Dandy's Ford Fishery Tea Room in Test Valley

On a chilly early spring day - after buying onion sets and seed potatoes in this high quality family-run garden centre - we had an early lunch in their warm conservatory café: delicious soup, bread and particularly outstandingly yummy - and large! - cheese scones - all home made. The cheese scones are by far the best in a 10 mile radius of Romsey! The garden centre is also known locally for the wide collection of high quality dahlia plants.

if your after a secluded single 6 birth lodge with hardly any other humans that also caters for the keen fisherman this is the place to go the lodge is built to a very high standard not surprised as it was built by the owner who was a builder for over 30 years its very spacious has massive by folding doors i didn't use them to be fair the kitchen and the bathrooms are great in a word its all great the owner john is a great fella alongside his wife who cant do enough for you nothing is a problem the fishing is fantastic my pb was 20lb carp and my mate gav caught a 15lb carp we where catching any where from 3lb to 12lb on a regular basis there is the odd angler that pops in for a bit fishing as it is open to the public but i wouldn't worry as you have 3 pegs that are exclusive to the lodge and there is another 3 on the left that can be used by others but no one does and they are great pegs no hassle go back to the lodge for a cuppa or a class of wine happy days will defo be back soon thanks so much Aidan and Gavin from Northumberland

We again visited Dandy's Ford, the tea rooms days are now limited but the quality is unchanged { you couldn't ask for more}, the accommodation in the lodge is of an excellent quality, the surroundings are beautiful and the owners are fabulous, very friendly, and helpful, the fishing is fantastic, can't wait to return.

As always a welcome stop after a few miles in the saddle. On a sunny day on the terrace overlooking the lake, Buttie & tea - Sublime!

We stayed at Dandy's ford fishery for a week, the location is fabulous, the lodge where we stayed is right on the lake, could not ask for more, there are 3 lakes on the complex, Lodge, Kingfisher and the Match lake, all brimming with fish of the highest quality, the lodge itself gives you everything you need with fishing included in the price, there is an abundance of wildlife, the town of Romsey three miles away for shopping etc. The staff and owners of Dandys Ford are great, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable I have no hesitation in recommending this place and will most certainly return again this year, by far the best fishing holiday ever. If you want a breakfast you cannot beat the on site restaurant clean reasonably priced, one fabulous experience, canno be bettered.

This is a review of the holiday lodge at Dandys Ford. Stayed for 4 nights fishing in one of the best lodges I have stayed in. The standard of workmanship and quality of everything in the lodge are absolutely brilliant. There are 2 bedrooms, a twin and a double. There is a shower room with a bath and an ensuite in the double room. The kitchen has everything you need too. Massive sofas and a large TV in the lounge lead onto the balcony that overlooks the lakes. Cooked 2 nights, then had a curry and chinese takeaway delivered. Both of these close enough for free delivery. The fishing was ok. Didn’t catch too much but a few nice ones all the same. There are 3 lakes and I think we were on the specimen lake as there is a match lake there too. There is a breakfast and tea room on site and the breakfast is fantastic. The owners are lovely people and are rightly proud of what they have achieved here. A beautiful and peaceful place to be. Already rebooked for October.

I asked if i might hold my 50th birthday tea there. Not only did the kind owners offer to open when they were on their normal afternoon off, they made the most outstanding effort. Stunning table set up with lovely tablecloth, china and flowers that looked great for the guests. Great tea and coffee but the piece de resistance was the lightest lemon drizzle cake i have ever tasted. Fabulous service and hospitality, i couldnt have asked for more. Thank you.

Went here for breakfast. Quiet location close to the lakes. Breakfast menu not huge, bacon roll etc, but for £5 you get a full English - and it was great. Two of everything! We went on a Sunday - little tip. If you go on a Sunday, get there shortly after they open (10am) as a large cycling club team turn up at 10.30 for their tea and cake :) I would definitely recommend this place.

