This charming seafood restaurant has a nautical bent, which is to be expected since it’s a two-minute walk to Poole’s quayside. The Guildhall Tavern serves a menu of seafood-based cuisine to the fish-loving restaurant-goers of Poole and Bournemouth.
While you wait, enjoy beef short rib and Szechuan pepper croquettes with gochujang aioli and pickled shallot, fresh oysters with cabernet sauvignon vinegar and shallot dressing and tempura tenderstem broccoli with Korean BBQ sauce. If you want the full Guildhall Tavern experience, don't skip on the starters. Try the vegan 'nduja' arancini with romesco sauce, classic fish soup with parmesan, rouille and croutes, or twice-baked barbers cheddar cheese souffle with double cream and your option to add Poole Bay crab.
For your main, try the roasted hake supreme with herb crushed potatoes, samphire, crayfish and caviar butter sauce; Poole Bay lobster grilled with and served with thermidor sauce; and New Forest mushroom risotto with shimeji mushrooms a la grecque, cavolo nero and walnut pesto. Alternatively, the catch of the day might include Dover sole, skate wing and monkfish, simply prepared with caper & herb butter, samphire and pomme frites.
There's a particularly large selection of desserts to choose from, including a sticky toffee apple pudding with toffee sauce, maple and walnut gelato and poached apple, a creamy orange and Cointreau creme brulee with fresh blood orange segments, and dark chocolate fondant with miso caramel and honeycomb gelato.
Fresh fish is never going to be the cheapest of ingredients but prices at The Guildhall Tavern are reasonable given the quality of cooking. Plus, there are a few pocket-pleasing prix fixe menus (each with a glass of wine) that are well worth your time.