Review: Santos & Co, Dorchester

It seems an unlikely place to find an independent Portuguese restaurant linked to a farm and wine estate in Portugal: inside a modern leisure quarter rubbing shoulders with Zizzi, Cote, Pizza Express and the Odeon. But that’s where Santos & Co live, in Dorchester’s rather pleasant Brewery Quarter. It’s a big dining room and gives off friendly chain-restaurant vibes; I’m reminded of Asador 44 in Cardiff.

They’ve got starters and mains, but we went with a tapas vibe and got a few smaller plates to share. Briny anchovies on toast with blobs of friendly mustard were good little snacks. The crisply battered bites of salt cod came with the same mustard, each one a good little crunch full of toothy, salty fish. There was a plate of beans on ajo blanco, which I’d expected cold but was served hot. Then again, the nice garlicky-almond hum was still there, albeit the dish became a little hefty after a few bites. Better cold. Pork belly cubes were well grilled, the fat and meat working nicely together, though perhaps a little drier than they could have been. The tangy apple puree helped. Two pretty croquettes were expertly fried, the breadcrumb nicely crisp and not oily, the filling of shredded chicken and chorizo quite flavourful. And we also had a side of patatas bravas; nicely waxy potatoes, cooked and crushed skin-on, with a tomatoey bravas sauce that was tasty but could have used a kick of chilli.

You can make a tapas dinner here easily for £25 each, or a starter and main won’t be much more than that. They’ve got some good Portuguese wine, if the glass I had from their own estate is anything to go by. The food is decent, tasty but not brilliant. Still a whole class above the various chain restaurants surrounding them, so if you find yourself in Dorchester’s Brewery Quarter this might be my pick.