Bridge, Shawfordback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A short train ride from Eastleigh brought us to this large thatched roof country pub run by Greene King.
Ideally located right by the train station with seats to the front as you enter into the pub through one of the low doors, mind your head if you’re over 6ft tall !
4 ales on the hand pumps, 2 new beers for me which were Itchin Valley Belgarum @ 3.9% & Andwell Brewing Company Ruddy Darter @ 4.6%, both nice pints but I favoured the Belgarum as it lighter and more refreshing.
Just before 7pm when we got here and I planned to eat but was told there was a 45 minute wait for food, it certainly was busy with diners than drinkers.
A lovely pub with plenty of age, beamed ceilings, stone flooring. We spent most of the time out he front enjoying the good weather before moving onto Winchester.
A flying visit but a good one, nice pub.
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Walked here on a sunny Saturday and sat in the lower garden. Big pleasant garden with plenty of tables. Unfortunately there were four very loud idiots there which lowered the tone of the place. When they left it was very nice. Dog friendly pub and garden. Slow service in the bar, not enough staff behind the bar. Didn't eat so can't comment on the food.
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It's a Chef & Brewer so don't expect high end food. Most of the staff were very friendly. The chap behind the bar who seemed to be some sort of supervisor was not very happy when three of us handed the Bellhaven beer back. It's not a good idea to argue with customers who have been drinking real ale for longer than they have been on the planet.
It was quite a decent pub 20 years ago.
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Went here on a glorious sunny Sunday.the staff were friendly and happy to assist us.Very good service.The meal was GARBAGE. I've never had meat so tough.Even our dog wouldn't eat it. Any chef who's sends food out like that must be a reject from McDonald's.Beer yes, Food no.
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Went here on a glorious sunny Sat, 15 Sept 2012, for the first time. Although it is a 'food chain' pub, it is perfectly pleasant - a lovely building in nice settings, with a great garden.
My group popped in around midday to get some takeaway ciders to enjoy by the river - the staff were friendly and happy to assist us. Later, we came back this way and had a late lunch around 3pm... I can't vouch for busier times, but for us the food arrived after a sensible wait, and was delicious (gourmet steak burger - just do it!). They had a decent selection of ales on tap too.
I would make this a staple stop on any local walk, and will be going back when I get the chance.
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Quality beers at quality prices. Sign behind the bar says ask to top up your glass if not full, great news. Not happy having mine topped up from the slop tray not, going back.
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Went for a meal this evening. Everything seemed an improvement on recent reviews. Speed was good, food quality good, beer range good. The decor seems to have been toned down a bit since my last visit. My impression is that it has improved in the last month or two. Food price not low, but not too bad for what you get.
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I have been to this "pub" several times over many years and have seen a gradual deterioration in the standard of service. I went again last night (Thu 28th Jul 2011); arrived at 1900, found a table quickly and was served by a very pleasant young waiter who took our drinks order and brought them to us some 5 minutes later. Thereafter the evening didn't go quite according to plan. I had to search for the waiter to take our food order (1930) and, eventually, got our food at 2030. As has been mentioned by other writers, the food was late, not hot, and, in my partner's case, wrong. To be fair her dish was changed straight way but the quality of both meals left a lot to be desired. It is not possible run an establishment the size of The Bridge on minimum staffing levels. If Chef & Brewer lived up to their own publicity then they would be ensuring that staffing levels were more than adequate at any time. Your aim is to provide a hospitality service - try doing that and you might see an improvement in your customer;s comments.
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I'm fairly local to this pub and keep giving it a try to vary my drinking/eating venues. I probably visit once every 3 to 6 months but would go more frequently if only they could serve you within a few minutes of arriving at the bar. The last time I visited was in a group of 6 and we ate lunch � on a bank holiday Saturday weekend. The pub and gardens were not even a third full and we had to queue for 15-20 minutes for each drink or to order food. I do not exaggerate. It's been very, very slow service now for a couple of years at least despite a change of ownership or two � and probably will remain so until they get rid of the 'do everything (but slowly)' tills.
