Nightingale in Test Valley

Beautiful quintessential pub in Romsey! Loving the quaintness of this English town in Hampshire. The staff and owners are an absolute delight and very welcoming. A beautiful location to enjoy an afternoon beverage and meal. Happy to make a cocktail as long as you know the recipe they will accommodate if they have ingredients.

Odd that ratings blocked 3 star ratings - why do you do that? Is this just all a fix?

Great pub Friendly staff and excellent beers

Didn't eat here so can't comment. It's a good pub and friendly staff. Would recommend.

March 2024 I went back over the Easter weekend and it's really settled into itself now. Still a great selection of gins, ciders, and beer (wine too of course but it's these that urge me through the doors!) It's changed hands since my last review, but still a great place to head. This is a great New pub for Romsey. Modern but comfortable with plenty of space for big groups and little nooks for smaller gatherings. I've only been in once and I'm heading back in a couple of days with a larger group for food and drinks, my hopes are high!

This is a great place to visit, either for a couple of pints or for food. Always a great selection of beers, ales and spirits and the staff are always friendly and on the ball. Oh and the food is high quality and delicious. My favourite pub in the area.

What a total waste of space this place is. Booked a table for 7.30 on the 2nd of March. Turned up to find there was a private party and no tables available. Guess where I’ll never return to. Wouldn’t be surprised to find it closed down or at best change hands hands soon. Whatever I won’t be spending any money here in the foreseeable future.

Having dined at this establishment approximately three years ago and relishing in the culinary excellence, our recent return has left us befuddled. What was once a haven for elevated pub classics has regrettably devolved into a disheartening experience featuring subpar ingredients that border on the repulsive. The ambiance, less bustling than our initial visit, did little to salvage the disappointment. Notable grievances include undercooked chips and a staff demeanor that veered towards rudeness, amplifying the overall unpleasantness. The prospect of a return visit has been firmly shelved, as the disheartening quality now prompts contemplation of alternative, more satisfying dining options, even within the realm of budget-friendly establishments like Wetherspoons.

Really nice pub. Thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere on a Saturday late afternoon. Would definately recommend.

Good beer with friends location.

Local Pub. Bit quiet, good if you are walking distance.

Rather eat from a homeless shelter.. food was from freezer from day, was treated bad by staff, chicken tasted like cardboard, do not eat here it is a waste of your money and time. Never in my 22 years have i tasted such bad food and service. Never coming back

Great 241 steak night 👌 great beer as well. 🍻👍 landlady made us feel very welcome. Great host.

Came here for a drink after a dire experience at the Olive Tree. Staff were fab, really friendly, great selection of drinks and good atmosphere. We'll definitely be back for food!

Amazing public house friendly customers and amazing team Shaz (apologies) couldn't remember full name was amazing great welcome and fantastic service thankyou Jamie xx from Edinburgh

We popped in for an impromptu Saturday lunch. We were warmly welcomed. The surroundings were relaxing and chilled. My husband had the Scampi and chips, I had the Steak baguette with fried mushrooms and onions with chips. It was delicious, we had Eton Mess for dessert. The service was exceptional. The choice of drinks were extensive, my husband enjoyed his Ale, I loved the Gin menu

Beggars fair was very crowded that night didn't have any food and the staff were very busy.

Absolutely fantastic food we went on the 2 for 1 steak night.The steaks were delicious and it had all the trimmings.Brilliant value and great service.

The best Gambas pil pil I've had in England 👍 friendly and helpful staff

Thankyou liz always look after us. Love you. Xxxxx

Good food and beer. Very friendly service.

We only stopped for a quick drink, it was nice to sit by the open fire

What a lovely meal we had . Owners couldn’t help us enough . Made sure we had all we needed. The food was so delicious. Didn’t leave a crumb as photos show . Lady in our party was very fussy about her steak and wanted an additional topping of Stilton cheese, This was not a problem. And she enjoyed as much as a more expensive establishment in our home town Swansea’s well done nightingale.

The Nightingale is the jewel in Romsey’s crown , by far the towns best pub . The customer service is always amazing as is the food. Nothing Is too much trouble and Liz, Fiona, Polly and team make you feel like you’re home . Thank you all x

Very popular pub when we visited early evening. Good selection of beers, friendly staff and deceptively large. Friendly staff and plenty of seating.

Very good typical Sunday roast ,presented on a wooden platter. Plenty for everyone, Warm welcome from the hosts, cracking pints of Youngs beer, books provided for the three year old in our party. No complaints,it doesn’t have to be fancy cuisine to be good. Wishing them every success The Butcher familyy

Booked ahead for lunch expecting fun American cuisine as described on the website, burgers etc, only to discover a limited cafe-style lunch menu with jacket potatoes, sandwiches and not a single burger. The food was really slow to arrive which was surprising given there were only 3 tables of customers, and was incredibly basic and underwhelming with cheap ingredients (ready-grated supermarket cheese/ ready-made sauces) and laughably small proportions given the pricing. The restaurant heating was off and we were really cold, as were the people on the table next to us. Fire-alarm went off mid-meal which apparently happens all the time as they weren’t able to light a fire to warm everybody up without the whole restaurant filling with smoke. It was almost funny how average this whole experience was, we definitely won’t be returning.

Was good now there's a new chef the food is now awful

First time I have been here since the change of name/management and it is really good. Beer was excellent and so was the beam burger and chips.

