You can see why 500,000 tourists visit Lulworth Cove each year, with its beautiful pebble beach, picturesque stone houses and access to inspiring views along clifftop paths winding above the famous Jurassic coast – it reminds us of the natural beauty this country has to offer.

Lulworth Lodge, with its prime position on the path leading down to the sea, is a relaxed beachside hotel, with stunning views.

The hotel is part of the Petite Hotels group, and one of three owned by Daria Gordeeva-Wilkes.

The bistro is informal and relaxed, offering guests and visitors a varied menu with a particular focus on local ingredients.

Due to the bad weather, fresh fish was off the menu the night we visited, but we need not have been disappointed, as there were plenty of other tempting sounding dishes to choose from.

We sampled the whitebait to whet our appetite, amused that our son hungrily tucked into the crunchy fish (heads and all) with enthusiasm, despite never having tried them before.

My starter of Dorset crab meat with toasted rustic bread and lemon chervil mayonnaise was delicious, and the perfect size for a first course, while my husband enthused about his West Country mussels with rustic bread, white wine, garlic and cream, commenting that he could easily have enjoyed them as a main course.

Our son, given the treat of deciding himself, selected homemade Margherita pizza, and demolished the vast majority, despite the large portion, also savouring a side of honey roasted carrots, his absolute favourite vegetable.

My main course of chicken supreme garlic, mushroom and parmesan risotto, was a delightful treat, with crispy chicken skin and an indulgent, creamy risotto.

My husband was equally happy with his rib eye steak, perfectly cooked medium rare at his request, and accompanied by Portobello mushroom, hand cut chips and a brandy and peppercorn sauce.

There was barely room for dessert, but they sounded too delicious not to try, so we all shared a warm chocolate brownie with Purbeck vanilla ice cream.

The brownie had a delightful crunchy outside and moreish gooey inside, while the ice cream was so tasty, I couldn’t stop eating until it had all gone.