It's also quite pricey. Beer's ok. Food's ok. Garden furniture is not brushed down. Loos are good. It's beside a river � but it's fenced off so that you can't see it ( why ??). Parking easy. Staff seem to change so frequently an opinion would be out of date by now.
Give it a go if you like odd furniture and are patient � oh, and if you run a tab...check your bill.
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Some body needs to grab hold of this pub and turn it back into a pub!! Sort out the poor food and get rid of some management. At a time when every business should be doing their best to encourage customers back, the bridge fell at every hurdle.
A real shame as it probably has the best location for miles. TS
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Had a good meal in the evening. Speed of service, both for food and at the bar was very good, better than last time I tried. Food seemed to be of good quality and an interesting range on the menu.
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Great location, nice building, good views, pleasant walks - They are the only good things going for this pub. We had poor beer, appalling food, lazy service & a bad stomach all night.
Will not be returning, even if they do try to polish it up again.
I remember it was good several years ago, a real shame as would be a gold mine if the basics were good. i.e.; FOOD, BEER & SERVICE. It is a pub after all!!!
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My wife & i went to see this recently refurbished pub after we read a spread in the local newspaper. I have to say the decor has improved dramatically, looks a little like The Bugle Inn in the next village.
I have to say my first pint was awful and my wife's wine quit warm, both were dealt with by the barman and eventually we got some drinks. To be fair that set the premise for the entire evening, everything was late, not hot and i really don't think they gave a monkey's. Hard to believe when it was nearly empty and more staff than customers.
nice refurb, don't think they will be getting their money back anytime soon, not from us again anyway.
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Have to say I agree with a lot of what's been said recently, a few year's ago this was a very good pub eat out, good specials board, trout, seabass, game dishes, and a half roast duck that was simpy fantastic,none of that now, but still a nice location on a sunny day and reasonable beer.
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Went here yesterday evening for a meal after a lovely walk by the river in the picturesque settings. Shame about the pub, which looked lovely since the refurb, but seemed to have managers and staff who didn't care a less about their customers. We were not even greeted and were practically ignored. They were un-helpful and un-friendly. When we went to order food, there were about three people complaining that they had been waiting over an hour, and when my husband asked the bar man how long it would be he replied about an hour!!!! Who wants to wait an hour for food when they can go two minutes down the road and get served quickly? Not a good impression for us and we will not be going back anytime soon!!!
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8 of us went there for a late lunch yesterday. A large number of items on the menu were "off". What came was poor quality, over-priced and there wasn't much in the way of fresh vegetables. Very disappointing, and probably worse than the last time we went, which was before the refurb and also disappointing. Beer and wine OK, but don't eat there.
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Hum.... yes, the pub has had a good makeover and despite the grime stains beginning to show through the white paint, there is an improvement.
However, a family meal was not enjoyed from the new chef and menu a couple of weeks ago. Following the very near disaster as the trainee waiter tried to follow orders and balance a tray of three and a half pints on one hand, there came 6 unsatisfactory meals which were over priced and really nowhere near the quality of the "old" Bridge.
It seems they are trying to take the food "up a notch" but are really nowhere near even the old notch. I could list the failings of the meals but that's for another time. For now, we do not plan to eat there again in the near future.
On a good note, the beer was well kept so there's always a silver lining.
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this pub has definatly improved since having a re furb a really amazing pub in an amazing setting. the food is top quality and it is nice to have fresh food freshly prepared and served to you by staff who really do seem pleased to be serving you.
the pub itself is now so much brighter and has some lovely seating areas where you can now sit and relax with a beer. i felt really welcomed when i visited and chose to sit in the garden which is huge and kept beautifully we had the deli sandwiches which were served to us in the garden and it was so nice to have sauces and cutlery given to us instead of many pubs where you have to go off hunting!
I would recomend this pub to anyone who is looking for a good meal in a peacefull and relaxing setting, an absolute gem!
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Victor Meldrew was run over and killed outside this pub, and I'm afraid that since the refurb has happened I have to take a leaf out of his book and say very loudly - "I DONT BELIEVE IT!"
