Ball & Wicket in East Hampshire

Menu seems to have been reduced in terms of choice. Food was tasty but service was adequate.

Food is questionable. Steak requested medium, arrived well done. Large table order and each dish wasnt very good at all. Nothing really warrants a direct complaint at the time as on arrival it's obvious the food would be mediocre, just above weatherspoons standard (that's being nice) Fried eggs with the remnants of shell in them, for example! Service was prompt and very well humoured from an exceptionally nice lady. We didn't leave a tip because the food was so poor and side orders had to be requested twice before they arrived. £165 bill for our table, drinks included.

Really poor experience. I tried to book lunch on the phone three times - put through to an AI Bot which was useless. Then put through to a human but straight to ansa phone. Anyway, we chanced it and were turned away as they were not accepting ‘walk ins’ -no apology or flexibility. This was the forth time this has happened to us over approx a year. Last summer we had booked a table but asked to sit outside instead as it was a glorious day - told they were not serving meals in the garden!! Another booked Sunday lunch they forgot to place our order so we waited, and waited, and waited until eventually I complained and we finally got our lunch. A shame because we have had some lovely meals here but due to the haphazard/hit and miss nature of how it’s being managed it’s run out of chances! We won’t be back.

Good service and lovely choice of food.

We popped in for a quick drink while on a walk. Lovely staff, nothing too much trouble and sat in the garden. Driven past so many times and never been in. Sweet garden and would be a great place in summer!

Popped in for an impromptu drink this afternoon, having driven past 100s of times but never been in. We were really impressed; immaculate interior - very stylish and well put together, plus helpful and friendly staff. We’ll definitely come back, hopefully to eat next time too.

Booked for Sunday lunch at 3,45pm all went well until food arrived my meal steak and ale pie was edible apart from vegetables, My friends meal not so good vegetables uncooked could not cut the broccoli, expected roast potatoes, got boiled new potatoes, some were black and rotten properly will not return

Lovely atmosphere, staff were all really friendly and delivered service with a smile! Very impressed with the food- no doubt I will be back soon

Amazing! Highly recommend. We are visiting the local area, so booked a table online on a whim. Instantly pulled in by the aesthetics of this cosy pub. Staff very welcoming on arrival. Once seated, we were made aware that they will be a slight delay on food as they they were already quite busy (this was no issue as we could see how busy they were). Our drink order was taken and we didn't have to wait long for those to arrive. Our server then preceeded to take our food order and assured us that they would get it out to us as soon as possible, we insisted that it was not a problem and that we were happy to wait. When our food did arrive (within a good time scale) starters/mains and desserts were all fantastic, not a single complaint from any dish. Very clean facilities and well kept dining area. Atmosphere was warming and welcoming throughout. Cost of meal and drinks were around the average mark up of what you would typically find in this kind of establishment (affordable) all though for what they offer and the quality of food and service, I would have happily paid more. Will 100% visit again the next time we are in the area. Special thanks to our server "Emily" for her attention to detail, politeness, friendliness to us and our child. Always happy, smiling and gave great recommendations off the menu. Made the experience all the better. Thank you all for an amazing experience.

Always great food here and great venue. Came at a quieter time.

Lovely food, well presented too. Friendly staff, very efficient and quick service. Thankyou.

We had an event in the function room which was a delightful space for a party. Our meals were very tasty. Our server Reece was incredibly friendly and well spoken in his manner being extremely helpful through out the evening.

Huge shout out to all the staff at The Ball & Wicket. Booking a group get together is always a challenge but everyone was impressed with the food, and the brilliant service. A great experience and I would highly recommend.

We've been here a few times, lovely pub, large garden. Welcomes dogs & staff friendly. However, service was incredibly slow - not enough staff. We had a nice meal previously (fish & chips), we decided to go for Sunday lunch. Sadly it was awful,I had roast pork i can't say it was just one thing it was all of it, it wasn't hot, the Yorkshire pudding was inedible, roast potatoes tasted re-heated. Pork was very dry. However, my husband had Turkey which he enjoyed. I don't know if they had a different chef on duty but I wouldn't have a Roast dinner there again. I hope it was just a blip.

