Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Romford
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Romford restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 26 restaurants in Romford and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Romford restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Romford Restaurants
1. The Jetty
British, Modern restaurant in Christchurch
95 Mudeford - BH23
This “top spot” – a modern, glass-walled venue with a terrace for outdoor dining at a “lovely location on Christchurch Harbour” (in the grounds of the Harbour Hotel and with superb views) – is an ideal showcase for chef Alex Aitken’s “consistently high-quality, locally sourced seafood”.
3. Chewton Glen
British, Modern restaurant in New Milton
Chewton Glen Rd - BH23
“Five-star service and food on the South Coast”, say fans of this “special” venue – a famous Relais & Châteaux property, set in gorgeous grounds on the edge of the New Forest and 30 minutes’ drive from Bournemouth: the “perfect hotel to be spoilt in with its lovely summery restaurant and first-class staff”. Perennial gripes about high prices here were absent this year, and Luke Matthews’s cuisine won nothing but praise. Top Tip – “The lunch menu is very good value”; and “the quality and quantity of afternoon tea here is so very impressive – we didn’t need dinner!!”
5. Arbor Restaurant, The Green House Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Bournemouth
4 Grove Rd - BH1
A central wood installation of a tree helps add validity to the name of this seaside hotel dining room. Chef Andy Hilton produces a relatively upmarket brasserie menu framed around ‘bay, barn and butcher’ and results are consistently well-rated.
6. Cambium
British, Modern restaurant in Brockenhurst
Lyndhurst Rd - SO42
2023 Review: ‘Dylan James’s dishes pay homage to the British countryside, and embrace the nature of the seasons’ – well that’s what the website says! – at this “lovely restaurant in a beautiful hotel”: a New Forest destination that started life as a royal hunting lodge and is nowadays a luxurious spa complex. Reports in our annual diners’ poll agree, all of them applauding its attractive, light interior and brasserie food from an all-day menu that’s “carefully cooked, and good value”.
7. Chez Fred
Fish & chips restaurant in Bournemouth
10 Seamoor Rd - BH4
This “fantastic family-run” chippy, now in its 35th year under three generations of the Capel family, serves “some of the best fish ’n’ chips to be found anywhere” – and is “a model of consistency”. Top Tip – head for the “value meals: ‘Fred’s finest’ or ‘Fred’s feast’ are very well priced”, with “endless chips”.
8. The Three Lions
British, Modern restaurant in Stuckton
Stuckton Rd - SP6
2022 Review: “Amazing food and friendly service” characterise this “impressive” restaurant on the edge of the New Forest, run for more than 20 years by chef Mike Womersley (ex-Lucknam Park) and his wife Jayne. “The ambience has been transformed by a refurbishment – a welcome surprise since our last visit”.
9. The Museum Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Farnham
2023 Review: This “brilliant thatched country pub” has “lots of game dishes” on its menu – appropriately enough for a traditional establishment in the historical hunting landscape of Cranborne Chase. “Vegetarians and vegans are well provided for” too, while there’s also a “well-stocked bar with local ales and a reasonably priced wine list”.
10. WestBeach
Fish & seafood restaurant in Bournemouth
Pier Approach - BH2
2022 Review: “Top-notch fish, chips and alternatives” plus a “lovely location” not far from the centre of town make this modern seaside café a good choice for breakfast or lunch, with stunning views from the terrace.
11. The Kings Arms Hotel
restaurant in Christchurch
18 Castle Street - BH23
A good position in the town centre and on the River Avon only adds to the appeal of this substantial Georgian property – nowadays a luxurious four-star hotel. The restaurant is overseen by Alex Aitken of the nearby Jetty and provides some surprisingly affordable options, including “a daily changing £17.50 two-course market menu with ingredients sourced within 15 miles”. (Some change may be afoot, though, as in June 2023 the owners since 2005 put the property on the market.)
12. Captain's Club Hotel & Spa
British, Modern restaurant in Christchurch
Wick Ferry, Wick Lane - BH23
2023 Review: “A wonderful waterside location” is the crown jewel feature of this “relaxed and unhurried” modern hotel dining room – the location overlooking boats on the Stour “makes the restaurant a romantic venue and if weather permits being seated outside is a bonus”. “Lovely food” too – “well presented and reasonably priced”.
13. Restaurant Roots
British, Modern restaurant in Southbourne
141 Belle Vue Road - BH6
“Still blown away with Jan & Stacey’s ability to deliver top-quality food and service” is a typical report on the Bretschneiders’ very focused small restaurant, now in its ninth year. Berlin-born Jan’s “very personal” tasting menu (eight courses for £95 per person, or twelve courses for £150 per person), which is also available in a “wonderful veggie version”, comes “with notes about his childhood that led to the thought process behind the dish”. The couple have also opened the more casual (but still ambitious) Cork & Lobster next door.
14. Les Mirabelles
French restaurant in Nomansland
Forest Edge Rd - SP5
“Fab French food in the middle of nowhere” – on the edge of the New Forest – has won a devoted fan club for Claude Laage’s establishment, now 30 years old and an “all-time favourite restaurant” to many for its “wonderful Gallic experience” and “superb wine list”. You can also eat inexpensively here, from its ‘Le Frog bistro’ menu – same space and servers but much less fancy Gallic fare.
15. Branksome Beach
British, Modern restaurant in Poole
Pinecliff Rd - BH13
2022 Review: A “beautifully situated restaurant” in an Art Deco solarium overlooking Poole Harbour, and where “drinks on the upper deck are an extra delight”. One or two off reports on the food front this year, but also plenty of plaudits for its “really good breakfasts and lunches”, and “service has improved” of late too.
16. The Guildhall Tavern
Fish & seafood restaurant in Poole
15 Market Street - BH15
2023 Review: This gorgeous old tavern on a corner site near the harbour – newly spiffed-up last autumn and with the recent addition of a conservatory – specialises in “excellent-quality” local seafood, served in a warm atmosphere that is “like being in France”.
17. The Kitchen at Chewton Glen
British, Modern restaurant in New Milton
Chewton Farm Road - BH23
“Showing that the food doesn’t have to be fancy to be good” – fans applaud the “great menu of varied choices” in the relaxed alternative eatery of this famous country-house hotel, whose menu line-up includes posh burger and pizza options. The addition was completed a few years ago and is an attractive modern space with pitched roof, whose features include views over the kitchen gardens, an outdoor terrace and a cookery school overseen by James Martin. An “ideal venue for a special occasion – expensive, but worth it”.
18. Cafe Diwali
Indian restaurant in Salisbury
90 Crane Street - SP1
2022 Review: “Consistently good and authentic street food” with “lots of extras” ensure a “very different Indian experience” at Muhammed Rasheed’s five-year-old, close to the cathedral. There’s a shaded patio out the back and craft beer available.
19. Anokaa
Indian restaurant in Salisbury
60 Fisherton St - SP2
“Brilliant, delicately spiced food – in decent portions and well priced” – has established Farsi Solman’s “really good Indian” as one of Salisbury’s prime dining destinations over more than 20 years. “No wonder you must book”.
20. Rick Stein
Fish & seafood restaurant in Sandbanks
10-14 Banks Rd - BH13
You can hang with the local mansion-owners and beachgoers at this Poole Harbour outpost of the Stein empire, which has a brilliant location overlooking the water. It inspired less feedback this year than its stablemates, hence we’ve left it unrated.
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