The Bridge has gone all yuppyfied. Me and my partner (they used to be called fiancees but now it's partner) bimbled in the day the refurb had been completed. The very bossy and business like manageress was all formal and with no creases or particular friendliness, she was holding a 'warm day' where invited guests had come to sample the restaurants delights. (I hadn't been invited even though me and my 'partner' are/were regulars - those who had been invited looked like hoity toity business types. No room at the Inn for the locals it seems. What was a nice romantic sort of interior, private and traditional, has been opened up into a cascade of Marks and Spencer furniture and light. For those who just want to have a pint at the bar and not a meal, well I think those sort of pub goers would cramp the 'style' of the place. Bring back the old style pub, much warmer, and friendly with no career laughs coming from the secretary or PA sat next to MD at table 17. The location is still great, I will pop in for a pint of ale in the summer whilst my partner walks me along the Itchen, we will make sure it's summer, just about able to put up with the garden furniture, but I wouldnt want to stop inside for a beer or a bite anymore.
Expensive and unwelcoming atmosphere unless you are down from London for the day - 'reaching out and client facing'. 2 star rating earned for whats outside the pub these days instead of whats inside.
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Visited on a Saturday lunchtime. The place had been totally made over since my last visit, when it admitted to being a Chef & Brewer joint. No visible signs of any 'brand' this time, although it's most definitely got the look of a managed chain pub-restaurant. I found the make-over almost intimidating. Landscaping outside with lots of posh square blue umbrellas. Heavy timber garden chairs plus those uncomfortable looking steel-mesh ones. Through the windows, huge wine glasses were neatly ranked on the wooden tables in the minimalist-looking interior. We ventured in and were immediately captured and whisked to a table. (I do like to choose myself!). As real-ale buffs, we dashed to the bar to check what was on. Three ales, all Hampshire or very close by (top marks!). The TEA was very good (but expensive). The main courses looked expensive, and didn't give us veggies much to whet our appetites. So we went for the sandwiches. Now here's a story ! There were three 'Doorstep' sandwiches and three 'Deli' sandwiches. My 'Bomber Cheddar' & chutney one was �4.45 and my partner's one with a foreign cheese and some olive fragments was �6.95. Something 'deli' in there was worth a whole �2.50 !
When they arrived I discovered that a Shawford doorstep is smaller than most people's doorstop. It consisted of two diagonally sliced bits of soft baguette, with grated mousetrap, a pot containing 1/3 of a packet of crisps, and a salad garnish. The 'Deli' sandwich looked exactly the same, including the crisps ! (I admit the filling was a bit different). The ingredients were all in top nick (including the crisps), but it did raise two questions:
Why call a fairly ordinary moderately sized sandwich a doorstep?
Why differentiate between the 'Doorsteps' and the 'Delis' on the menu when there is no difference except in the fillings between the baguette slices. (The fillings are already satisfactorily described on the menu)
I expect a doorstep sandwich to give me jaw cramps. Good wholemeal cobs can be frozen and microwaved back to life (or even provided bakery fresh !) to provide that real doorstop experience. (And some adequate carbs to fuel the weary).
To add to which, when I ordered our second drinks, the manageress seemed to be shouting at me. Perfectly polite, but a decibel or two louder than necessary. I know I'm a senior, but I am not deaf.
The service was brusque. Perhaps we didn't fit in with the decor (although we were tidy and adequately turned out)
All in all, a triumph of presentation over reality. The locals had seen through the facade, as they looked as ordinary as we felt. It was sort of busy, so obviously fills a niche of some sort. I'll go again for the beer if I'm passing but won't travel any distance for the food.
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We have to admit that the Bridge is a good Gastro-pub. It is not the Bridge of a decade ago but it does offer some good food at a fair price. Having said that the size of the meals can be a bit variable. Beer is quite well kept but it is often difficult to get served. It is rare for someone to be behind the bar and if there is there is usually a long queue of pretentious customers pretending that they live in the country!
I like to stop off for a quick half after I get off the train but the total lack staff and service to those not eating does put me off.