Fantastic service and food! We were looked after by Sharon who always came over with a smile and was really helpful! Food was above and beyond! We will definitely be back!

Emily was great! Lovely service and great atmosphere. Would definitely recommend.

Great breakfast here. Had to wait a bit to get coffee due to a lack of milk, but the moment it arrived we were offered it immediately.

Our whole experience was lovely. Owen was professional and courteous as usual. Will definitely be going again soon.

Extremely rude! Told no at half 8 on a Friday night. Manager didn’t care, waitress obviously had plans after her shift and didn’t want to serve us! Even asked if we booked a table even though it was near enough empty, the two of them obviously had a conversation about letting us eat. I will be reporting to head office, as someone who is a mystery dinner sometimes I really think you turned the wrong people away

EDIT. Back for a revisit in January 2025. The food was lovely but one of the male waiters had a big BO problem that lingered everywhere in the pub. Not pleasant at all. The food was good though. A big family gathering. A lovely evening. The pub was relatively quiet for Good Friday. I’ve only marked the food as a 4 as I felt the burger would have benefited from a small side salad, purely to enhance the look of the plate. It looked quite bland and as though no thought had gone into presentation. The taste was good but nothing special. I also gave a 4 as I asked for a lime and soda and despite staff telling me it was cloudy lime it definitely tasted of lemon. Not what I ordered or expected. After mentioning to the member of staff that it wasn’t what I ordered/expected there was no apology or offer to swap it. Ultimately I paid for a drink that wasn’t nice. Spicy chicken strips £6.79 a lot of money for 4 small pieces chicken and £15.79 for a crispy chicken burger that lacked presentation I thought was a bit over priced. Others at the table had the lamb shank shepherds pie for £23.99. Whilst I appreciate that lamb is expensive, potatoes aren’t and they were lacking in a decent amount of potato topping. We spent nearly £400 and came away slightly disappointed with the food. On a plus they are dog fry and the staff seemed to pay lots of attention to our 4 legged friends.

Unfortunately the pub had ran of cheese so quite a few dishes were off the menu when we visited, had a trio of fish which was superb

I needed to organise a group booking for a party of 17 at the end of January. I'd been to the the Ball & Wicket before and had been impressed and it was conveniently central for my group. I therefore visited and made the booking and was given the menu and asked to provide a list of menu choices ahead of time for my group. I sent a spreadsheet of all the group's choices via email in December. A few days before the booking I had to call the Ball & Wicket to make a minor change to the booking and whilst on the 'phone checked that they had received my choices spreadsheet. The guy in the 'phone confirmed he had and actually read out the list of the names in the group from the list. On the night we arrived and I was asked if I had sent a list of choices and was told that the place was under new management and they hadn't seen my email. They did find it after I gave them my email address. Fortunately I had a printed copy of the list which I gave them. Unfortunately many of the choices were not available so people had to find alternatives that were available before they could finalise the order. Whilst many in my party were very happy with the food I found my steak particularly tough. We were offered, and accepted, a drink on the house for everyone in my party because of the issues. I felt for the waitress dealing with us as she was obviously in an awkward position and did her best to deal with a situation not of her making and keep us happy as possible. I understand that a change of management can on occasion give rise to issues but do feel that, on this occasion, we received a less than a reasonably competent level of service.

My Fiancée and I had a Burns Night Date night and we were welcomed by Reece, the New Manager, who was absolutely amazing in taking us through what was on the menu. Extremely helpful throughout, will definitely be coming back!

LOVE LOVE LOVE - this place is honestly amazing, lovely food and super friendly staff, Emily is amazing, 10/10 would go again !

a gorgeous place , food was lovely and had some great service from emily, thank you!!

Love the ball and wicket it’s always got the best atmosphere. We were served by Emily she was very polite and helpful.

After waiting for more than an hour the food was cold and no fit to eat. The response of “So sorry” didn’t compensate for bad experience.

