please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I am pleased to say that the Fleur de Lys has a new owner. I popped in for a lunch time pint a week back just to check it out. Not a great deal of choice for real ale drinkers, only Ringwood 49er on tap. Though it was well kept.
The decor has improved & there are plenty of comfy sofa's to lounge in. I had a long chat with the very enthusiastic chef.
I was impressed enough to take my wife & a couple of friends back last Friday evening for dinner. The menu featured plenty of game dishes. I decided to test out the chef & the quality of the meat by ordering the rump steak, cooked rare. It is sacrilege to order a steak any other way, 'as any decent chef will tell you'. At £17.50 I expected something pretty good. It turned out to be one of the best steaks I have every had. Well worth the money. The front of house is managed by a lady called Diane. She knows how to take care of her customers.
The Fleur is already becoming very popular & the knock on effect is that with their staffing level service may be a little slow on busy nights.
Also another real ale from one of the micro breweries would vastly improve the appeal of the pub to BITE readers.
I like the Fleur, it has a good feel to it now. Mainly due to the staff & the chef. Certainly worth a try.
My rating. 8.5
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Visited the Fleur this evening with my husband. I'm so glad to see that it is under new ownership.The place has a real country feel to it yet its very clean and tidy! The staff are really lovely and the food was outstanding! Defiantly going to be our new local!
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After a good go by the last landlords at making the pub a success, it looks like the Fleur is no more. For rent sign has gone up.
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Beer in the evening is just as good as it is in the morning afternoon and night time. Don't be bothered by the previous landlords Nick and Co are simply brilliant and really know how to run a pub and have fun while serving great food and top quality beer and wine! Love it!
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As a local to Pilley for the last number of years I am very pleased to report that the Fleur de Lys is a completely transformed establishment. When I first came to the Forest it was talked about as a place to avoid at all costs, and I am happy to confirm that the complete opposite is now due. The pub has been completely transformed in the last 7 months or so, from what used to be an empty pub with an empty bar into a heaving meeting, eating and talking place for Boldre & Pilley. The stock of Ringwood, both Best & 49'er is some of the best I have ever tasted and the food ranging from simple sandwiches and pizzas for light meals to the usual pub classics and even Tapas being offered for the summer. All is well priced and makes much more sense (and lighter on the wallet) than another pub in Boldre (naming no names but there is only one). As a local, I am very proud to call the Fleur my pub of choice when wanting to pop out to say hello to friends and the landlord/lady Nick & Ally. Forget your worries and hearsay on the old Fleur, this is well and truely the new Fleur and well worth a visit!
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An excellent local pub! Since Nick & Ally took over the place at the end of 2011 they place has taken on a new lease of life, not in some years has the village had such a community center.
Also with a well kept cellar with Ringwood Best and 49'er on tap, friendly staff and friendly locals it is a welcoming haunt to anyone passing. The food boasts the usual pub classics, bar snacks and sandwiches as well as some boasting some extremely pleasant local produce on the specials boards and some non pretentious snacks for those in a hurry.
Prices are still quite high, but in line with the rest of the area.
The bar area has recently been renovated and both it and the dining area have roaring fires in the winter. The garden is currently being redeveloped and we look forward to seeing how it develops!
mablj - 20 Mar 2012 12:17 |
Dropped in here to see if it had changed, used to be awful, now definitely a 'locals' pub, you know the type- stared at when you walk in and locals go quiet, bar peopled with customers who all obviously know each other well. My husband appreciates well kept beer and says his was ok but not worth a second one, which I was pleased about as I felt very uncomfortable. Quick look at meals, looked to be pizzas and tortilla plates so not our kind of place anyway. May be a nice meeting place if you are local but certainly not for us.
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The Fleur de Lys is now under new management/owners. My husband and I live in Pilley and due to unfavourable reviews from neighbours we had avoided the pub for the past two years, however since the new couple arrived we have visted many times in the past couple of months (maybe 5 or 6) and have been very impressed each time. The new landlord and landlady are very welcoming and friendly, the food is fantastic and there is a really nice atmosphere. The food is well priced and all homemade. We now feel very lucky to have the Fleur de Lys on our doorstep although our waistline thinks otherwise!
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Cost us �9.30 for a pint of 49er & 2 coffees. Seems extortionate to me. Though the landlady was actually quite polite this time unlike our previous visit when we were not made very welcome. Don't dare sit at a dinner table unless you are DEFINITELY going to eat!
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The return of the village pub! At last this has reverted back to what it used to be - a pub, not a fake gastropub. A seperate room to drink without having to eat. Get back in there.
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Claims to be the oldest pub in the New Forest and looks quite nice from the outside. The look carries on OK inside, but the service and food don't reflect the exterior. It is cramped with only tables for food and no real bar / pub style area to drink at. The 'bar' food was overpriced and of poor quality. The service was very slow and staff offhand; I overheard the manager being quite rude to complaining customers - and there were a few of those within earshot! I agree with 'fourforestfriends' that there are better alternatives not too far away - certainly try those first! This very old pub could be really something, if it were better managed.