The cakes are excellent, coffee very average but the lack of a welcome from the staff has decided us that we will go to Gilbert's Garden Centre cafe just up the road in future. I am sorry to write this but just a good morning and a smile would make all the difference

Great venue , easy parking, very well kept with plenty of fish to be caught. Absolutely brilliant breakfast great value for a £5, very friendly staff

3 of us popped in for an impromptu mid morning snack. Ended up with wonderful bacon and egg baps followed by homemade carrot cake. Great value, friendly staff and lovely scenic surroundings

Excellent, cooked to order, Full English Breakfast ! So good we went back two days later for another. Great value for the money. Lovely cup of coffee. Nice selection of food, all very reasonable priced. Very friendly staff. Clean, tidy restaurant. View of the lakes. Outside seating for the warmer weather. Highly recommended! Can't wait to go back.

Im embarrassed to say as an avid angler and traveled count less miles for that truly English fishing experience on a recent corporate days jolly found a truly classy venue. HONESTLY this place has it all! Great help, fantastic grub and the best settings you could ask for. NO sounds, other than the pull of a line. If your afer an excellent venue for the serious angler or taking the kids for a fun packed day then this is the place to visit. I CANNOT rate this fishery any more. Try it and tell your mates! Im so impressed words cannot do this place justice. Paul Novak.

I had a Lovely Full cooked breakfast here during a fishing trip. It was cooked to order, a great selection of fine cooked food.

I visited yesterday on a Sotonia Wednesday daytime cycle ride for a mid-ride tea stop. This was my first visit and I was amazed to see you could get a mug or tea or coffee for £1 - Yes that's right, I said £1. There was a lovely selection of cakes (more than £1) and there were simple hot meals on offer too. The cafe is a lovely clean, light & airy environtment that's a pleasure to relax in. Outdoors you have the beautiful fishing lakes as your surroundings. This place is advertised as a fishing destination. I have zero interest in fishing but this is just a nice pleasant place to stop whether you're out and about on a car drive or on your bike.

Fishery comprises three lakes. The match lake is stuffed with carp averaging about 3lbs at the moment and pleasure anglers can expect multiple catches with the better fish going to twice that. Loads of roach in there as well. Kingfishers is a small canal type water with a big head of mixed species including barbel and chub, not traditional stillwater fare. Responds to pole or waggler. Lodge Lake is in front of the tea room and holds the best carp which run to double figures, and it is expected to yield a 20 sooner rather than later. There are decent perch as well, with roach, tench, bream, chub and barbel. These latter don't come out that often, but I have had a couple of each so they are there. I am told the lilies will be thinned this year; good news as it is pretty much impossible to keep the bigger carp from forging into them and in summer it is hard to extract them once this has happened. Like a lot of commercials there are a raft of rules which you can check on the website. Mostly sensible although there is a boilie ban. Pellet, corn and meat all work well enough for the bigger species, with maggot, caster, and worm for perch and silvers. Carp will obviously munch these as well. It's very well maintained and attractive, with plenty of wildlife including resident kingfishers, and grass snakes that you can sometimes spot swimming in the lakes. Expect plenty of action even in winter. Good clean loos in the lodge building. The cafe is not open every day, but has a good reputation and although I haven't sampled the fare myself the clientlel always look happy about it. Cracking little fishery popular with local match and pleasure anglers, and with carp anglers wanting a confidence boost!

Lovely full English breakfast in a little cabin by the lake, in summer you can spot the kingfishers here but is also a little gem off the beaten track for fishing . Staff and people made me feel welcome good atmosphere

We popped by for a latte which was very nice but the cakes weren't much to write home about. My wife's gluten free brownie only tasted of sugar. Dry and no chocolate flavor as such and the regular chocolate cake was pretty much the same, no chocolate taste. Not expensive but not great either.

Lovely lakeside location, Owned and run by a wonderful family. Excellent home-made cakes and preserves. Very good food , a simple but tasty menu with the best ploughmans I have ever tasted. superb value for money. Fishing available.

What a lovely place to visit during the day with excellent food at very reasonable price. The all day breakfast is fantastic value and the staff are very friendly

When we've visited here, it is sometimes very nice. Other times we ve had nice hot drinks and heard others complain that theirs were cold. Time before last it was our turn, food was good, tea and coffee only lukewarm. Today tea and coffee good, chocolate brownie virtually uncooked ..... Not good at all.Environment is lovely ... A nice clean conservatory, with a choice of two outside areas if the weather is good enough to sit outside. And one of those areas is actually in a really nice garden, with bird feeders encouraging lots of wildlife for you to look at. The accompanying nursery is splendid, with a wide range of plants but specialising in dahlias.If only they would get their act together in the Tea Room ..... ,!!

