Waterloo Arms, Lyndhurstback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Did a good real cider ('Rabbit' something) and my vegan wife approved of the range of vegan dishes on offer. My beefburger was good. Large garden.
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I can't better any of the descriptions of this attractive thatched pub, I found it very welcoming. Only stopped for a beer, Ringwood Bitter, which was on good form, so I can't comment on the food.
It is a bit hidden away but worth seeking out as it's not too far from the centre of Lyndhurst. It does have a reasonably good sized car park, unlike a lot of the pubs in the area.
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Went for a drink, the 49 was in good condition. Nice atmosphere in the bar area, there were plenty of dining patrons on a Saturday night in the eating area. However, the menu was not extensive, prices were higher than I expected and I was unable to judge the quality of food or standard of service. OK for a quiet pint.
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15 July 2012. Sunday late lunchtime, with my daughter (13). It's an attractive place, both inside and out. Although it wasn't overly busy, it took an age to get served with some drinks. Pint of Ringwood 49er, and a large coke. "That's seven pounds forty." Cough, splutter. The coke -- not from a bottle but just the usual squirty dispenser -- was �3.65. Fortunately I was able to put it on a tab. Back to the table. The 49er was lovely. So, to choose some the food.
The range on offer wasn't exactly extensive, and only the Sunday Roast (beef, lamb, chicken, pork, nut) was under a tenner (at �9.95). (There was a small chalkboard on the bar informing me what the soup, pie and curry of the day were, but not how much.) Call me old fashioned, but I begrudge paying evening meal prices for lunch, so two roast beef it was. Oh well, it'd better be good, I thought.
Back to the bar. When after another age the girl finally got to me again -- poor love was rushed off her feet with one other customer -- I was redirected to the food hatch area of the bar about six foot away round the corner (which to be fair had a clear sign... above it, and it was hidden from where we were). Another wait for a different girl to show up and take our order. She, however, couldn't do me another pint, so back to the main bar I went for a bit more standing around.
Finally seated, we waited for the food. And waited. This was, remember, the tail end of a Sunday lunchtime, we were ordering a standard Sunday roast, and the place wasn't heaving. How long to put some beef on a plate? (I estimate that, including my hanging around at the bar, the answer is 'just over half an hour'.)
Delivered by a waitress who was completely on autopilot (or just plain vacant), the food finally arrived, and we could see where our money went. On the place's pretension. Large white square plate, food decorated with a sprig of flat leaf parsley. Two slices of beef, two soggy roast potatoes (well, two pieces -- between us, I think we got a whole potato). And, in a novel twist on the traditional Sunday roast beef, there was also a pork chipolata and small slabs of two types of stuffing -- sage and onion, and something sausage-meat-ish. Balanced precariously on top was a plate-dominating, dried-up Yorkshire pudding, which the small puddle of gravy on the meat couldn't hope to moisten. More veg arrived in a separate boat-like dish: mashed swede, broccoli, carrot and new potatoes, all of which were hot and apparently fresh.
It was all reasonably tasty, but nothing to write home about; the beef, while far from tender, did at least yield to firm use of the blunt knife. But if the meal needs further review, I'll mention that my daughter is an absolute fiend for roast potatoes, regularly munching down what looks like her body weight in them at home. She left one of her two pieces.
Since nobody asked if everything was okay, the opportunity for more desperately needed gravy never arose. I suppose I could have waited at the bar...
The loos, surprisingly for a fair sized establishment, were extremely 'compact and bijou', and lacked hot water.
So in short: highly disappointing. Good beer, but mediocre overpriced food and lackadaisical service. If you fancy an ale, go for it. For any other reason, I'd try somewhere -- anywhere -- else.
3/10, for the well-kept beer.
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Extremely poor service, accompanied by pretty inedible overpriced food. This is the kind of place that lets down British tourism. Avoid
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This is a great looking thatched pub just a couple of minutes walk from the centre of the village, but slightly off the beaten track. It�s well worth taking the trouble to track it down. The rustic country pub look continues inside with an pleasant bar at the front of the pub with part exposed brick and part wood panelled walls, a large fire place and plenty of farm implements around the place. There�s a couple of leather sofa�s as well as wooden tables and it�s a great place to while away an hour or two.
The actual bar is quite small and I had to wait quite some time as they only had one person serving on a busy Sunday lunch time. Any more than two behind the bar would be impractical, but that would have been an improvement when there are several people waiting to be served. Locals and landlord all seemed friendly enough though.
There�s a good sized beer garden out the back with a good selection of tables and benches, many of them covered with gazebos and umbrellas. Unfortunately there were rather too many wasps buzzing around to make it a relaxing place to supp your pint. Clearly this is an ongoing problem as there was a wasp trap hanging in the trees, but evidently it wasn�t getting enough of the blighters. There are also a couple of benches out the front of the pub. There�s a separate restaurant area at the back, which didn�t have quite the same cosy appeal as the front bar. The shiny white tablecloths in particular I thought looked rather odd.
There was an extensive menu that looked appealing, but was ultimately rather disappointing and expensive. I always think Ham, Egg & Chips is a good benchmark of a pub�s prices, and at �10.45 this one is certainly at the top of the scale. Mrs. Blackthorn�s lasagne initially appeared reasonable value at around �8.50, but it needed plenty of seasoning added and could have done with being a bit hotter. My �Jamaican� chicken curry was an interesting dish with coconut, cashew nuts and dried apricots added, but was not such a generous portion and had far more rice than chicken. That was well over-priced at �12.50 I thought. Obviously they get plenty of tourists in though and don�t have to worry too much. We returned Sunday evening and overheard the landlord telling one of the locals they had served 235 meals that day.
Beers on offer were Ringwood Best and Forty-niner plus Doom Bar. Good choice of ciders with Aspall�s Suffolk, Thatcher�s Gold and Thatcher�s Traditional.
So, in summary, if you want a pint in a very traditional, attractive country pub with a pleasant garden, check this out. I wouldn�t necessarily recommend making a special journey for the food though.
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We really like the interior of this very conveniently situated pub which we've visited twice in the last 6 months. The beer's good too, however the food does let it down, in particular the vegetarian options which are over priced and no better than I can produce at home - I'm not a good cook!
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Nice and quiet, lovely setting. Service poor, waiter was attentive to our needs but did not listen. Ordered two overpriced gammon steaks. Asked for one with an egg and one with pineapple. He did not write this down, when delivering meal he looked at plates and proudly said "it comes with both" I dont eat egg and husband does not eat pineapple we didn't want our food contaminated hence making the order. Belgium waffles rock hard in middle from being in microwave which we watched waiter do after cleaning table behind us.
Did have interesting menu including zebra and crocodile!
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I went here with my wife in September 2009 and had an excellent pint of HSB. The best pub we went to by far in Lyndhurst.
willf - 17 Sep 2009 08:10 |
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