A bit of a find. Really good food in a pleasant place (which in good weather would provide good views) and with good service. The photo shows our food halfway through.
Tim Kirkman
Food here is off the scale - try the fish curry! The fries are the best we have tasted anywhere. What a gem. Purbeck cider gorgeous as well. Highly recommend. Friendly and accommodating service, no frills or pretension, don’t mind paying a bit more for a proper fresh food experience.
Truluhugh
Unsatisfactory experience won’t go again . Prawns were chewy and out the freezer . Fish didn’t seem fresh . Hummus was disgusting , didn’t taste like Hummus pure lemon and didn’t seem home made . Disappointed as went for my birthday , we told the waitress our thoughts and they said they would tell the Chef . We didn’t even get a reply or offered anything complimentary !
GroovyDuck
Chilled meal, seafood, wine sunshine and good company I know swanage well and often visit for day trips. It was a beautiful late summer day and I wanted something outside so thought I’d try pierhead. Very glad I did. The food is excellent and there’s a good selection of wines and drinks ended up having a long chat with some other customers and also with the restaurant owners. Staff could not have been more helpful, and we had more drinks as the Sun went down. Lovely into a day I have already recommended pierhead to friends and family, look forward to visiting again soon
Freedom16818536789
We had the shared seafood platter. It was amazing all the fish you would want. They squeezed us in at short notice and we’re super friendly. Don’t miss going!
Google user
This was our first visit to Swanage and the restaurant made our trip so wonderful. The food was delicious and the fish curry was amazing. The services was very warm and the environment was very good. If you want to make a memorable memory in Swanage, visit this restaurant.
Youyue Sun
This was our first visit to Swanage and the restaurant made our trip so wonderful. The food was delicious and the fish curry was amazing. The services was very warm and the environment was very good. If you want to make a memorable memory in Swanage, visit this restaurant.
H Sm
We had a very good meal out there on the terrace in the evening! Nice location - with a view over the bay. The mussels were fantastic. And everyone is very nice. Gladly again!
Nikki M
Excellent food, service and view over the Bay. Not the cheapest of restaurants but the quality makes it worth the extra cost.
Philip Saund
We have visited this restaurant on two or three occasions and again yesterday had an excellent meal and service.I had the grilled mackerel served in a sauce with salad and an excellent potato salad. In my opinion the food here is far better than the better known G Whites opposite.
We have visited this restaurant two or three times before and again it was excellent. I had the grilled mackerel with a tomato sauce, salad and a wonderful potato salad. I may upset some die hard Swanage visitors but in my opinion the food is better, than there better known competitions at G. Whites which is just opposite.
Nicholas D
We had visited The Pier Head on a couple of previous occasions and had always been delighted with it. On this occasion, the whole experience did not disappoint in any way. Fabulous service and amazing food! We both had the King Prawn Thai Green curry with monkfish and stone bass which was cramped full of fabulous prawns and fish..the best Thai Green curry we had ever had, beautifully presented and piping hot. I made the effort to tell the chef as we left, we will be back again and again
Norfolk12sue
We booked a table after seeing reviews on trip advisor. Bookings can only be made via email - (no telephone bookings). Emails were replied to promptly & questions answered fully. My husband had whitebait & I had the seafood bisque soup. Both were delicious. We then both had the salmon, crab & prawn salad with French fries. Again this was delicious. The gin cocktails were delicious & served in nice glass. (makes such a difference) Staff were attentive & friendly & service was v good. The only thing that slightly spoilt our evening was that we had a family behind playing UNO the whole time. Don’t get me wrong we enjoy seeing & hearing children having fun but hearing ‘uno’ being shouted throughout our meal & even knowing if it was Jake Ruby or Daddy who had won did become a little annoying. We completely understand that there is absolutely nothing the (or any) restaurant could do about this & was just unfortunate for us on the evening we dined.
anniepO4198ZP
My partner and I went here on Tuesday after visiting last year and falling in love with the place. He booked it, and whilst booking, he mentioned that he will have proposed to me earlier that day. As such, upon arrival, not only did the staff give a little round of applause when he said "she said yes!" but our waitress, Megan, had decorated the table with a balloon, confetti and provided a glass of bubbly each to celebrate. I have never felt so special in all my life. To top it off, our food (Moules Marinere, Oysters and Cold Meat Platter) were delicious. We truly couldn't fault the place and a huge thank you to Megan for making the evening extra special for us. They truly went above and beyond!
michellegracea1
Great service, friendly staff, vegan Dahl was tasty, Oysters were delicious and fresh, the chef kindly made a vegan dessert too. Amazing place.
