Ask where to eat in Bournemouth and somebody will point you at the seafront. Fair enough — the view is the view. But the food is mostly somewhere else: a long stretch of Charminster Road, the streets behind Bournemouth Square, and the far end of Poole Quay.
Here is what the directory holds, by area, with a link to every listing so you can check the hours before you set off.
Charminster Road
Half a mile of it, and almost none of it a chain.
Antepli cooks Gaziantep-style mezze and charcoal grills and stays open right through the day, which is more useful than it sounds if you have ever tried to eat at four in the afternoon. 29 Spices is Indian and Bangladeshi and runs banquet nights midweek. Almadina Cafe does Gulf and Mediterranean food, eat in or delivered. Round on Holdenhurst Road, Bambu cooks Hong Kong cafe dishes.
Two for earlier in the day. Bagels By Soho is the only dedicated bagel shop in Bournemouth — New York-style, with Bad Hand coffee. Avalon Cafe on Oxford Road does coffee, sandwiches and cakes, and meal deals if you are buying lunch on the way past.
Bournemouth town centre
Old Christchurch Road is where the evening eating concentrates. Agora Restaurant does Turkish and Greek mezze and grills, evenings only and shut on Mondays. Beirut Lounge is Lebanese, from a family who have been cooking since 1992. Bournemouth Lahore is Pakistani and Indian, and you can bring your own bottle, which takes a fair bit off the bill.
There is more plant-based food here than the seafront lets on. Twelve on The Triangle is entirely plant-based, with a cold-pressed juice bar and organic wines. Mad Cucumber is a vegan cafe and lounge cooking from scratch with local seasonal produce. Even 7Bone Bournemouth, which exists to sell dry-aged burgers and loaded fries, carries a full plant-based menu.
For something quick and good off the Square, Bentos is a small Korean and Japanese kitchen doing bento boxes to eat in or take away. Cristallo does pizza and pasta on West Cliff Road with tables outside and the sea a few minutes' walk downhill. Blue Mango Bournemouth is Thai, and 1805 a Chinese kitchen open for lunch and dinner every day — both near the BIC, both doing takeaway.
If you are heading to a show, Elevate Brasserie and Bar is inside the BIC itself and runs a pre-show menu. Bambuu Bournemouth on Commercial Road is a Brazilian grill that turns into a cocktail bar with DJs at the weekend. Down on the promenade at Durley Chine, Durley Inn is a Harvester, open from nine, and does takeaway if the weather turns.
Coffee: Fika Bournemouth is a few doors from the Pavilion. Bobbys Parlour, beside the Square, is the one for focaccia sandwiches, bakes and granola pots.
Poole Quay and the old town
The quay is the obvious place and, for once, the obvious place is right. Da Vinci's Restaurant is a family-run Italian in a converted warehouse — ask for upstairs, where the harbour is. Harbour View Bar & Kitchen looks straight across to Brownsea Island. St Tropez Lounge is a French bistro and oyster bar that keeps going from breakfast to cocktails, and Bruno Lounge does food and drink from morning until late.
Walk up into the old town and it gets less about the view. Champs Pie and Mash is London-style pie and mash, eat in or take away. Hinar Kitchen is a family-run Mediterranean bistro serving mezze from eleven until late. All Things Nice Cafe is the traditional sort of family cafe, breakfast and lunch all day.
Three that have been there a while: Butterfingers has fed Poole's office workers since 2002, Clipper Restaurant has been upstairs in the Dolphin Centre since 1971 doing lunches and a carvery, and Coffee #1 sits a few doors from the train station with windows on every side. Delfino Lounge on Falkland Square has the terrace.
Out at the end of the peninsula, Sandbanks Hotel runs a pizza counter directly on the sand.
Christchurch and Highcliffe
Christchurch High Street does small plates well. Baccello Wine & Cicchetti pours Italian wine by the glass with cicchetti to go alongside. Arcado Lounge kept the fittings of the 1960s shop it used to be. The Snug is a pub, coffee shop and eatery all at once, in a Grade II listed building near the Priory, and Dirty Gerties Gin Parlour has a courtyard garden on Castle Street, Thursday to Sunday only.
In Highcliffe, Bistro My Way Ltd is a French bistro that changes its menu every month. The Paddle opens early for locally roasted coffee and a cooked breakfast, and Mudeford Rocks is a short walk from the quay.
Parkstone, Penn Hill and Ashley Cross
Bank is in a restored former bank on Penn Hill Avenue and opens seven days. A little further along the same road, Antepli Penn Hill does the same Gaziantep grills as the Charminster kitchen, with the considerable advantage of parking.
In Ashley Cross, Bamboo Leaf is all-you-can-eat Chinese — but cooked to order, dish by dish, rather than sitting under a lamp. The Dancing Goat on Parr Street opens at half past six on weekdays, which makes it an early start by any standard.
Southbourne, Pokesdown and Upton
Baffi does Neapolitan pizza on Southbourne Grove. In Pokesdown, Aperitivo is Italian with cocktails and delivery, and Velo Domestique is a bike workshop with a kitchen attached, or a kitchen with a bike workshop attached, depending on why you went. Further west in Upton, Honky Tonk Collective is an American country bar and diner with live acts and line dancing classes.
When it is not really about the food
Pause Cat Cafe is a cat cafe and rescue sanctuary — book, do not just turn up. All Fired Up Ceramics Cafe hands you ceramics to paint over a coffee, a minute from the Square. Shakeaway in the Dolphin centre will build a milkshake from hundreds of combinations, which is either a treat or a dare. And All Hail Ale is a micropub and bottle shop rather than anywhere to eat, but it is where you go to take beer home.
Hours change, places close, and menus move on. If something here is wrong, or we have missed somewhere good, tell us and we will fix it.