Worth visiting though.
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Ate at the Bridge at Shawford Winchester for the second and last time last night. To be fair, the food was good. But the food wasn't the issue. Front of house was nowhere to be seen when we arrived No one greeted us or showed us to our table. The waiter service was extremely slow. We waited 20 minutes for our drinks. The food took ages to come. The waiter forgot that I had asked for a glass of water. When he took the order for food he didn't take the menus. The skills required to safely place the food and drinks on the table were sorely lacking. When the table was cleared following the main course, the container of mayonnaise was left there with the spoon in all the way through dessert. We had to ask to be served. We had to wait almost 40 minutes for our dessert and had to eventually remind the waiter that we were waiting. Unfortunately we left feeling as if we hadn't been very well looked after. Given our experiences on both visits, it would be difficult to recommend it to our friends.
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Had our first time ever meal at the Bridge last night(30.09), it was a special celebration for our 31 wedding anniversary.
Loved the atmosphere in the pub very cosy and nicely lit with 3 tea light candles in red, green and white glass holders. The new menu had started the day before as indicated by our really pleasant waitress(is that their correct titile)? So our choice was slightly extended.
My husband chose the mixed grill which came with chips, mushroom and grilled tomato, he loved it the steak was cooked to perfection, along with the gammon, sausage, my meal was also excellent I chose the Diablo chicken which was also coated with peri-peri sauce, lovely chips and a superfood salad, the only critism was about the 'superfood salad' more like a garnish!
We were given a 3 page voucher at the end of the meal, which included buy 1 get one free, 25% off another meal and a pint of Bombadier for �1.99, on designated dates. We immediately decided that we would eat the following week using the buy 1 get one free deal! We are both recommending this lovely Inn for our friends and family to try. Great food, great location, well done.
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And by the way it is not 0.3 miles from Shawford Station - it is right next door, which can be very handy.
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And by the way it is not 0.3 miles from Shawford Station - it is right next door, which can be very handy.
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Popped in for a drink while waiting for a train. A local resident had told us that this is "more a road-house than a pub", and this seemed a fair assessment. Large signs outside advertise cheap meal deals, and at 12.30 on Sunday it was just beginning to get busy with carloads of families who would no doubt see it as an ideal objective for a drive out from the city for lunch in the country. Friendly welcome; service good; drinks fine - but, unlike the food, a bit pricey; loo clean; huge garden with plenty of tables; but spoiled inside by quiet but still intrusive piped music of a nondescript variety - and a general air of inoffensive blandness.
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Welcoming food-oriented country pub a stone's throw from Shawford train station. Pedigree, Hogs Back TEA and Ringwood Fortyniner available on my lunchtime visit, where it was unexpectedly busy for a weekday. Clearly popular as it is also just off the M3.
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Although a large pub/restaurant, it is rambling and gives the appearance of separate bars while giving an old time ambience.Plenty of room for a family gathering. TEA beer from the Hogs Back Brewery is always on and in good condition when I'm there, the food is good and reasonably priced too.
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Lovely pub, very friendly and clean, great food reasonably priced
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A good place to take a larger group for a meal either in the evening or at lunch time.
The garden is perfect for those long summer evenings while indoors is welcoming and cosy for the winter.
The food is good, honest and reasonably priced. The fish specials board is particulaly welcome.
The new landlord has a much better balance between drinkers pub and place to eat. Whereas before, you were looked at oddly if you just wanted a pint while you waited for your train, now, you're made quite welcome (as long as you can find someone to serve you).
Not bad at all.
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After a walk of several miles along the Itchen Way I stopped off here for a couple of pints of T.E.A. Friendly welcome and decent beer.
Being late afternoon in the week the place was fairly quiet so I can't comment on it's ambience when bustling with customers. I'll save that for next time.
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Good service; good beer; but very ordinary food.
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Is The Bridge a pub selling food or a restaurant selling beer? Well, it's a family oriented, child friendly Chef & Brewer, so you judge. The beer's OK, the food's OK, it's got a big garden and if you look hard you can see the Itchen Navigation. The recent re-furbishment must have cost a bomb though, so don't expect many favours when you come to settle up.