A bit of a find. Really good food in a pleasant place (which in good weather would provide good views) and with good service. The photo shows our food halfway through.
Food here is off the scale - try the fish curry! The fries are the best we have tasted anywhere. What a gem. Purbeck cider gorgeous as well. Highly recommend. Friendly and accommodating service, no frills or pretension, don’t mind paying a bit more for a proper fresh food experience.
Unsatisfactory experience won’t go again . Prawns were chewy and out the freezer . Fish didn’t seem fresh . Hummus was disgusting , didn’t taste like Hummus pure lemon and didn’t seem home made . Disappointed as went for my birthday , we told the waitress our thoughts and they said they would tell the Chef . We didn’t even get a reply or offered anything complimentary !
Chilled meal, seafood, wine sunshine and good company I know swanage well and often visit for day trips. It was a beautiful late summer day and I wanted something outside so thought I’d try pierhead. Very glad I did. The food is excellent and there’s a good selection of wines and drinks ended up having a long chat with some other customers and also with the restaurant owners. Staff could not have been more helpful, and we had more drinks as the Sun went down. Lovely into a day I have already recommended pierhead to friends and family, look forward to visiting again soon
We had the shared seafood platter. It was amazing all the fish you would want. They squeezed us in at short notice and we’re super friendly. Don’t miss going!
This was our first visit to Swanage and the restaurant made our trip so wonderful. The food was delicious and the fish curry was amazing. The services was very warm and the environment was very good. If you want to make a memorable memory in Swanage, visit this restaurant.
This was our first visit to Swanage and the restaurant made our trip so wonderful. The food was delicious and the fish curry was amazing. The services was very warm and the environment was very good. If you want to make a memorable memory in Swanage, visit this restaurant.
We had a very good meal out there on the terrace in the evening! Nice location - with a view over the bay. The mussels were fantastic. And everyone is very nice. Gladly again!
Excellent food, service and view over the Bay. Not the cheapest of restaurants but the quality makes it worth the extra cost.
We have visited this restaurant on two or three occasions and again yesterday had an excellent meal and service.I had the grilled mackerel served in a sauce with salad and an excellent potato salad. In my opinion the food here is far better than the better known G Whites opposite.
Restaurantji Recommends
We have visited this restaurant two or three times before and again it was excellent. I had the grilled mackerel with a tomato sauce, salad and a wonderful potato salad. I may upset some die hard Swanage visitors but in my opinion the food is better, than there better known competitions at G. Whites which is just opposite.
We had visited The Pier Head on a couple of previous occasions and had always been delighted with it. On this occasion, the whole experience did not disappoint in any way. Fabulous service and amazing food! We both had the King Prawn Thai Green curry with monkfish and stone bass which was cramped full of fabulous prawns and fish..the best Thai Green curry we had ever had, beautifully presented and piping hot. I made the effort to tell the chef as we left, we will be back again and again
We booked a table after seeing reviews on trip advisor. Bookings can only be made via email - (no telephone bookings). Emails were replied to promptly & questions answered fully. My husband had whitebait & I had the seafood bisque soup. Both were delicious. We then both had the salmon, crab & prawn salad with French fries. Again this was delicious. The gin cocktails were delicious & served in nice glass. (makes such a difference) Staff were attentive & friendly & service was v good. The only thing that slightly spoilt our evening was that we had a family behind playing UNO the whole time. Don’t get me wrong we enjoy seeing & hearing children having fun but hearing ‘uno’ being shouted throughout our meal & even knowing if it was Jake Ruby or Daddy who had won did become a little annoying. We completely understand that there is absolutely nothing the (or any) restaurant could do about this & was just unfortunate for us on the evening we dined.
My partner and I went here on Tuesday after visiting last year and falling in love with the place. He booked it, and whilst booking, he mentioned that he will have proposed to me earlier that day. As such, upon arrival, not only did the staff give a little round of applause when he said "she said yes!" but our waitress, Megan, had decorated the table with a balloon, confetti and provided a glass of bubbly each to celebrate. I have never felt so special in all my life. To top it off, our food (Moules Marinere, Oysters and Cold Meat Platter) were delicious. We truly couldn't fault the place and a huge thank you to Megan for making the evening extra special for us. They truly went above and beyond!
Great service, friendly staff, vegan Dahl was tasty, Oysters were delicious and fresh, the chef kindly made a vegan dessert too. Amazing place.