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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Rita Moreno has revealed the unique way she made friends after finding herself suffering from loneliness. Ahead of her 92nd birthday on 11 December, the West Side Story star opened up about her struggles with loneliness after she moved into a new home. In an interview with People published 28 November, Moreno recalled feeling “so sad” after moving from her house in California’s Berkeley Hills area to a new condominium. The Broadway alum admitted she felt so lonely that it was even “affecting [her] appetite”. It wasn’t until her daughter, jewellerly designer Fernanda Luisa Gordon, noticed something was wrong that Moreno decided to combat her loneliness. “I really didn’t understand what was happening,” she told the outlet. “I remember thinking: ‘I can’t go on like this.’ I’m in the most beautiful apartment in the world as far as I’m concerned, and this is happening. Why is this happening?” The 80 For Brady star said she used her years of “therapy” and “psychotherapy” to help her self-reflect, ultimately deciding that it was her recent move away from friends and family that was making her unhappy. Moreno, who has one daughter and two grandsons, explained that her new home made it difficult for her friends and family to visit. “So when we make plans to see each other, we have to make plans, they can’t just kind of drop by,” she said. “I was really lonely.” Moreno admitted that she was “fascinated” when it dawned on her that she didn’t actually know how to make friends because she “never had to seek people’s company”. “You know why? Because people have always come to me,” she added. When the Family Switch star finally decided to “meet some people” on her own, she went to the supermarket to do some shopping and met a “lovely” woman who she had previously seen at the store. “She had this big smile on her face and she recognised me, obviously, and we started to talk,” Moreno recalled. “I said to her: ‘Would you like to have lunch with me?’” According to Moreno, the woman was shocked when the Hollywood icon asked to have lunch with her but she ended up accepting the invite. “She sat down and she said: ‘Do you always pick people up like this in the market?’” Moreno recounted. “I told her the truth. I said: ‘No, but you always have struck me as such a lovely person. Since I’m new here and I don’t know anybody, I thought I’d take a dip.’” Since then, the woman has become one of many people that Moreno befriended, including those from her apartment building. “I’m so lucky,” she added. The Puerto Rican actor landed her breakout role of Anita in the 1961 movie musical adaptation of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s original Broadway musical, West Side Story. She later won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. Moreno also starred as a newly-created character, Valentina, in director Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. In 1965, she married cardiologist Leonard Gordon, who later became her manager. They were married for 45 years, welcoming daughter Fernanda, before his death in 2010. In May, United States surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health epidemic, posing health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily. In a report, Murthy stated that nearly half of US adults say they’ve experienced loneliness. The report also stated that loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by nearly 30 per cent, posing a greater risk of stroke and heart disease, as well as increasing a person’s likelihood for experiencing depression, anxiety, and dementia. The crisis was worsened due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as schools and workplaces shut down and people were required to quarantine and socially distance themselves. In 2020, Americans spent about 20 minutes a day in person with friends compared to 60 minutes daily just two decades earlier. “We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right. That’s why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing.” Read More Strictly’s Amy Dowden shares health update after being rushed to hospital Sam Thompson admits fears about ADHD and parenthood on I’m a Celeb Paris Hilton says using surrogacy was a ‘difficult decision to make’ Strictly’s Amy Dowden shares health update after being rushed to hospital Sam Thompson admits fears about ADHD and parenthood on I’m a Celeb Paris Hilton says using surrogacy was a ‘difficult decision to make’

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