I was very surprised to read (Trethias, 22 Jan) comments about the 'competition for the Bridge up the road'! If we're talking about the Twyford Phoenix, I don't recognise ANY of what he says! It's a friendly, traditional village pub with good beer and great food at good prices.
Just smile, indulge yourself in a little happy banter with the Landlord and you'll get on like a house on fire!
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Interestingly, the pub up the road reportedly lost money last year. Was this due to the corporates at the Bridge getting their formula and target audience right? Or was it due to the strange and failed attempt by the competition to become a food boozer (mixed meat curry on the menu for the Monday night curry trough is never going to impress). Throw into the pot the impending re-opening of the Bugle in Twyford and something is likely to give. If the Bugle re-opening is not the sham that was intended under its property developer previous owners then the options in the area appear to be bucking the current national trend of depubification (of what are seen as potential building sites) and instead increasing. Good news for the comers and locals alike. If the Bugle wants to tap into the potential market it should check out what the Bridge does well and what the other local pub which shall rename nameless does not do well. Here are the Bridge positives:
1. Good selection of revolving, reasonably well kept, beers - you need the drinkers to keep the real ales turning over at the right pace.
2. Remember adults also are only welcome in pubs if they are well behaved but you don't need a sign to remind us. Lets not have any more nanny state patronizing messages about who is or is not welcome based on age. Fake Victorian morality has no place in a local/destination country pub (for instance the Twyford Social Club, a private club, is a perfectly pleasant place to drink and socialise even though it has invariably made the whole family welcome).
3. Food - a reasonable choice of (some) not over priced or over fried food.
What does the competition for the Bridge up the road do wrong? Well here are the main complaints:
1. Beer is not dependable. The barrel can't be "needing changing" every time surely.
2. Landlord - careless as to who takes offence to his old style (but charmless) landlording style which suggests that you are barely tolerated. After all this is not a service industry is it?
3. Indiscriminate policy over allowing children in the pub.
4. Food - post war Berni Inntastic but not quite as good.
Just to keep an even mind about it. The Bridge has burnt its bar stools whilst the competition in Twyford has kept them. Do you cross the Rubicon from pub to restaurant when they go? Lets see what happens when the Bugle re-opens and see whether there is one more pub back in Twyford or a new restaurant to rival the Bean Below?!
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Seems to me last comments have biased, I too live with in stone through off oppisition. it a matter of choice The Bridge has backing of big Brewery, The oposition fends for it self. Do yourself a favour, walk the fine walks of Twyford, visit the pubs and judge for yourself !
anonymous - 12 Sep 2007 01:56 |
Taking back all that I said around pricing - recent 10p increase per pint (and 10p increase per bag of crisps .. and we're talking Walkers here, not Dervla hand-stroked, Irish-certified, organic, virgin olive oil shallow-fried by pure as the driven snow maidens stuff) makes this not a pub but a restaurant wanabee.. Sorry folks; it's NOT!
Suggest a local's 'Frequent Beer Flyer' discount.
Also suggets that the Bugle under-cut by 25p/pint and clean-up on wet sales! Pitty the local competition isn't much competition...
For a Sunday Lunch, pub grub or lunch-time 'light bite it's fine, but suggest for a special meal out, go to a restaurant! (plenty in the Winchester locality that are really very good) which by these prices are good value for something other than pub grub, in, oh, - a pub..
Oh, and don't even think about the wait for food on Mothers' Day, Easter, Bank Hols, Father's Day, busy summer weekends etc, etc, etc .......
Oh, and the newly re-furbed Fishers' Pond ain't too bad I gather..... especially when the summer comes and you actually have a view of the nearby water whilst you wait for your over=priced pub grub...
anonymous - 15 Mar 2007 22:45 |
This is my local so I guess I have a bias. That said, there are others I could use nearby - one I can almost throw a stone at from my bedroom window, but they don't come close.
