please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
One of my favourite pubs in this area. The ales on offer are never very exciting but the pub is well worth a visit. I hear the food is reasonable as well!
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really good pub. lovely building, nice traditional interior, and decent garden space for sunny afternoons. inside the majority of the floor is given over to food, but the bar areas are comfy, and the staff were really friendly. the food was spectacular, i mean really really good. had the battered black pudding and steak and ale pir, both superb. great visit, will visit again when in the area.
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Very good lunchtime experience. I had Brakespear but other ales, (Ringwood) looked equally good. �4.60 for my wife's Peroni, but ales were much more sensibly priced. Food was lovely and not overpriced. Really nice atmosphere, helpful cheery staff and very welcoming fires. Well worth a visit.
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Had seen review in GBG so as we were cycling here over weekend paid - what a corker of a pub!
Very surprised to learn others have had service issues as of the 5 staff we dealt with all were helpful depite 6 of us turning up wet & muddy on a busy Sat lunchtime.
Landlord provided samples of guest beer Sunbeam which was excellent Food was very good and we were on the light bites. Arrived quickly and with a smile.
All over a really very good boozer highly recommended by all 6 of us!t
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We have used this pub for a few years now and I simply love it! My husband says the beer is really well kept and he enjoys trying the guest beers, he says the landlord always gives him a good guide as to weather he might like one, and a taster first, he loves that as he is very fussy about his beers. We often eat too and have never had a poor meal, yes it's not the fastest kitchen but then it is homemade from fresh so I for one am re-assured that the meals so not come out in 5 minutes as I consider that a sign of a poor kitchen and the menu does warn about dishes that take a long time to cook, and I often choose a whole fish from the Chef board, they have always been moist and perfectly cooked, a treat for me as my family are not keen on fish, my husband loves the Double pork dish and rarely strays from that. We find the service very good indeed, always friendly and helpful even though it is often very busy, we always book as this is not a place to turn up on spec at weekends as they are so busy, midweek we have managed to do so and they always do their best to find us a nice table. Would choose to eat here over most restaurants locally. Thoroughly recommend.
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Nice pub, good beer(Ringwood), ok food and very slow/bad service.
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Very disappointing. Lovely looking pub & Ringwood beers which were fine. But the food & general service were abysmal. We got there about 11.40am & ordered our drinks & then our food at about 11.50am. They don't start serving food until 12 noon which was fine, we were happy to wait a little while - we only ordered baguettes so it shouldn't take that long to prepare them, should it? There was a couple already in there who had ordered before us. At 12.30, they walked out because there was no sign of their food. However, a man (obviously a local) had come in 2 minutes before & had received his meal straight away. When the other couple complained about that, the man (senior so we assume the owner?) told then they couldn't possibly have ordered before 12 noon as they don't start serving food until then. At which point they just walked off in disgust - who can blame them. To have to wait that long is bad enough but then to be called a liar is even worse. This prompted us to ask where our food was (having waited 40 minutes at this stage) and to be fair, it then appeared fairly quickly. There appeared to be some sort of wedding do at the pub at the time and they obviously were more concerned about those guests rather than the paying guests in their pub. As I said, the fact that the local had received his baguette within no more than 2minutes was completely out of order when we & the other couple had to wait over 40 minutes for ours. The food when it did eventually arrive was OK - nothing special and certainly not worth waiting all that time for. We wouldn't go back & wouldn't recommend it.
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This was our 2nd visit to this lovely rural pub. With the good weather we decided to sit in the rear garden which was very nice and busy too. Beer available was Ringwood Fortyniner, Ringwood Best and Mansfield Cask Ale. Beer was served ok and friendly staff.
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Went here for mothering Sunday, were met by very helpful staff who looked after us well throughout. The food was good quality, although the portions were small; the beer was FortyNiner which went down well. Located in a lovely spot good for local walks with a garden that is probably great in warmer weather.
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A Saturday lunchtime - a nice place to stop off on a walk. Good range of beers (four on) including Cumberland Ale and Marstons Pedigree We had nice sandwiches and chips - not cheap but, on balance, worth it.
Very pleasant and friendly staff. Nice layout inside; there is a proper drinking-only area right in the middle by the bar but the regulars had got there first when we arrived.
