REVIEW: Renoufs Pantry

Our Poole blogger, Kate Silverton, visited the popular Renoufs Pantry in Bournemouth, who is well known for serving the best cheese and wine around!

Find Kate on Instagram as the.lockdown.mumma. Here's what she thought...

Renoufs has been on my list of restaurants to visit for a long long time! Sadly a few things have got in the way... so we were very excited when the venue announced a new concept in the form of a deli that would be opening in Westbourne.

With an evening of cheese & wine ahead of us, we headed there on a cold Saturday in March, excited to see what goodies would be in store to complement our late-night plans.

The front of the store is very inviting, with the windows piled high with a tempting array of cheeses. The store is situated down in the Gothic style Westbourne Arcade, built in 1884 & the arcade features a number of eclectic shops, cafes & even a tiny cinema!

Renoufs Pantry was opened in January 2021, following the success of their cheese & wine restaurants situated across Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole. We were greeted warmly by the two staff working in there behind the impressive counter, stocked well with a huge variety of cheeses.

The store had a fantastic selection of cheese accompaniments, including crackers, oatcakes, pork scratchings & chutneys, from artisan producers rather than the usual offerings in supermarkets.

Located at the rear of the store is a wonderful wine cellar, with a superb choice of silky smooth reds, crisp & refreshing whites, blushing roses & sticky sweet dessert wines, hopefully something to suit everyone, whatever your taste or budget.

So, back to the main event…. Cheese!!! Renoufs has the most impressive selection of cheeses we have come across! There really is something for all tastes to enjoy. We saw a creamy Cambazola, a strong Dorset Blue Vinny, my husband’s favourite Old Amsterdam Gouda, and the ever popular Black Bomber & the tangy Red Devil. The list could go on & on!

Renoufs change their cheese lists every season and even between batches. The staff were excellent, they approached us instantly and were very knowledgeable, but left us to browse until we were ready to choose our cheeses.

We chose an ‘Old Amsterdam Gouda’ which is a firm cheese with a rich & robust flavour,

‘Jacquin Buchette Aux Fleurs’ which is a goats cheese mixed with honey & coated with dried flowers, and a Taleggio which is a semi soft Italian cheese that boasts a strong aroma but with a mild taste, all delicious!

We also purchased Miller’s Charcoal Crackers & Miller’s Plum & Date Toasts and these went beautifully with the cheese we picked.

This was all wrapped neatly in wax paper for freshness and we purchased a Renoufs canvas bag too. We will definitely be back & I hear they are opening another Renoufs Pantry in Christchurch, which is great news. Hopefully with restrictions lifting, we will be able to visit a Renoufs restaurant in the not too distant future.

We did purchase some other bits (such as grapes, cold meats & cornichons) from other stores to go with our cheeseboard, so please note, not all products pictured were from Renoufs. Overall, we had a thoroughly enjoyable date night.

Find out more about Renoufs Pantry here!

A huge thanks to Kate Silverton for this fantastic review.