and young fennel; slow roasted Dorset horn lamb - best end of lamb with fondant potato, chantenay carrots and minted lamb jus; pan-fried brill, buttered leeks and sweetcorn purée, crushed violet potatoes and sweet garlic foam or baked butternut tortelloni buttered spinach and truffled butternut nage.

But keep some room for their wonderful desserts like glazed orange and ginger crème brûlée with kumquat and stem ginger; plate of apple - baked tatin, sharp rice pudding and granny smith sorbet; hot and cold chocolate white chocolate and citrus panna cotta and baked chocolate pot or a selection of fine cheeses with fig loaf, quince jelly and celery.

They also have eight spacious rooms, in the modern part of the building, decorated in a simple cottage style; there are seven double or twin rooms, and one family room. Each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom with both bath and shower, a direct dial telephone, a remote control colour television, hair dryer and tea and coffee making facilities. The rooms overlook either the garden or adjacent fields, and all are non-smoking.

Located in a quiet piece of a quiet county 'The Brace' satisfies the desires of those whose idea of a cosy pub with restaurant in deep English countryside, an old thatchedbuilding with log fires, oak beams and a minimum of formality. In fact it has it all, including an entry in the Michelin Guide.

Start with roast mushroom in vine leaves with a shaved fennel salad and grated goat's cheese, or spicy Portland crab cakes with sherry mayonnaise on a mixed leaf salad, followed by grilled spatchcock of poussin with a herb crust, served on an orange and watercress salad, or pan fried pheasant breasts with a caramelised orange and whisky sauce served with Dauphinoise potatoes.

Finish with one of their delicious homemade puddings. This is England how it used to be.

Keep it simple and unpretentious and you will not go far wrong. Yes, it works every time, though in truth the surroundings of this luscious 17th-century thatched inn in deepest Dorset would be hard to beat. You eat in the bar or the dining room; choosing from a blackboard of about 20 daily specials, many of them seafood-inspired. A good wine list offers excellent choices within brevity, starting at £10.50 and five house selections from £1.95 a glass.