please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Looks to be a Fullers managed house. Good beers on offer the HSB was great! Small, awkward car park. A favourite with tourists. Worth a visit but be warned, it''s more of a eating house than a pub.
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Very good speedy service yesterday and the doorstep sandwiches proved too much for us (they needed to be a sizeable portion at nearly £9 each). We hadn't been able to reserve a table (you can't book between 12-4 on a Sunday apparently) but fortunately there were a couple of tables vacant outside even though the sun was belting down. A very handy pitstop for the many cyclists there (which included us). Can't comment on the ales as it was Cornish Orchards Gold Cider all round on our table.
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As others have stated, this pub is very much food led, and also very popular, it was extremely busy at midday on the Saturday that I called in.
Despite other comments here, they were quite happy to serve me at the bar (I wasn't eating), and it was great to see a good range of beers served straight from the barrel.
It appeared to be very efficiently run and the staff were all very pleasant.
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I have used this pub? on & off for over 40 years. It's popularity with visitors has meant they have maximised the amount of tables to make the most of this. It is now very overcrowded & it can be quite a job getting out to go to the loo if you are unlucky enough to be sat against the wall.
I don,t like beer being served to the table, it feels like they are trying to control the clients. But then they obviously don't want drinkers clogging up the bar, space after all is at a premium.
Not for me any more, it is now a restaurant with prices to match.
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Very good. I agree with all previous recent reviews. High standards are evident in all respects. Excellent staff. Very good beer quality. My only complaint, apart from prices, is that is in danger of being restaurant than pub. They should watch that. I prefer to get my own beer from the bar, not least to check what they are doing, rather than have it waitress -delivered charming and attractive as she was.
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Very busy when we arrived at 12-45. Nevertheless we were quickly served by cheerful efficient staff. Quick service did not mean microwave because from my seat in the garden I could see the food being freshly prepared. My Fullers summer ale and food were of excellent quality. Perhaps not the cheapest place to eat but on the other hand quality is always worth that little bit extra.
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We arrived early, and found all tables but two had RESERVED signs on them. A helpful waitress (one of many) offered us a choice of table and brought the beer to our table. My HSB served from a barrel behind the bar was in fine condition. The soup was excellent, and the waitress service was fast and attentive as would befit a restaurant, which is what this pub has become in all but name. Prices were a bit higher than usual, but the previous comments together with the pub atmosphere probably justifies it. We'll be back, nevertheless.
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Excellent food and excellent service
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Excellent food and excellent service
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A very good place indeed. It's friendly, has a good range of drink and has excellent food (the sandwiches ARE enormous) and for the size of the portions, it's not all that bad. Probably more for "diners" than for "drinkers". Parking near it can be difficult, as the pub's own car park is fairly small and it gets full very easily. The pub can get very crowded with walkers. Too bad it doesn't serve New Forest cider, though. 7/10
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Charming little pub, that serves good food and drinks. Found the food menu a little pricey. On the whole a very nice forest pub. Would recommend it.
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A very pleasant country pub a mile or so south of Lyndhurst. It�s attractive both inside and out, with a traditional low ceiling, wooden floor and a large fire-place. Staff seemed pleasant enough, and there is a good sized garden, much of it covered either with umbrellas or a large straw roof.
There was an extensive food menu and a specials board, although it struck me as a bit on the pricey side. That�s probably par for the course around these parts when all your customers are either tourists or well healed local�s but �19 for a couple of rounds of sandwiches and two pints does seem a bit steep even if it was very nice, and as others have said a bit unusual.
Beers were all served straight from barrels racked up behind the bar and were Gales Seafarer and HSB, Fuller�s London Pride and Butcombe. The solitary cider was Aspall�s Suffolk.
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Extremely popular country pub. Picturesque exterior, and excellent gardens. Interior slightly over-refurbished so veering on pastiche traditional; but not catastrophically so.
Beers on gravity - Fullers/ Gales - were in tip top nick.
Food very good; and some off-the-wall offers, such as Perch. Not any more expensive than this kind of establishment; but better value than many of my acquaintance.
Gets incredibly busy, so book if wanting lunch etc, especially on a nice day.
Apart from all the above positives, what really stood out here was superb, friendly, fast service - even when heaving. First rate for that alone.
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Halfway round a circular walk from Brockenhurst we dropped in for a pint and surprisingly managed to get a table and decided to remain for lunch. The door step crab and crayfish sandwiches were excellent and also good value, as was the ale served from the 4 kegs propped up at the rear of the bar.
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Very much a 'gastropub' so if that's your bag then I'm sure this place will tick all the right boxes. As I only stopped for a quick couple of pints I felt somewhat out of place but staff were friendly enough and beer perfectly acceptable. Beautiful setting.
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Great place in a nice setting but very very busy whenever we've visited on a Sunday lunchtime. Normally there's well kept Fuller's beers, nice food and good service. Although last time a pint of Butcombe Bitter I had was a bit flat and past its best but when I took it back I had to pay for the replacement Gales HSB .
A pity there is not a spring to gently close the front door because more than half the people who almost continuously come in and go out are incapable of shutting it leading to a gale blowing through the place at times.
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This is an excellent pub.
Perhaps the best in the New Forest.
Yes - it gets very busy at lunch on a fine summers day, but they somehow manage to cope and it is always worth the wait.
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Very nice country pub. and really busy when we visited.
Good vegetarian food -- even offered vegetarian herb cakes which were in addition to general menu.