Sharon was amazing & very attentive

Lovely pub with good food and great service

Decent choice of food, particularly in the evening. Very tasty. Friendly service and dogs welcomed. Could do with a bigger choice of vegetarian. All told, good pub.

Just stopped for a drink, very pleasant atmosphere.

Great service from Andy. Loved the baked cheese board sharer and pork belly for main. Looking forward to dining here again!

Haven't been up here for over year since our bad experience last time thought we would go and see if things have changed and i can say they are worse ,whole pub could do with a bit of tidying up inside and out, pot holes in car park ,weeds place looks a mess. inside tables could do with good clean sticky,long wait for food under staffed, staff are helpful Thought we would give this pub another go been 6 years since our last visit which was terrible and I can safely say nothing has changed still a terrible experience so it will be another 6 years before we try it again

Went to the Ball and Wicket for a breakfast last week. Super friendly staff there, special mention to Andy and Owen. The food was superb, hot and of good quality. We'll definitely be back there and will be recomnending to friends.

Great food, friendly polite staff and lovely atmosphere

Brilliant service from the team. Have awkward food allergies and Andy and the chef sorted me out. Thanks very much

Starters were good, then it all went down hill, sadly. My Husbands mixed grill arrived with no steak. My chicken arrived very dry (pre-cooked chicken always is very dry!!). Seasonal salad on my plate was 8 pieces of dry rocket and one very thin slice of tomato, but the worst thing was the hair I found underneath my chips!! The Manager made the right decision and wiped our bill. However, I have to say, the staff here including the Manager deserve better from the company they work for. Chef and Brewer do not deserve such hard working and loyal staff!! Get your act together at the top (Regional Level) and it could be successful. Won’t be returning.

Beautiful restaurant and lovely staff. Great food. Very special meet and greet with Santa too.

We always have a great meal here and the added bonus is the pub is dog friendly! Our go to restaurant always!

Sorry but not impressed, only 2 out 3 meals turned up of which part of which the food was missing. One order totally missing . The ordered steak came well done and full of gristle even though ordered medium. The manager eventually ordered all new food x 3 and waved all due money. I was meeting a client to make an impression but I was very disappointed.

Had a great night last night Andy was great and made the evening a pleasant event

After avoiding the pub for a couple of years because of terrible food twice thought we would try again. Food was sooo good .Staff very efficient and friendly , the place being very busy. Will definitely be going again soon Julie Hall

Our Jaguar club meets every month here, yesterday we had our December meeting with a buffet laid on for 42 people, Andy the manager was great, nothing was too much trouble, his main concern was our enjoyment, cannot rate him and the team highly enough.

Really nice food reasonably priced excellent service

Four of us arrived on Sunday at mid day but had not booked because we had a power cut and no phone signal for over 20hrs. But all tables had been booked and so sadly we started to leave and we understood how busy they were. Then the Manager Andy caught us outside and said he would squeeze us in. We were so greatful for all his help and we sat and warmed up by an open fire to a lovely 2 course meal. So please can the owners keep Andy as the Manager, a real gem and a credit to the company.

Fabulous customer service from Sharon. She was very attentive and friendly.

Great food and wait times, really nice inside - Thank you to Josh and Liv for the amazing service

Large group of 13 for Christmas meal, absolutely amazing food. Sometimes you go for a Christmas meal for work etc and the food seems mass produced, ready meal quality. Not this place, from the starters to the dessert, it felt as though every plate of food had been personally looked after, the food also tasted fantastic. I'm going to come back after Christmas to try the usual menu, I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Andy and Owen were totally professional and very welcoming. Food was delicious

Big thanks to Andy and the team at The Ball and Wicket for hosting my father's 90th Birthday celebrations. A lovely buffet, a great space to celebrate and helpful staff. The winter ale was lovely too. A great experience.