The Bridge is what it is - a corporate, with fake beams and fake smiles from the younger staff at times, but it's consistant, thankfully now smoke-free - unless you want to shelter under the outside heated large-scale brollies - and not too over-priced.
The food is largely the nation-wide corporate menu, delivered in bulk from HQ, but the specials are created locally and the young chef and his small brigade are really finding their feet after some personnel changes over the past couple of years. The Sunday lunches are excellent value and big enough for an adult! The Chef is, I believe, one of the rising stars of this chain - Chef & Brewer - and trains new starters to the group.
It can get very busy - especially with walkers at weekends (and why litter the entrance with boots when there's enough space outside - PLEASE!) and the ever increasing garden space means lots of kids at weekends, though nothing in the way of facilities - games, climbing frames etc - for them.
I believe C&B's 'tag line' for this pub is "Adult Premium Dining" which says it all in terms of what their target market is. Silver Surfers with disposable income that have garlic bread on the side and always have puddings! kerching!.....
Beers are pretty much well kept - and never an issue if you have a bad pint that needs replacing - Ringwood always seems to be on tap, plus changing guests; TEA at the moment, plus 'Coopers But' - make up your own jokes please.... and lagers from Fosters through 1664, Staropramen and Leffe (though getting more & more expensive as you go through the order of the list) all fine.
Accept it for what it is and have your expectations exceeded. Think you're getting a quiet river-side pub making the most of its setting (the perimiter fence ensures you'll never see the river!), a quiet place for sunday lunch (you'll need walking boots to make it to the pub from where you have to abandon your car) and you'll be disapointed.
Otherwise its Cuprinol.
final gripe to the big cheeses - and levied at most corporates - ditch the Musak; it's becoming insulting. Whilst I unbderstand the reasons - PRS, licencing etc., if you really think that Classic FM-style at weekday lunch gets the oldies spending more or Chris Rea on a Friday night gets us in the party mood - or less than first-rate jazz standards in the afternoon make us feel sophisticated enough to try the Pino or Rioja - get a life and smell what's coming out of your expensive coffee machines!!
Personally I'd rather let the staff play their own CD collection - at least it would be a move away from the coroprate 'McDonalds' mentality and maybe shape some individuality.
Gripe over.
It'll bee interesting to see if the (potential) re-opening of Twyford's 'Bugle' makes any dent in the Bridge's trade. Can't see that it will personally as they'r physically and commercially in different territories, but we'll see. There's enought space for both to be honest.
Enjoy your Pub!
anonymous - 7 Mar 2007 00:31 |
TEA is brewed by the Hogsback Brewery near Ash Vale and they have an excellent Brewery tour if you are ever in the are.
They do normally have some good real ale on and it is very handy for the train station.
I have had some good and bad meals here and it does suffer a bit from being a chain pub, Chef and Brewer I think.
Nice garden for the Summer.
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Went here for dinner in mid Spetember 2006. Segregated from the nicotine addicts, Good food, excellent beer.Forty-niner was the best beer I tasted in the UK followed closely by TEA. According to the barman both are brewed reasonably locally but I didn't find out where. Forty-niner is a rather sweet ale but full of flavour with little gas. TEA didn't have the sweetness but was still a great beer.
The food was also excellent on the night we visited. I had pork chops. Others had Marlin and Chicken with rosemary. All said the food was excellent. Service from food and drinks staff excellent. Nice atmosphere. Background noise at a level that allowed a conversation without shouting or missing chunks of conversation. Would recommend this pub to anyone who wanted a good beer and good food. Would like to visit during daylight though. Maybe on the next visit to the UK?
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Lived across the road from it in Student digs for two years and it was a fantastic boozer with live music, alcoholic landlord, real charming "Lovejoy-esque" characters. Visited last month, now a form of "Harvester" vibe with rich pensioners looking disapprovingly at you over their Beef Wellingtons. Only go if you have children / want a meal / are retired. Although, to be fair, if you are one of the above it is a faultless pub.
mikez - 13 Dec 2005 15:54 |
A nice pub with good food and open fires. Mostly non-smoking (apart from the fires).
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