La Fosse at Cranborne

We stay at La Fosse on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis regularly. The restaurant is one of the best in the area, and their six quirky bedrooms offer us an opportunity to stay over and spoil ourselves after a delicious meal. Mark and Emmanuelle are lovely hosts, Mark is an excellent chef, offering local foods on both his standard menu and more varied dishes at his monthly Supper Clubs, which are themed eg Burns, Mexican, Spice Nights etc. These specialty suppers are a foodies delight and get booked up quickly. La Fosse is nestled in the centre of Cranborne, a great base for walking, on street parking is available right outside. The rooms are individually furnished (we’ve stayed in four of the six), everything you need is provided, including comfy beds/pillows, and the service is excellent. Breakfast can’t be bettered. All at a very reasonable price - it’s really good value for money.

We have stayed once before as a couple and this time we stayed as a group of 10 adults + 6 babies/kids (including 2 vegans) and Mark/Emmanuelle could not have been more accommodating. Beds are really comfy and they have made a lot of effort to think about what guests might need chargers in the bedroom, fresh milk and cold water on the landing. Gorgeous cosy little B&B. Pub right opposite and location is accessible for some beautiful new forest walks. We also did one group dinner in the Scandinavian bbq hut which was so unique and super fun.

We spent a lovely couple of days here. Emmanuelle was a wonderful host. The rooms was large and the beds were comfortable. Breakfast was delicious - best mushrooms I’ve had! We were too late trying to get a table for dinner and will make sure we book early next time we stay.

After reading rave reviews 4 years ago, post covid my parents decided to book a treat weekend for their family. Overall whilst the standard of food can’t be faulted (dad said his scrambled egg at breakfast was the best he’d ever had), you are left with the feeling that the rooms are just a bolt on, rather than a cared for b&b which left us feeling disappointed because the village really has little else other than 2 pubs, one of which was closed so small things that if addressed would really help get the wow factor back. Booking the b&b was greeted with a short “yes?” answering the phone. After booking no further contact was had, a reminder of the booking just guests know they’re expected. No confirmation of how to book in on arrival was given, we arrived at the suggested 4.30pm to be greeted by a surprised looking gentleman who turned out to be the chef. Amazon packages were still all in the hallway which smelt musty and not ready for guests. Glimpsing through the door into the restaurant it looked lovely though. The lounge off of the restaurant is cluttered with random seating with not a great use of the space-you feel if you were in there no one else would have space to come in. Shame -because of that it didn’t get any use. We were told to make our own way up the steep stairs-my parents would not have been able to do this had they been staying on their own. Because of the steep stairs handrail has had much use and is grey with dirt and needs a lick of paint. The hallways are cluttered with dvd’s, books and wonky pictures. A mini fridge is available at the top of the stairs is a nice touch for water and milk although the milk wasn’t always available when needed. The rooms are nice -beds and pillows extremely comfortable and clean but there is a lot of dust in the corners and door frames, handles are grubby/tarnished/in need of an update. The explanation said if you need anything ask, my parents wanted granule coffee rather than the machine and were asked “can’t you use the coffee in the room?” After explaining why, coffee granules were produced but then there was no milk in the fridge! We headed for dinner and we’re greeted in a very cold restaurant-there was a fire but it was producing no heat and a door was open to the toilet meaning all cold air was coming in. With the restaurant being made up of only the guests staying a hush would decend upon walking in so had little ambience-some background music would improve this. Choosing a red wine proved tricky as things on the list were not available. A small bar would be more helpful. The dinner menu was unfortunately made up of things that didn’t go together-for example chicken breast, noodles and champ potatoes. Noodles and potatoes aren’t usually a combination you see together and there was no sauce so all very dry-although cooked extremely well. Pudding limited with no icecream options. Breakfast was very nice but you select the night before and it’s all set out on your tab

We were delighted with the Fosse. Having avoided the littlest room we had an excellent room , like the rest of the proper decorated in a pleasant t querky style. Pre dinner drinks were had in their little garden at the back in the early evening sun. It did feel like we were on holiday. The dinner was a delight, all courses well presented with and tasted heavenly. Breakfast, preordered, was laid out when we went down, We did like the individual toaster on the table which avoided having to queue nor having toast delivered hot only to cool don when you wanted. We will be back.

We and various members of our family circle have visited La Fosse several times over the last few months, including a post-COVID restrictions dinner with friends, a birthday celebration (over Valentine's weekend!) and a 6 course tasting menu for an anniversary meal. Every time the food has been outstanding - creative, absolutely delicious, and largely locally sourced. Mark goes from strength to strength, Emmanuelle makes sure any dietary considerations are accommodated - and we always come away relaxed, happy and with the most wonderful food memories. Our latest venture was to try one of the themed evenings, and with live jazz, suitably themed food and convivial company, a great time was had by all. We can't recommend this gem of a restaurant highly enough!