The Gathering Place at Nappers Mite in West Dorset

The Gathering Place @ Nappers Mite is a lovely little cafe in the slightly worn down Hardye Mall and Arcade, in Dorchester (Casterbridge in Thomas Harry’s novel). The cafe has homemade ice cream and serves apple cake with clotted cream. Service was fast and friendly, and the food was decent quality. We had a long black, and an ice frappe - both drinks were prepared well. The building itself is an old, stone house with a large courtyard for outdoor seating. It’s a simple and clean establishment with a decent selection of food. Parking is nearby as well - 60p for an hour.

Waited an hour for 2 paninis, a bacon sandwich and a child's meal. No mention of a wait when we arrived. While we were waiting, another customer complained of an hour's wait and received a refund. The table next to us also had a long wait, received the wrong order and their fish fingers were still frozen. We were told that they struggled to cope with 10 orders at lunchtime on a Thursday. We got some free drinks to placate our very patient children. To cap it all, there was no tmgjdt paper in the toilets. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Had a lovely breakfast fresh and we'll cooked toast especially was nice, dog friendly as well and the staff were very nice.

Little coffee bar with a quiet garden to sit.

Good value for money. Coffee hot, but waitress spilt it on tray and cups and had to as for serviette to mop it up, given one.

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Nice food and friendly staff brilliant service

Vape friendly! Nice lunch time selection of food. Their Hot Chocolate with marshmallows is gorgeous!

Very nice building, pretty much what you'd expect in Dorchester and some very interesting history behind it. Menu had a great selection for everyone, those of you looking for a quick snack or a hearty meal.Food came out nice and quick, nice and fresh and reasonably priced. They had a nice little courtyard area, the inside of the building was just as nice though.