Eating out on Poole Quay and in Ashley Cross

For eating out in Poole, go to the Quay for seafood and a harbour view, and to Ashley Cross for an evening of pubs, bars and neighbourhood restaurants. Penn Hill, a short walk south of Ashley Cross, has the parade of restaurants most worth booking. All three are an easy trip from Bournemouth, about ten minutes away by train.

Poole is the harbour town at the western end of the BCP conurbation. The Bournemouth Guide's Poole page describes the Quay as "a working waterfront that happens to be lined with pubs", and that is the right expectation: boats, crabbing lines and ferries by day, with restaurants in the old warehouses behind.

Where should you eat on Poole Quay?

Start with the Poole Arms, the oldest pub on the Quay, for seafood and a real ale. The rest of the Quay offers Italian, seafood and café tables with views over the harbour and towards Brownsea Island. It is at its best for a long lunch or an early dinner in the last of the light.

The Poole Arms at 19 The Quay is a family-run pub that dates back to 1635, according to its own site, and the menu is seafood: oysters, mussels, crab salad, prawns and fish pie, with cask ales and wine. Because of licensing rules it does not admit under-18s, and bookings are taken by phone.

Poole Tourism's restaurant list names several other places on or just off the Quay, including Rockfish for seafood, the Custom House Café on the quayside, Oriel on the Quay with its views to Brownsea, and Italian restaurants Da Vinci's, La Lupa and Ginali's. Menus and hours change with the season, so check each venue's own page before you set off.

The Quay is also where the harbour cruises and the boats to Brownsea Island leave, and where children fish for crabs off the edge, as the Poole guide points out. That makes lunch here easy to build into a day on the water: eat before the afternoon boat, or come back for an early dinner as the light goes over the harbour.

What is in Poole's Old Town and High Street?

The Old Town, the Georgian streets behind the Quay, has the rest of Poole's historic pubs and a few independent restaurants, and the pedestrianised High Street links them to the station. It is where to go for a market morning or a quieter meal a street back from the water.

Poole Market sets up on the pedestrianised High Street on Thursdays and Saturdays, according to the area's tourism site, with local produce, fruit and vegetables, plants and takeaway food stalls. Poole Tourism also lists Sakuna Khrua, a Thai restaurant in the Old Town. The station is at the northern end of the High Street; walk south through it to reach the Quay, as the Poole guide suggests.

Why do locals eat out in Ashley Cross?

Ashley Cross is Poole's evening neighbourhood: a small grid of bars, pubs and international restaurants around a green next to Parkstone station, between Poole and Bournemouth. It feels residential rather than touristy, and you can move from a pub to a restaurant to a cocktail bar without a taxi.

According to Poole Tourism's Ashley Cross page, the neighbourhood covers Pan-Asian, Italian, Indian and Thai cooking, with named bars including Drgnfly, The Dancing Moose, The Bermuda Triangle, whose bar is hidden behind a bookcase, and Flamingo Café Bar with outdoor seating. Ashley Cross Green in the middle has a Victorian fountain, pétanque pitches and a play area, and hosts events in the summer.

The Britannia at 20 Britannia Road is the pub most visitors end up in. It serves a seasonal menu, Sunday roasts all day on Sundays, and has an outdoor dining area with an open fireplace and its own bar. It is dog-friendly, with a dog menu; tell the staff when you arrive so they can seat you in the dog-friendly area.

Which Penn Hill restaurants are worth booking?

Penn Hill Avenue, which runs south from Lower Parkstone towards Penn Hill, has three restaurants within a few doors of each other: a charcoal grill, a French and English brasserie and a modern British restaurant in a former bank. Book all three for weekends and Sunday lunch, which fill early.

• Jenkins and Sons, 7 to 8 Penn Hill Avenue: a charcoal grill and bar in a converted 1920s butcher and fishmonger, cooking local meat and fish in a Josper oven, with wood-fired pizza, craft beer and cocktails. Its listing mentions weekend brunch, live music on Thursdays and a dog-friendly welcome.
• Isabel's Brasserie, 127 Penn Hill Avenue: French and English bistro cooking from breakfast to dinner, with booths, a separate bar, a midweek set lunch and Sunday roasts. The listing says it is usually closed on Mondays.
• Bank by Nicholas James, 106 Penn Hill Avenue: modern British cooking and cocktails in a restored bank, with Sunday roasts, live-music nights and step-free access throughout. There is a public car park opposite and Branksome station nearby.

From Ashley Cross, allow about fifteen minutes on foot to the Penn Hill parade, or take a taxi on a wet night.

Getting there from Bournemouth

Trains from Bournemouth reach Poole in about ten minutes, and the main line also stops at Branksome and Parkstone, the stations for Penn Hill and Ashley Cross. Poole Tourism lists the M1 and M2 among the bus routes serving Ashley Cross. After dinner, the train or a taxi gets you back to the West Cliff quickly.

Most visitors eat in Poole and sleep in Bournemouth, where Flexiestays' eight hotels sit on and around the West Cliff. If you would rather wake up by the harbour, Flexiestays also lists serviced apartments near Poole. Driving over for dinner is possible, but the train saves the parking; the Help Centre's parking guide covers what is available at your building. Our guides to things to do in Poole and where to stay in Poole fill in the rest of the town, and where to eat in Christchurch and Mudeford covers the other end of the bay.