Groombridge

Since the weather's always pretty iffy in Bhutan, you shouldn't count on the outdoor options that most of the lodges have, but here's my recollection:

Paro: Outdoors during breakfast and lunch there were tables on a patio, but there are a lot of wild dogs in Bhutan, and they would come hang out on the patio, so we never ate outdoors. I never felt "cramped" indoors, was there in peak festival season (October), and felt that the dining was appropriate to the site. The dining room has long tables, so that if every seat were full you'd be sitting next to folks. But this was never the case. We had to proactively seek out closeness to other couples if we wanted to sit by anyone else here.

Thimpu: Not communal dining--the tables are separate, and we never felt crowded or forced into communion with other travelers. I didn't see outdoor options here.

Gangtey: Very small dining room, and yes, you will be seated communally at dinner even if there are only a few others there, since there are only, I believe, two tables, each sitting eight. I saw no outdoor dining options at this very small property.

Punakha: Gorgeous terrace with outdoor dining for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We ate outdoors whenever possible here. No dogs at all, since the property is very protected and walled in. The indoor dining area is somewhat cramped here--but also charming. It feels quite rustic--whitewashed walls. I believe it's large enough, though, to spread out so that you're not dining communally if you don't want to do so.

Bumthang: Outdoor patio for breakfast and lunch if you like, looking over to the yard of the active monastery next door. (One of those iconic photo moments of one little purple-garbed monk having thrown an apple at two of his friends, then ducking back behind a wall while the other two looked fruitlessly around in search of the thrower.) Indoors, there is both a casual lounge with separate, non-communcal dining tables, and then a more formal dining room that is quite thrilling visually--the longest dining table imaginable, with fireplaces at either end--and if you chose to eat in there and it were full (I cannot imagine this ever being the case, given how remote Bumthang is--we were the only ones in there at peak season)-only then would this be communal dining.