Probably the cheeriest, least self-conscious seafood café on the Jurassic Coast, the Crab House scores with its very reasonable prices and unaffected, laid-back style: tables are scattered beachside, with pink straw umbrellas and wooden pergolas creating a distinctly Caribbean vibe. The menu is changed twice daily to accommodate what the boats have hauled in, and there’s usually some snazzy, eclectic stuff on offer – perhaps skate with chorizo and paprika, turbot steamed on curried sweet potatoes and chickpeas or red mullet with pesto and olives. But the kitchen also excels in fresh crustacea from its own shores: for a full-on, messy-eating extravaganza, order a whole Dorset crab chopped in half, cooked with chilli and ginger and served on a wooden tray with a hammer, nutcrackers, picks, forks and a bib – plus a bottle of something chilled, white and fragrant on the side.