Hampshire, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This “quietly excellent” destination inhabits a 600-year-old building five minutes’ from the city centre, and has operated as a restaurant for over 75 years (the current owners took over in 2008). It is second only to Rick Stein locally in terms of the amount of feedback it generates thanks to offering a “very high standard in everything”: “the setting is classical yet relaxed; service is discreet and effective; and the cuisine elegant and well-prepared”. “I am delighted that such restaurants still exist – there are so few like this”. Top Menu Tip – “the lunch and early evening menu is exceptional value”.

“Part of the Fuller’s group but a cut above the city’s other pubs”, this famous boozer with rooms (betwixt Cathedral and college) is a “wonderfully atmospheric” spot that’s “the spiritual heir to Orwell’s ‘Moon Under Water’, or ideal public house”. For non-literary types that means “a varied clientele, with some eccentrics”, “a series of cosy and pleasantly cluttered rooms… convivial rather than noisy; no music or TV; and staff who are amiable and helpful”. The food, helmed by 2022 Roux Scholarship semi-finalist Luke Emmess, was consistently well-rated this year.

The national brand’s handy High Street perch is “THE place to have breakfast or brunch” locally, attracting uniformly positive reports this year. “The food is on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for” and despite being “always busy”, it’s “still somehow always able to deliver”, with “excellent service” from the “polite and efficient” staff.

2021 Review: “The garden’s a joy in summer” at the original HdV, founded 25 years ago in a gorgeous Georgian house – but there’s a persistent feeling that it fails to live up to its attractive setting or extensive cellar, with diners too often “disappointed” by their bistro fare. The chain, which now numbers 19 boutique hotels, has been sold twice in the last 10 years.

2021 Review: “A classical set-up with comfy armchairs and a roaring fire, tea served with sandwiches, scones, jam, cream and cakes – this picturesque country house hotel takes us plebs all back to a bygone age” and is very highly recommended for afternoon tea. Feedback on more ambitious fare in its plush dining room was a little more up-and-down last year and relatively limited, coinciding with the departure of highly rated exec chef Andrew Birch after only two years. His replacement, Phil Yeomans, returns after leaving as head chef in 2014.

“Your standard pub this is definitely not” – in fact it’s “quite likely one of the best places to eat in the Winchester area” – a “quintessential Victorian village pub” updated six years ago with a “large, modern dining area” offering a “monthly, small and very well considered menu” along with “excellent service”.

2022 Review: “Have a lovely walk to work up an appetite” before visiting this laidback brick-walled boozer on the River Meon, handy for the South Downs Way, and with a “very nice little garden down by the brook”. To make sure of enjoying its “great” pubby staples “you need to book – even midweek – as it’s very popular”.

In a “beautiful setting on the Test” in prime fly-fishing territory, Lucy Townsend’s decade-old hotel inspires strong feedback as both a romantic destination and a top dining pub. The “British-style food with nods to the Orient” is uniformly well-rated and abetted by “confident and skilled” service (they’re equally “welcoming to dogs, with generous treats included”). “I very rarely, if ever, say this but I couldn’t fault it!” Top Tip – the courtyard is “absolutely perfect for quality outdoor eating”.

2021 Review: “TerraVina’s resurrection” – “in its new guise as a boutique B&B and café” – “has become a real favourite in the beautiful New Forest”. Founder Gerard Basset, the famed wine expert behind the original Hotel du Vin, died in January 2019 after a two-year fight against cancer, and his widow Nina has kept the business going. There are “no evening meals now, but breakfasts and lunches are splendid” and “in summer it’s lovely to sit in the garden”.

“The setting is off the charts” at the New Forest original of Robin Hutson’s shabby-chic country house hotel group (which was sold to private equity in late 2022) – “a beautiful manor house with incredible gardens and a fascinating, walled kitchen garden”. “Finally made it here for my wife’s birthday this year: we’ll definitely be returning!”. The food (better rated this year) is generally considered “fine” or better, albeit “with the continuous expansion of the chain, the meals become a little more hotel-like – though we certainly enjoyed our visit”.

2021 Review: “So quirky and friendly”, “and the food is great too” at this smart pub-with-rooms geared up for huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ in the Hampshire countryside. Top Tip: “Go for the scrumptious dessert of beer cake and apple ice cream”.

This “pleasant” and “airy” bistro on the seafront has shaken up its offering thanks to new head chef Adam Maker, who has introduced small plates and ambitious locally sourced cuisine alongside ongoing fixtures such as the “excellent fish ’n’ chips” and pizzas. Oenophiles are also well served as “in partnership with Camber Wines, there’s plenty of choice for all tastes and budgets” when it comes to the tipples.

In 2019, locally born chef Gary Pearce and his wife Martyna took over this well-established restaurant-with-rooms right on Emsworth harbour from Ramon & Karen Farthing, who had developed it into one of the South Coast’s better-known dining options over two decades. Gary’s “complex and innovative cooking” – honed in top kitchens including Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham and Belgium’s De Wulf – scored consistently well this year, if on somewhat limited feedback.

“Satisfyingly simple and unpretentious” – the verdict on Lawrence & Julia Murphy’s long-running (est. 2000) and “rustic” venture in a cute, seventeenth-century fisherman’s cottage, on the road down to the quay; the “varied menu” features “plenty of fresh fish, beautifully prepared and served” and coming “at a reasonable price” to boot.

2022 Review: Sailor-turned-entrepreneur Ed Collison set up his popular venue at Emsworth yacht basin at the age of 21 in 2016, serving everything from £4.50 bacon breakfast rolls to a splash-out seafood platter for two at £120 a pop. During lockdown he launched a fleet of silver catering vans, and in November 2021 announced a new branch of the Deck, replacing the Boat House Café, at Gosport marina.

A “great little spot” in what was once a courthouse – though it’s not necessarily evident from the façade or the rustic interior either; the “husband-and-wife team (Nathan and Evi Marshall) work well together”, and the modern European food “continues to improve”, making it “a welcome addition to an area surprisingly thin on exceptional restaurants”.

2023 Review: “Always reliable, serving exceptional food for a village pub”, say fans of Dave Watts’s rural inn, where classic pub dishes jostle on the menu with somewhat more ambitious fare. Top Tip – “the plat du jour is unbelievable value!”