Vivo Lounge, Dorchester - West Dorset

We arrived early in the evening and were impressed with the incredibly fast service. The menu had a variety of unique options that all sounded appealing, and the dishes we tried were excellent.

We ordered three lounge breakfasts and coffee. One breakfast arrived 20 minutes before the other two, and it looked nice with 4 hash browns (2 extra). However, when the other two breakfasts arrived, there were no hash browns. We spoke to the waitress who apologized and took our breakfast away, replacing them with hash browns but one was missing mushrooms this time. We spoke to the waitress again, who once again apologized, took the breakfast and returned it. Both of these breakfasts were cold. After three attempts to make it right, they still failed to serve an edible lounge breakfast. We won't be returning, and I even suggested they may need a new chef.

I dined at Vivo Lounge for a friend's birthday on September 15th and sent an email to the restaurant on the 20th to express my concerns about the lack of attention to allergies by the staff. Despite my detailed dietary restrictions (gluten, dairy, onion, and garlic allergies), the bar staff assured me that I could order the herb marinated chicken, bacon, and avocado burger with a gluten free bun and without onions and garlic sauce. However, my meal arrived with garlic marinated chicken, despite my request. When I mentioned the issue to another staff member, I was told that garlic is a herb, which is incorrect. I was offered a refund for my meal and a complimentary dessert, which I inquired about in terms of my dietary restrictions. I was told that all desserts were gluten free and dairy free because they had a V next to them, indicating they were vegan. I had to clarify that V stands for vegetarian, not vegan. Overall, I would advise avoiding this restaurant if you have allergies or intolerances until they address these issues.

We did not take to the atmosphere when we entered or to the off hand attitude of the member of staff who approached us. We were pout off by the noise, particularly as one member of our party suffers from partial deafness. We therefore decided to leave and find an alternative.

I frequent this lovely lounge often, the atmosphere is always nice and relaxed and the food enjoyable But the staff here are always smoking, on every occasion I've been here the staff are always off smoking, on one occasion I counted a chef and I assume a manager (lady with short blonde hair) went off smoking 4 times! In the space of an hour that I was here. The chef is always making phone calls and speaks loudly enough for the whole town to hear him! Interestingly enough, he wears a white Jordan cap ? One would think it would get dirty in the kitchen right? But it's obviously clean because he's never in there. I today (16th September arrived here for mid afternoon bite 16:05, but on arrival noted 4 members of staff outside smoking, I promptly turned around and left. It's easy to see why hospitality is struggling if businesses are paying their staff to smoke and not work.