Very efficient and friendly service, booked in advance as often busy this time of the year

Very friendly staff, great beer and nice food 😋

We stopped by the Ball & Wicket today on our way home and were warmly greeted by Andy upon arrival. Unfortunately, the restaurant was fully booked, which is completely understandable for a Saturday lunchtime. As we were about to leave, Andy went out of his way to catch us at our car and kindly offered us a spot at the bar if we were still interested. His thoughtfulness and effort truly stood out! The food was absolutely delicious, and the decor and atmosphere were just as impressive. A special thanks to Andy for his warmth, kindness, and incredible hospitality—it made all the difference in our experience. We’ll definitely be back. Thank you!

Amazing few hours at this lovely pub, food was amazing.....many thanks to the chefs. The manager (Andy) & staff were very attentive too, would definitely return.

Me and my company usually come in on a Friday evening for a few drinks and sometimes food. Always a great experience and friendly staff and service.

It was my mother’s birthday and this is the first visit. We had to wait an hour for our food and when it came out it was cold. Not all of the food came out at the same time. We weren’t able to eat our food together as the remainder didn’t follow for about 15 / 20 mins. It was expensive and we were really disappointed. The bread was rock hard. Didn’t want to make a fuss because it was mums birthday but a pretty gutted to be honest as it cost £83. They apologised for the wait but no offer of money back. We won’t be returning sadly and not really a customers problem if you are short staffed as you kept mentioning. You shouldn’t serve food if can’t accommodate. I would rather have not eaten! To your reply - unfortunately the moment has now past and whilst I should have asked for a refund at the time, I didn’t want to ruin her birthday any further and really wouldn’t want to spend another £83 on awful food. So although I appreciate your reply, it doesn’t really help

Lovely place. Food was hearty and good. Service excellent and friendly.

Food was okay, but nothing special. Thought drinks were expensive. Service was a little slow but the staff were friendly. Would consider a 2nd visit in the future.

This was my first experience at the Ball & Wicket. My wife and I arranged to meet there with a couple of our friends for an evening meal. We were pleasantly surprised, the service was friendly and the food was good, with comfortable surroundings. This is not a posh restaurant, but if you are looking for a place to take your family and friends for a decent meal with good service, good prices , a good atmosphere, and plenty of parking . I would recommend the Ball & Wicket.

Members of my team visit this pub regularly after a long days work they come in for a drink or some nibbles and truly enjoy the hospitality of this establishment, the staff are always up for a chat and nothing is ever a problem. We will continue to visit such a lovely environment on our journeys home. - thank you

Lovely Sunday roast - Tabitha was so lovely- will be back :)

Very good service and food arrived promptly after ordering. Lovely quality and generous portions. Nice to have traditional "pub style" options on the menu. Happy to return and recommend.

A very good feel about the place good kind staff and a menu to please anybody..

We had a fantastic meal, lovely staff.

Amazing food and fantastic service from our server Hannah, who made sure our experience was smooth and comfortable! She gave us great advice on the menu and made sure we had everything we needed. Food came out almost immediately and Hannah made a fab suggestion of getting the fish and chips which were a 10/10 - best i’ve ever had! Great atmosphere, really nice place to come with family.

Place stopped serving food when we got there at 19.45 on the Sunday even though last orders from the site was saying 9pm

The food was very good and the service from Rhianna was brilliant!

Had a lovely meal here, Hannah our waitress was so lovely and helped with any question or query we had and made the experience better!! Thank you!!!!

First visit as not been before. Food was lovely. Our server Hannah was very friendly and helpful. Will definitely visit again.

Lovely lunch, superb food, Rhianna was our server and was very helpful and friendly, lovely atmosphere, and dog friendly too!

Delightful lunch at The Ball & Wicket today, thoroughly looked after by a lovely waitress called Hannah. Highly recommended!

Lovely pub with great service from Rhianna and Hannah and the food from Crina was spot on 10 out of 10 would recommend.

Most refreshing sip I'd had all day. Hannah was excellent 👌

Had a lovely meal on Tuesday and our server Hannah was extremely friendly, great knowledge of the menu and drinks and overall a great asset to the pub, and will definitely be back again.