Good quality salad -- really green, helpfu; staff.
Will definately visit again.
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What a great pub. Good beer, fantastic food, friendy helpful staff. Only problem is its too busy!
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Well it was my first visit to this pub tonight and I am not sure if the ownership has changed since the previous reports but I would rate this as probably the best pub in the New Forest (I have visited most in my time).
Good selection of Fullers/Gales real ales.
Very polite staff.
Good smoking area outside.
Very nice decor full of New Forest character.
Dogs allowed in (vital for a lot of people visiting the area)
The best point..the food!!!!
I can quite honestly say it was the best pub restaurant food I have eaten in many a year.
The duck breast in plum sauce was superbly cooked and my better half was in total rapture over her king prawns and the profiteroles which followed.
I will be visiting again soon to double check but first impressions are that this is a great place.
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A nice old fashion looking cosy pub with a warm fire next to the bar serving a good selection of real ale.
We had arrived on a Saturday lunch time just as they started serving so our experience was the staff were friendly and helpful, the food was OK but not a reason to go out of your way to go there. The beer selection was good and from the ones we tried and were kept well so that is a good reason to go there!
Good location for walking and cycling but I do remember 2 years ago when I went there the food being better. As we left the place had filled up so it seemed popular and good enough beer that I will go back!
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Interesting post by cbutler.
The current owners, will tell you they run a restaurant, not a pub and the service here can be shocking.
Good choice of beers, packed in summer and most Sunday lunchtimes. I go here maybe half a dozen times a year, usually after cycling and I sometimes wonder why (well the beer's good)
I think it's gone backwards since the new people took over (new, in latest incumbents)
The food isn't too bad, although the crab I had the other week wasn't brilliant.
Staff appear to have a high turn-over rate, which might explain the erratic service.
Too many tables in the garden.
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On the whole a great pub. They keep a good range (up to 5) of real ales, usually Ringwood bitter and Hop Back Summer Lightning and 3 other local inde beers. All served on gravity so no fizzy top. If you like fish the menu is excellent. Lots of choice incl unusual "species" cooked "a point". Karen, who owns and ensures the smooth running of the place is a gem. Book a table for the later part of the evening and its yours for as long as you like, or take pot luck. From the notices on the gate bikes are not very welcome so must have had a bad experience some time. The New Forest Inn is now also under the same ownership as this pub, which cannot be a bad thing. I have never failed to enjoy a visit to this pub.
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Often busy - good beer, sandwiches good value - hot food expensive and boring. Average
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I visited The Oak Inn at Bank a couple of weeks ago with three friends and my two year old god-daughter - but what I had hoped to be a relaxing, post-walk meal, turned out to be the worst and rudest service I have ever encountered in a pub or restaurant! When we arrived I have to say we were greeted warmly by the bar staff who were very friendly and helpful, we ordered our starters and mains and settled down to soak up the cosy atmosphere. Within a staggering five minutes of being seated two of our main courses arrived. I politely explained that we had ordered starters and could we please have these first. The waitress apologised and returned to the kitchen. To my bewilderment, moments later however, our main courses were returned along with our starters by a scond lady who I later discovered to be the landlady. She started putting the starter and mains on the table and I again politely explained that there had been a mistake and that we had expected our starters and mains seperately. She replied in the most surly of manners, that as we hadn't specifed that we wanted our starters and mains seperately, we had to have them at the same time. Here I have to ask - isn't it obvious that when you order an item from the starter menu and an item from the main courses, that unless SPECIFIED you would like them to arrive SEPERATELY, and preferably in the correct order!? Apparently not. When asked if she could please take our mains back to the kitchen to keep warm while we ate our also warm starters- she became extremely agitated and shouted 'NO YOU CAN'T' at the same time as quite literally shoving our food before us. I cannot tell you how shocked I was! And partly due to this shock and partly because I didn't wish to cause a scene in front of my god-daughter, my friend and I started to eat our meals. Meanwhile, my other two equally flabberghasted friends along with the extremelly patient two year old, waited for their own starters to arrive for a further 20 minutes (we had already finished our food)and no apology or explanation provided. Somewhat ironically, these were then followed SEPERATELY by their main courses. We ate our meals in virtual silence, seething and yet not wishing to cause a scene - in hindsight I wish I had. I couldn't even tell you if the food was any good as I had quite lost my apetite following the way we had been treated. I have been a resident of the forest (Brockenhurst) my whole life and had wanted to take my non-resident friends for a nice meal to show off how lovely the area is. Instead we were met with the most horrendously discourteous service, which was humiliating, wholly unprovoked and unwarranted. As a reasonable person I can quite accept a confusion over an order - an apology and the reheating of my main course would have sufficed. But being spoken to with such contempt for expecting the absolute basics of customer service is beyond belief! The Oak Inn at Bank is a lovely pub - the kind of place that is perfect for encouraging the much needed tourists and other visitors to the forest, whose custom is needed to keep these areas thriving. Unfortunately however, it is one establishment I would never recommend anyone to visit - quite simply on the grounds that I wouldn't wish anyone to think that this kind of behaviour was par for the course in The New Forest.
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Well worth a visit. Dogs permitted too. The food is enjoyable and tasty. Pine seems to be the main wood in the place - not oak. Upholstered milk churns at the bar provide comfy seating. Generally a nice atmosphere. Week end lunchtimes are popular and sometimes crowded.
anonymous - 7 Apr 2004 10:23 |