Popped in here half way through a walk. The cafe is part of a fishery but they welcome walkers and cyclists. It was sunny on our visit and sitting outside with views of fishing lakes, wildlife etc was magical. We ordered two black coffees, which were fine and shared a delicious egg and bacon bap...the egg yolk was huge...apparently local free range. It tasted great. The cakes looked good too....more research for next visit. What I loved was the simple pleasure of enjoying real grub in a glorious setting. Indoors the cafe is lovely too! Ohh yes, two coffees and the gorgeous egg and bacon bap....a little over a fiver!

Heard about here from a friend and a really delightful place to visit...calm and relaxing atmosphere overlooking the trout lakes. Food was good and we took a couple of pieces of cake away. A hidden gem

This fishing lodge come Tea Room is in a nice location, and on entering the place looks nice, is warm and cosy ( woodburner in one corner), and is repleat with reading materials inc todays papers.What lets it down is drink quality ( awful tea, and apparently not good coffee either ( my wife s verdict on coffee), the chaos behind the counter, lack of finesse, and sickly cakes.I look at the other reviews and wonder if we just went on a bad day ??

I visited with my son for a treat out. The place was pretty quiet bar for a few fisherman eating outside. The dining area was pleasant and the food was very nice. Staff very nice too. Shame the tables were sticky and tacky, it put you off touching them! They needed a nice hot clean cloth. Otherwise I'd recommend a visit

The café adjoining this garden centre packs a lot more in than it seems at first sight. An excellent range of cakes, including a gluten-free option; plus sandwiches, home-made soups and specials of the day, all served by the friendliest of staff and reasonably priced. Soya milk was available for lactose-intolerant coffee drinkers. The garden centre itself is equally original -- and irresistible, unless you arrive (as we did) by bicycle.

There's nothing quite like Dandy's Ford: a one-house fishing village nestled in the outskirts of Romsey ("idyllic", an Italian friend of mine put it). The breakfasty food is substantial, but most visitors go for the home-made cakes which are reasonably priced.Because it is a family-run operation, service can be slow, especially when hordes of cyclists turn up at the same time. (The fishing clientele doesn't create queues.) To avoid congestion, it may be worth arriving before 11 or after 1.My only regret is the quality of the coffee: you can get a modestly priced mug of instant, or you can pay a bit more and get a very ordinary caffè latte or cappuccino; a fault easily corrected, by stocking better quality beans.

Love everything about Dandys Ford. Very relaxing, quiet, fantastic food - extremely well priced!! Home made cakes, brownies and cookies (recommend the brownies with marshmallow) and proper coffee. Great friendly family atmosphere. Cannot fault it one bit!

This is a fabulous tea rooms to stop at, tucked away down a little lane. Lovely to sit outside if the weather is nice but if not sit inside around the woodburner. A very friendly, family run business with the most wonderful homemade cakes. The breakfasts are lovely as are the homemade soups. All at a very good price compared to most tea rooms. Lots of car parking. A very popular stop for cyclists where there is plenty of room for a group around the tables.

Such a lovely place to relax and have a drink. They have some scrummy cakes!!! Often pop in there when we are that way.

Brilliant family run tea rooms serving home made food and great cakes. The full English breakfast is great and good value, the bacon and egg baps are really tasty, and the cakes (especially the brownies) are always really good.Worth making a visit even if you arent into fishing as the lakes make a nice backdrop, especially in summer when you can sit out on the patio area. Might be hard to find if you dont know the area as it is about a mile down a lane from the A27.

The lodge at the fishing lakes serves excellent homemade soups, cakes, etc, plus cooked breakfasts. As well as being very pleasant inside the lodge, there is also outside seating overlooking the lakes. It is a very peaceful place to enjoy a pot of tea or coffee.

I've fished this place a few times now and have to say it's the most civilised fishing ever!The tea room does an excellent fry up and mug of tea that sets you up perfectly for a days fishing. There are a selection of lakes to fish but I've only tried the Lodge Lake. This holds a good selection of common, mirror and crucian carp, as well as tench and silver fish.All of the staff are really friendly and helpful and ready with good advice about where to fish and what method to try.Overall this place is a definate 10/10.