please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Lovely country pub with a fantastic beer garden. The perfect place to spend a summer afternoon. Good beer straight from the barrel from Red Cat & Bowmans. Didn't try the food.
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While beers still good (we have been going there for years), I cannot say the same for the food. 4 of us ordered different meals, which arrived suspiciously quickly after 15 minutes. My wife's meal was cold in parts, so she sent it back & ordered a risotto, which was made with pudding rice! Shall not go again for food until they get a new chef & bin the microwave. A pity.
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Different from its former days as an Ind Coope pub in the 70s with Bitter & Mild from the cask but in many ways improved to meet requirements of todays customers. Now has large car park, great garden and more rooms. 3 beers still direct from the cask. Flower Pots Perridge Pale and Red Cat Scratch both good. Venison casserole tasty in front of roaring fire. Pity views of downs spoilt by cloud.
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Criticisms of this pub seem to come from those deigning to patronise it on a sunny Summer weekend and feeling offended that locals who open their wallets every day in the bar receive preferential treatment. Go figure. As an occasional visitor, I enjoy the fact that this remains a real pub, serving good ale (nice pint of Bowmans today) and good food, at a price which the market in this well-heeled corner of Sussex will clearly bear. The view from the garden is worth the premium and if the service behind the bar is sometimes, shall we say, brisk bordering on brusque I for one won't let it spoil my day.
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This is a summer-time pub: manicured lawns with an abundance of trestle bench tables; multi-coloured flower beds, and views downhill towards the distant South Downs. But rather small inside at winter-time. A separate 'His' and 'Hers' pair of loos outside like a couple of sentry boxes. I called at about 1000 on 6 August to seek permission to leave my car in the car park which was willingly given. Returned after a lengthy walk about 1400 and was rewarded with a pint glass, a bottle of non-alcoholic beer topped up with lemonade. Perfect on a hot summer's day for someone who has to drive. Food, which I'd tried on a previous occasion, is 'up-market' and expensive but if the clientele are prepared to pay, so what!
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Disappointed. Firstly, no average Pino Grigio is worth �15.00 a bottle. Secondly, the meat in my cottage pie was flavoured with cinammon. Neither was a pleasant experience.
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This is a great country pub, simply furnished, rustic feel; the garden and the views are to die for. But the welcome........, well I cant remember the last time I had such a frosty reception anywhere, I can only put it down to the fact we had our 6 year old grand-daughter with us, who was very well behaved, but they obviously just dont like kids here. Shame really, spoilt the experience, especially as we had just spent a week in the New Forest in which we must have visited a dozen pubs with my granddaughter in tow, and great welcomes everywhere....
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Closed on Saturday afternoons when the weather is fine? Financial suicide. After a 12 mile walk across the South Downs, we were looking forward to a beer. Instead, we continued to South Harting instead...
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Four real ales on offer, all on gravity and in good condition, but a liilte on the warm side on a warm evening when I visited. Pleasant, friendly staff and superb food such as Selsey crab salad and Venison liver, bacon & mash. Slightly dearer than ordinary pub grub (�10 - �14ish) but well worth it and excellently cooked. A lovely little pub in a wonderful location. Beautiful views of the South Downs. Scored 6/10 for the beer but 7/10 overall for the pub. Will be back.
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interesting good ale will go again
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First the good news - great views, lovely roses in the garden, claen pint of Young's. BUT......unfriendly welcome, grotty garden furniture and not an umbrella in sight on one of the hottest days of the year. Bland salads with the cheapest processed chicken pennies can buy. Like tea at your nan's , circa 1973. Rip-off.
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this pub is FANTASTIC - delicious food, great atmosphere and lovely welcome from the staff. we were a mixed group of 12 cycling the south downs way and cant recommend this pub highly enough!
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Fabulous view, charming warm welcome, delicious food and well-kept beer - the Flowerpots is delicious.
The garden is amazing - must return when the roses are in bloom.
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Lucky enough to visit this place on a mild spring day and enjoy the garden when it was busy but not packed. The Flowerpots was excellent and had to return to the bar two more times to make the best of it. Had a great ploughmans too.
Decided to have dinner there that night (wife and I staying nearby in Minstead) after we had had a dreadful experience in another pub a few miles away the night before. Glad we made this choice as the food and atmosphere waas excellent. we were sat facing the huge fire and enjoyed some excellent venison. This was good hearty pub grub yes, but very well cooked and presented and certainly not overpriced.
Anyone who likes their country pubs to be authentic and traditional then I think you'll be happy here. If you want to know which pub local to this that we had one of the worst meals ever, then look at my list of reviews.
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Had a lovely couple of pints of Cheriton's Flowerpots bitter in the garden today - it really is a wonderful place to spend a sunny afternoon, with views of the Downs and roses. The crab salad was bit pricey but excellent.
I understand some of the points which mainly relate to the bar area being a bit small, and being a victim of its own success, but the plus's far outweigh the minus's.
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This pub attracts because of the view over the downs but in every other respect it is a disappointment. Many of the dishes are outrageously overpriced for what they are, in particular the salads. It turned out that �13 bought four scallaps and half a piece of bacon, not to mention the after effects associated with dodgy seafood. I will not be returning.
anonymous - 2 Aug 2007 12:25 |
Ancient pub, great atmosphere, spectacular views over the downs from the garden, really very good. Food is classic British... Sussex lamb cutlets, Selsey crab, Scottish mussels, lobster salad, venison, Dover sole, and some extremely toothsome puddings. Beers are from the barrel, wine list is short but good. Manages to cater to both the real ale and the champagne crowd (it's within the gravitational pull of both Goodwood and Cowdray Park) while maintaining its own identity. This is a gastropub dating from years before anyone coined the term, and full of brisk confidence. A local great with which the myPetersfield team is blushingly smitten. Definitely a pub to settle down with.
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Superb. Plenty of room in garden on 4 Feb with views of Downs. Got lunch in 2 secs, gourmet cottage pie, bacon in it and leeks in the potato topping, will revisit and I hardly ever go to pubs.
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Agree 100% You'd be better off going to The Elsted Inn
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I agree with the other reviews. The beer is excellent, straight out of the cask. It is a lovely garden with wonderful views of the downs. The only problem I have with the place is the time it takes to get served. Even if there is only one person in front it will still take forever. It attracts the type of customer who don't know what they want until being served and then have to ask their friends what they want, and they won't have decided. Bloody frustrating!
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It is an affluent area in which this pub nestles, and so one has to expect a few range rover drivers. However, notwithstanding the generally middle to upper-class background of some of the clientele, this pub is none the worse for it, and it remains thoroughly charming. There is much room in my heart for earthy, honest, no-frills boozers, but equally there must be high regard for civilised picturesque rural pubs that pride themselves not only on their beer (there is usually at least 2 ales delivered direct from cask) but also their food, which I have to say is excellent. I have never tasted a venison pie quite like the one I enjoyed here! All food is home-cooked and sourced from good local ingredients wherever possible.
The views across the South Downs only add to the charm of the place, along with the colourful garden, free-range chickens roaming, and in Autumn, that gorgeous aroma of burning wood from the real log fire indoors.
The only drawback? It gets very busy and in a way is a victim of its own success. You'll need to book for a meal in advance, and check opening times as I am bound to say they're not the most generous.
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Lovely garden, one of the best views of the South Downs you're ever likely to encounter. Nice beer, nice food.HOWEVER, the gaffer doesn't like too much work, so closes a lot of the time. Gets very full of Range Rover types who wouldn't know a pub from a restaurant with a beer concession
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