Such a lovely pub the food was good and the service was excellent thank you Rihanna for being so great with me and the kids really made the evening that much more special

My partner and I have been here at least 3 times and each time it’s never failed to impress. The food is always gorgeous, the parking is easy. The service is amazing, we were served by a waitress called Emily tonight and she was very welcoming and very professional. She dealt with our orders incredibly and promptly. We highly recommend

My wife and I went for my birthday dinner, Absolutely fabulous, staff atmosphere and food is first rate. Very reasonably priced for eating out. We both chose from the Seasonal menu, I have the Game Mixed Grill and my wife had the Duck pie. We will definitely be going back for more.

Amazing food had the Game mixed grill Rhianna was fantastic - we had an additional person she sorted it with no issues and looked after us throughout the meal Good value great service will definitely return when next in the area It was very busy and this did not affect our experience

Food was lovley but the pig in blankets was cold in middle when we sent gor fresh ones they was deep fried to heat up. Everything else was lovely though would recommend

Food was good. (Some veggies would be nice as well) My slight issue is how can a place that serves food, run out of garden peas and brown sauce? Can someone not just pop to a local shop and pick some up? There is a Co-Op only 3 minutes down the road by car.

Hannah ,was very warm and welcoming ,a credit to the venue .

Lovely pub. Great food and lovely service. Lots of parking and not too busy on a weekday.

Our Waitress Hannah was absolutely lovely and so fun to talk to I defo Recommend coming here it has a great vibe

Not too busy, not too quiet. Very friendly, helpful and beautiful staff, very attentive. Ordered rump steak for a good price, and cooked exactly how it was asked for, chips nice and crispy.

Excellent food, such a friendly team make you welcome - no wonder we keep returning.

Brilliant. Been to a few Chef & Brewers recently and not so good BUT this place was great!

One of the best places around for a Sunday roast, good food good beers and better puddings

My family and I had a lovely meal tonight and we throughly enjoyed our three course meal and the service was great and Sharon was a great waitress and her bubbly personality make the whole experience very pleasant. I thank you from our family and we will be returning.

I’ve been trying to find a way to email the ball and wicked to complain but there’s no email anywhere My partner and I decided to have an evening meal there and we both ended up becoming very ill with food poisoning

Lovely location and good service, but our Sunday lunch was average, though quite pricey. On the other hand, the beer was good.

Only stopped for a catch-up drink with friends early evening but was a nice comfortable place with a good selection of wines and beers. Left as it was filling up and seems very popular for food.

You get what you pay for. Good value for money with good service.

Called in for a birthday lunch, service and atmosphere excellent as usual but very dissapointed with standard and quality of the food. No where near the standard I expected. Fish and chips looked and tasted reheated in the deep fryer. Not good value for money.

Amazing evening, served by Tabatha who was incredible. Food was suburb too, highly recommend it and certainly will be coming back. Scott's mum says she loved it and thank you so much!

Great staff and very tasty food.

Lovely food, yummy desserts, beautiful decor, dog friendly - and they were exceptionally nice to me when I felt faint and had to lie down.

Fully booked 12.30pm sign of a good Pub/Restaurant. We had not booked a table so we will return.

Bar staff brilliant funny welcoming great place to relax after a hard day looking forward to more relaxing times there

Upon arrival told no walk ins! They let us walk away offering no alternative. Waitress should have advised about booking, because we just went outside and booked online for 15 mins ahead. Unfortunately, we then asked for vegetarian roast only to be told that they had run out of or stopped serving roasts! Both the service issue and roasts availability needs to be more clearly shown on website.

I am glad to see some good reviews. Sunday lunch for 2 was not good at all and I went home and made a bacon sandwich instead! The roast potatoes were good. Parsnips were completely dry inside. The carrots were diced which is not what I would expect with a roast but okay. The meat, I could not eat at all. The staff were nice and exchanged for another couple of slices and provided a steak knife to get through it, unfortunately, I could not eat that either. The building is nice inside though and has a nice feel to it. Hopefully this was just a one off.