The Libertine in Bournemouth

We were a party of six. Some of our food was great - my fillet steak was gorgeous, although missing the tomatoes!However the lack of butter squash in the butter squash salad which two of our party had ordered was pretty spectacular! Having said that the, much embarrassed, waitress brought a satisfactory substitute. The restaurant was very busy but the service was, nevertheless, very good.

We had an early table (5.30pm) us, our two young children and their grandparents. We were off to a good start, however, the service then started to be quite slow, bearing in mind we were an early sitting and there were only a couple of other smaller tables there at the time. When our drinks order came, 3 out of 4 were wrong. The children ordered the pasta with cheese sauce from the children's menu, when our food finally arrived, the children pasta was STEAMING hot, which by this point they were starving and then had to wait another 10 minutes for it to cool down for it to be safe enough for them to eat. When they did eat it, both of them said it wasn't very nice, so we tried it, and it was the most bland dish, couldn't taste any cheese, it was more like a milky/white sauce, so my husband ended up giving our daughter his pizza and he ate the bland pasta (mixed with some gravy!! from one of the other meals, to give it a slight bit of flavour!) We then ordered 4 x crumbles, a kids brownie, and a kids sundae. Then 5 minutes later we got told there were only 3 crumbles left, so we ordered another dessert. Then another 5 minutes later we got told there was only ONE crumble left!! so we changed the dessert order again. Our daughters sundae arrive, and it was missing the chocolate flake that she had read came with it.....she politely asked for it, to be told "we've run out of flakes"!! We ordered coffees with our desserts, which I had to chase up, and they came out long after the desserts. Needless to say we came away feeling very disappointed with the service, and the quality of some of the meals. Which is a real shame because we have been before, and the setting is lovely, and we would love to return but have been put off by this experience.

Visited Saturday evening for a meal for 2. Was turned away from an nearly empty restaurant being they were “fully booked”. After being told by the bar staff there was available tables. While getting ready to leave, the restaurant lady then tells us the manager has said there are available tables. Almost as if she lied and was caught by her manager then forced to come find us.. unfortunately we had her covering us, and she was clearly unable to cover us properly. We had to ask another server multiple times for drinks and a menu etc. the couple arguing at a table with a couple dogs was a wonderful touch. at the end of the our visit the restaurant was less than half full.Food was okay at best, but it’s difficult to judge something that’s hardly there. Massively overpriced for what you got. Portion sizes were ridiculously small. They charge 50p for salt on your chips which says everything you need to know about the place.Overall poor service, okay food, overpriced, portions too small, cheap decor, over priced drinks. Just generally a mediocre establishment running a facade of a “quality experience”.

My daughter and son in law had there wedding reception in the Forge at the back of the Libertine. The rustic charm of the venue did not fail, nor did the food or staff who were attentive and extremely efficient. Cannot thank them enough for there thoughtfulness and efficient service. Well done and thank you. Would highly recommend.

Have lived in the area for 5 months and enjoy visiting the Libertine. Always receive a warm welcome and great service. Today, after being locked up due to storms, we visited the pub and received table service from Poppy - she always has a smile and enhances our visit.

We arrived at the Libertine at 5.30pm today...and we were advised by very friendly and helpful staff that their Pizza special was still available until 6pm....incredible value !! (Monday to Thursday order befoe 6pm) In fact...these were the BEST tasting ...crispy stone baked pizzas in the whole of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole...Where else can you have 2 HUGE pizzas (freshly baked in their own fire-oven on the premises), a pint of ice cold lager and a refreshing lemon cordial with ice and water for £20. We now have a new favourite place to eat!! We will definitely be back....to try the steak special...30%off...I think on a Tuesday?? BUT DEFINITELY for Pizzas 🍕 👌😁

Very good friendly service with good food. Cheese souffle lovely as was ham hock pie. If you have a bigger appetite, be sure to order a side dish.

Excellent evening, friendly staff, nice lighting/level music in background. Unfortunately they didn't have enough of the sirloin steaks for all of our party, but perhaps we should be more adventurous and try different types!

This is about the fifth year our poetry group had held our Christmas dinner at The Libertine. We always have a good time and keep coming back. In spite of the current Covid and other problems we agreed that this year's was one of the best we've had. The food was very good and good value, the service was efficient and friendly and Michelle who looked after us deserves a special mention. We shall be back next year.

Popped in for Sunday lunch today for first time and it was so good, staff were very polite and friendly but the Sunday dinner was a winner! best one I've had in a while, rack of pork which was cooked to perfection along with the beef dripping roasties which were spot on and real tasty, good crunch on the veg and tasty gravy would highly recommend this place.