By the time I sit down at my table in Dorshi, a charming southeast Asian restaurant in the town of Bridport, Dorset, I’m exhausted but excited. The dumpling-forward eatery, tucked inside an alleyway, takes its inspiration from the streets of Penang, Malaysia. It has a hole-in-the-wall feel that many restaurants on the food-obsessed island have, as though you’ve squeezed yourself between two buildings only to find food heaven awaiting you. Opened by friends and owners Jollyon Carter and Radhika Mohendas in 2016, the pair had first spend time travelling around the UK to bring their delicious morsels to festivals, outdoor events and supper clubs. The Malaysian connection is made even clearer after I discover that Mohendas hails from the Southeast Asian country. Although she is absent from Dorshi on the night, I can see the cultural influence in everything – from the menu design, to the white sheets of paper clipped onto the tables, to the short, breezy curtains that hang down to give some semblance of separation between spaces. The presence of paper “tablecloths” suggest your meal might get a little messy, but it’s all part of the fun. The menu is also exciting, divided into dumpling and non-dumpling dishes, with unexpected combinations like pork and Bury black pudding, hot smoked fish, beancurd, and capers, and field mushroom and Dorset red cheddar. I want to order as many things as possible. But getting to this point of my evening has taken almost eight hours, when it should have taken no longer than four. My journey to Bridport began promisingly: there were no train strikes and my guest and I were well prepared with snacks and tinnies for the two-and-a-half-hour journey from London Waterloo. But no sooner had I stepped onto the train things began to go south – both literally and figuratively. The air conditioning was bust and the carriage got muggier and muggier as it crawled along the tracks. The train got stuck mid-way through the journey, leaving us wondering if we would be stranded at Brockenhurst for hours. By the time we actually arrived in Bridport, the journey had stretched to more than five hours. And really, I should’ve known this would happen considering the state of Britain’s railways. But this wasn’t even the end of our travel woes – later, we would discover that getting a taxi to pick you up on time in rural Dorset is something of a rarity, and trying to flag a taxi back to the hotel after 9pm was nearly impossible. Never mind though – here we finally are at Dorshi, stomachs rumbling and hopes high. We order all the aforementioned dumplings, with the addition of the white fish and sorrel number. For the non-dumpling dishes, one of the friendly waitresses recommends a celery, cucumber, strawberries and lovage salad coated in a kind of sauce made from cashews and nori seaweed, which was crunchy, fresh and delicious. We also indulge in fried shimeji mushrooms flavoured with togarashi, a Japanese spice blend of chilli flakes, seaweed and sesame seeds, and served with a seaweed mayo, as well as Hakata noodles (a type of ramen noodle) with the house broth and smoked garlic oil. Each dish is carefully crafted and balanced, making for perfect bites every time. The pork and black pudding steamed dumplings are succulent, while the hot smoked fish and beancurd fillings encased in crispy fried dumpling dough are a crispy, salty revelation. Mushroom and cheese in a dumpling? Yes please, I’d have 10 more of those if I could. I even go out on a limb and try a “kimchi pickleback” – a shot of tequila chased by a shot of kimchi juice. It’s a strange but wonderfully funky combination. Dorshi doesn’t fail to disappoint on any count, and it’s easy to see why everyone I had spoken to that day had raved about it. When we finally return to the family-run Outbuildings, where we were staying the night, I rave about the dumplings we had just devoured to Ed Whitehead and his husband Dom, who had welcomed us with warm smiles to what they describe as a “mini Soho Farmhouse”. The luxurious farm stay (three words that sound strange strung together, but somehow work) was a huge treat that we enjoyed immensely, even going so far as to run the outdoor bath at The Coop the morning after and soak in the calmness of the countryside. Naturally, our taxi back to the station was late and we had just three minutes to spare before jumping onto our train back to London – which was also delayed. But despite all the travel woes, I’d love to go back to Bridport, stay at Outbuildings and dine at the lovely Dorshi again. If only the country’s public transport systems would get its act together, then everyone else can do the same, too. Dorshi, 6 Chancery Ln, Bridport, DT6 3PX | dorshi.co.uk | 01308 423221 Read More The best outdoor restaurants, terraces and rooftop bars in London to book now In Horto: Hearty, outdoorsy fare in a secret London Bridge garden The Union Rye, review: Finally, a decent restaurant in this charming East Sussex town 30-minute summer recipes for all the family to enjoy What to cook this week: Tomato tart, sweetcorn pasta and other summery suppers Tofu chicken to chickpea bacon – how and why you should make plant-based meat at home

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Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham have an advantage over their rivals with no European football this year and feels it could make the difference come the end of the season. Spurs returned to the Premier League summit on Monday night with a 2-0 win over Fulham courtesy of goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison. Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent side are next in action on Friday at Crystal Palace, where they could go five points clear at the top with a victory and while Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have European fixtures to contend with this week, Tottenham can focus purely on league action. “Honestly, it helps a lot. Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week,” Kulusevski said. “You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. “You can feel the difference and hopefully you will see even more at the end of the season. “It is early because we will see what happens. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about (title), but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day. “It is not important what people say. The important thing is to work hard, be humble, listen to the coach and keep the smiles on faces. Then at the end of the season we will see where we are.” Tottenham’s young side produced a mature display against Fulham, creating early chances before Son broke the deadlock in the 36th minute. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski on no European football Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass under pressure from Spurs’ press was latched onto by Micky van de Ven, touched into Richarlison where he recycled the ball for Son, who dribbled past Tim Ream and curled superbly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the campaign. Son turned provider nine minutes after half-time when Bassey again gave away the ball and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fizzed possession into Son, who played in Maddison for his first home goal as a Tottenham player. The hosts took their foot off the gas during the final exchanges with Fulham wasteful late on, which led to Postecoglou lambasting his team for taking “liberties” post-match. Kulusevski added: “Number one, we have to keep playing football and that is why we are winning. We have to get back to playing the way we can and be ready for Friday.” Spurs were without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the visit of Fulham, but Hojbjerg slotted in to good effect on his first league start of the season. The Danish midfielder expressed his delight at starting and urged his team-mates to “live with the pressure” amid talk of a potential title challenge. “Honestly it felt amazing to play. It was really nice to play. It felt really good,” Hojbjerg said. “First half I thought we played some good football. I think we had to score more than the one and second half we lost a bit of intensity. We let Fulham back into it but especially first half I thought was strong. “It is up to the coach to analyse (second half) now and to show us a bit what we needed. Personally, I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge. “I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.” Read More Sandro Tonali trains with Newcastle team amid betting investigation in Italy Super League case binding ruling due to be handed down on December 21 Texas Rangers see off Houston Astros to reach first World Series since 2011 On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career Mikel Arteta hopes to be talking about football after Arsenal’s trip to Sevilla Jean Kleyn: RWC final with South Africa ‘outside realm of thinking’ months ago

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