Jon_P - 14 Mar 2009 23:02 |
We visited on the 9th Mar 09 for a Sunday Dinner. In the first instance the pub looked really nice, signs up outside said Good home cooked food at reasonable prices, but very different inside. Once you are sat down we had a menu given for Sunday lunch, �16.95 2 courses and �23 for 3 courses. Not cheap considering choices for the main course are, roast beef, liver and bacon, gammon and eggs !!! So cheap food inflated price. We had 3 children with us knew we couldn�t now afford at these prices to pay for them to so we ordered the soup starters for the children and we just had the main courses. I had the beef, which was tough, and mass produced as the 2 slices I got where perfectly cut and the same thickness throughout so not hand carved, as was every other beef that came out of the kitchen, the potatoes where hard, and the vegetables over cooked and not drained, the Yorkshire pudding cold and stodgy. My husband and friend had a chicken pie, not a real pie but a tiny dish with 2 - 3 mouthfuls of filling and a uniform pie top, again served with watery vegetables. The soup the children ate was Carrot & Coriander, again this was a mass produced effort, insipid and tasteless and served with a cook from frozen roll. Now had I paid �6 for my meal I wouldn�t be upset but I paid �16.95 a huge price tag. When we came to pay the bill it had come to �74.28!!!! For 3 Adults and 3 under 4 year olds? The meals at �16.95 came to �50.85 so a whopping �23.43 was charged for our drinks, incredible considering we had 1 x coke, 2 x orange and lemonade and 3 x fruit shoots for the kids, that was it, no wine or beer, no refills just one drink with an average price of �3.90 So overall I would say be careful about eating here on a Sunday, check the drink prices carefully. I for one would not eat here again on a Sunday or any day for that matter.
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Went with three friends a couple of months back and were disappointed. Its a weird atmosphere, not really a pub, more just like an austere dining room. Its a shame, it being such an old building and the New Forest's Oldest Pub that it hasn't got any warmth of charm left it in. Staff are a bit awkward, and the food is overpriced. �3.50 for a cappucino is absurd for the New Forest. The French chef does cook reasonably well, but it is probably over-ambitious and over-priced for the setting. Plenty of better places nearby - the East End Arms or the Red Lion at Boldre being decent places to eat in the immediate vicinity which will set you back about half as much as eating here for similar quality.
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cannot agree with plumbpudding. the beer here is really badly kept. we opted to leave and pop to the red lion just down the road. happened to be special pie and pudding night, very busy, but they fitted us in and we had the best venison pie ever, they wouldnt disclose the recipe but it was yummy. very friendly there-completely different to the fleur-de-lys attitude!
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It's a shame what has happened to this once unique pub. I worked there for a while in the late 80's and it was a fantastic place to drink, not too sure about the food back then, but the beer was excellent. It made me sad to see the Fleur in it's new form. The same fate as many traditional forest pubs, catering for the up-market crowd and ignoring the locals, a crime.
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A fact: the is the worst pub experience I have ever had. My Wife and I went for lunch. We only wanted one simple course each. The barmaid insisted we could only have a full set meal - we weren't even allowed to share a starter between us before a main course. We capitulated and reluctantly odered our meals. We later discovered that others (maybe regulars) had been offered a bar food menu - much the same as our set meals only about half the price. The staff were extremely rude - and scruffy. The chef deserves some credit - the food was OK, but over ambitious perhaps. All the other guests seemed equally dismayed - except one who I overheard saying to his parents that he had discovered this place on beerintheevening. I was horrified - as a regular user of this site I could not imagine any positive feedback to this place. I have since heard that it has had recurring H&S 'issues' in the kitchen but can't confirm. Maybe someone else can post info on this front. In any case, I would steer well clear.
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This is now a Gastro Pub - beer is excellent though
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We happened upon this place at the weekend (April 2007) and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We ate out in the garden, which was small but well kept, tables provided plenty of room for four people and were comfortably spaced. The menu was not "pub food", think of it more as a restaurant that serves ale. Given the preceeding comments on this site, I also need to add that we found the staff very pleasant and helpful. We would definitely return and so long as your not looking for "Chicken in the basket", I'd have no hesitation recommending you give it a go to.
rag_d - 30 Apr 2007 09:11 |
Visited this pub/restaurant between Christmas and New Year with a few friends. The service was slow, the sandwiches were overpriced �7.00 for a Beef sandwich and we were made to feel really uncomfortable by the waiter and told to wait to order another drink. Will not be returning,
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This place has really improved since the new owners took over in Nov 2006. We had a fantastic meal here in the new year and would highly recommend it. The food is a cut above the usual pub fare, friendly service, spotless facilities. Its a lovely warm and welcoming little pub.
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It was one of those places trying to be something it wasn't, and, although the food was very good, at �14.95 for calves liver, I expected vegetables to be included. No atmosphere, coupled with hostile service dictate my never returning.
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Way too expensive, totally agree. London prices for a chintzy pub??? Try the crown in everton thats what it should be like. A poor effort.
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Nice pub, food is too expensive, owner has had 4 head chefs since august 2005 and has been cautioned by the environmental health officer in january 2006. I would think carefully before eating here!
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Nice, relaxed county pub, really good beer and great food.
anonymous - 21 Apr 2005 10:02 |