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Having been to this lovely old pub for drinks we decided to take friends out for dinner here. The bar and waitress service were very good, however the meal we booked was repulsive. I ordered monkfish tail at nearly �13. It came out completely rubbery and tougher than shoe leather, the accompanying vegetables were like leftovers from the week before...I asked my husband to try them and he discreetly removed the contents from his mouth into a napkin, as in his words they were 'off'. My friends haddock was dry as a bone and looked like it had been forgotten about as it was so obviously overcooked. For such a lovely pub with otherwise good service, it is shocking to see that the chef really couldn't give a damn about the pub's reputation. All four of us said that our meals looked like the chef really couldn't be bothered. We will most definitely not be returning here and advise other people to think twice if they are eating. The food we had should have been condemned and I fear if the chef continues here it will only be a matter of time before there are serious issues with the food such as food poisoning or other health complaints. Such a disappointment for a potentially excellent pub with friendly bar and waitressing staff. We will not be returning!
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Based on the recommendations of this blog and a friend who regularly visits the pub, we booked a table for four for lunch on Sunday . What a dreadful disappointment. We had just ordered our meal in time to overhear a neighbouring table complain about the toughness of the beef. The landlady dealt with the complainant by providing instruction on the correct way to cut meat! Thereafter our meals lived up to expectation. Overcooked dry roast beef, blackened roasties with squidgy insides and a platter of vegetables with all the flavour steamed out of them. Very much the essence of a reheated late dinner, better in a dog. The Ringwood ale was the only redeeming feature of this visit.
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popped in again-were welcomed like old friends! really like the atmosphere here, and enjoyed the food again. will be going back for pie and pudding night as was �10 each for the best venison pie ever and a treacle sponge that was definitely homemade! waitress made a mistake about our coffees but was genuine in her apology so that it ended up making me like her even more.
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A party of 4 of us had lunch at the Oak, a pub I had recommended to many friends. It is hard for me to lower my rating for this pub but being honest I must speak as I find. Two of our party were perfectly satisfied with their main course. Two of us were not. My Hampshire rump steak was at best medium when I had ordered rare and it turned out to be tough. Not good for a price tag of �15.75. The lamb was also below par. As was one of the desserts, a crumble which was'nt. The staff were as usual attentive and very pleasent. Top marks for the rabbit & guinea fowl but leave the steaks alone. My pub rating down to 7.
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visited this pub with our friends this evening, it was fab! Really warm and welcoming, the food was lovely, really good venison steak and from just up the road too. staff were so friendly and obviously enjoy their jobs. the log fires were a boon as it was tipping down outside but the landlady still went to the garden to get fresh mint for my sister to hav mint tea. we will be regulars. recommend the puds too.
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The food was good and the helpings generous
staff were friendly
But watch the Bill when it come as ten pounds was added to the drinks part of the bill when it arrived
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We booked the Red Lion for a large pre-wedding dinner. Both Alan and Amanda went out of their way to ensure the evening was a success - menus were posted to us in advance and the choice of food was enticing - moreover, whenever we spoke beforehand the response was friendly. When we arrived there was a short wait but they had arranged a single long table in the back room, which was perfect for our requirements. The food arrived promptly and the wine was already on the table. We had only compliments about the food from our party and the service was excellent - discreet but attentive. Observing the other people in the pub I got the impression this was an established, friendly place to enjoy oneself. The quality of the house wine was up to scratch, as was the case with the other drinks ordered. I can thank Alan and Amanda and their staff by wholeheartedly recommending this pub to others.
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they started badley by double booking us but after half an hour found our party a table and the evening went very well from then on friendly staff, good food large portions and the right price. I reccommend this pub to anyone who wants to feel satisfided when they leave.
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Father's Day 2007 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Our party of four ordered the chef's speciality - organic roast beef. We requested steak knives as the ordinary knives would not cut the meat which was tough, chewy and stringy. The parsnips were overcooked and the carrots still frozen. We informed the Management and their response was both arrogant, patronising and insulting. No apology was given in fact we were told that we were wrong to complain. We concur with Pete_G's assessment.
anonymous - 17 Jun 2007 18:06 |
This is a poor pub. The beer, Empire Ale in my case was flat and lifeless. The food is inedible. The organic beef fried with onions turns out to be leftovers from Sunday lunch, the baked Herring was OFF !!!, the rump steak poorly cooked. Complaints to the head waitress are ignored. Don't bother.
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Great pub with nice atmosphere and friendly staff. The food is above average, reasonably priced and comes in big portions. Will defintely visit again.
anonymous - 18 Mar 2007 23:14 |
Old fashioned country pub, now more dining than drinking. Good food, but not outstanding. Not child friendly.
anonymous - 21 Apr 2005 10:00 |