Great new year party, really appreciated the endless ploughmans, fabulous 😊

This place has had many owners. It use to be William the 4th for many years and was a dive. Though when it got bought out and became the tipsy pig it was really good because of all the craft ales. Now as the nightingale it's pleasant enough but they don't have the variety of guest ales. This was what made the tipsy pig so good but overall the nightingale is still better than rotters like the phoenix

Looking to try somewhere new we looked up the reviews for the Nightingale which were great. It lived up to the reviews and the food was excellent. Friendly and efficient staff with a good atmosphere.

This pub is hands down THE best pub to host a birthday/event with your family. The staff were incredible, went above and beyond, even with a couple family members added last minute, they managed to accommodate with no fuss, when a child broke a glass, they went out their way to make her feel ok about it. The food was delivered fast was incredible, loads of lovely veg, and mushrooms, onion rings with chips with the steaks, would absolutely recommend them to others and will be having many more events with them. I can definitely see why they won pub of the year. The atmosphere was lovely, the room smelt amazing and was lovely and warm. Fantastic job to all staff we can’t thank you enough. Xx

Excellent food and great service. Our roast dinner was beautifully presented. Generous portions and excellent value for money. Lovely atmosphere.

Amazing food, well priced drinks, friendly and family run atmosphere, very clean. 10/10 recommend. Especially great value on their 2 for 1 nights, we had the burgers in the photo with chips for £7.50 each!! Will be going back soon.

The speciality fish menu on Fridays is really good, the premises are ideal and when the weather is good the courtyard makes an ideal location.

Go hear most Sundays the roast is fantastic!

We went in for a Sunday roast, it’s up there with the very best, quality is what you get there ,and plenty of roast potatoes and fresh vegetables. Would definitely recommend and we will be going back very soon. Staff were also very friendly and polite

Great pub with a great atmosphere

A really nice place for some excellent food (small plates, it is the way to go!!), a good chat and drinks, highly recommended!

We love the chips!!! Defo be back for burgers :)

Amazing under new management/ownership great service , friendly nice atmosphere but the crowning glory today has to be the food shared Sunday roast simply outstanding.

Great little gem. Good was lovely abs has some good entertainment

Excellent food would definitely go back again

Very classy pub, presented up to the modern standard yet very old fashioned. Staff very friendly and polite, live music and fantastic food. The Chef has surprised us with an amazing mix of starters served in original way. All perfectly cooked 👌 Hand made chips fried 3 times (he said) were just perfect, very crispy outside and soft inside. Highly recommend to out 😊

The calamari and the burger are simply out of this world, very good food here!

Can't wait to visit again. Food couldn't be better & the staff are so helpful. Highly recommended.

Just had one of the best Sunday roasts ever! Really recommend this pub

Today we visited the Nightingale in Romsey to experience their "Sunday Roast Platter". AMAZING!! Best roast we've had in a long time and I cook a mean roast dinner. Huge compliment to the chef, delicious 😋

Very friendly staff serving excellent and very affordable food and my only negative is a lack of atmosphere

Great visit My 🐙 was as good as being in a Greek taverna, plus the mini lamb chops were heavenly. Thanks 😊

Food was insane the other day !!!!!! Best place I've been in a while. Get down if you haven't already !

Visted the Nightingale yesterday after a recomondation and had the roast platter- amazing!! The selection of pork belly, beef & chicken were cooked to perfection as were the good selection of vegtables. Excellent service & very nice owners & staff. Will certainly be visiting again.

Popped in randomly a busy hot Sunday. Food was fantastic lovely sharing platters and great kids menu definitely recommended if in the area

Went here a few times and thought nothing of it, but had to walk out as the chef everywhere iv seen him for 8 months he’s worn the same black T-shirt, the same black trousers and all he does is drink and chat about cooking. I really didn’t know he was the head chef here, he lives and sleeps and cooks in the same clothes. I won’t be back and nor will my friends, as they will be more disgusted than I was! I’m sure that, that is against hygiene? Especially with covid!

Lovely pub, great selection of beers. Not cheap tho... 27.50 for 2 beers and 2 G&Ts

I’ve been here a couple of times and at the moment am a bit frustrated. The beer is fine, the atmosphere good and the staff are very pleasant. Unfortunately the menu is a bit limited for my liking. I had a burger, which was ok, but I don’t go out for a burger. The rest of the menu was a bit of a cliche, ribs, enchiladas, scampi. Too much fried food for my liking. I have heard good things about Sunday lunch, but am not inclined to have a smorgasbord of meat as I am too much a traditionalist. I’m hoping they progress as Romsey is crying out for good pub grub, so will keep an eye on the menu.

Great selection of beers and spirits. Very friendly staff. Try the Nightingale spiced gin, very good.

We came to the Nightingale pub for food and drinks after my daughters Christening. Very very reasonably priced and great service. A good selection of food and the staff were very helpful and accommodating. Nothing was too much trouble. Liz made everything very easy for us to organise and I would highly recommend.

Great little pub. Dropped in for an impromptu pint and then stayed for late lunch. Very friendly atmosphere and staff. £4.40 for a pint of real ale was very good in current climate and burgers were tasty. Food service was a tad slow but they acknowledged this unprompted and offered a free drink as an appology. Will certainly return again

Bosses screaming and swearing, staff that just talk among themselves! And from what I overheard the manager saying they run the place like you’d expect a drug hostile. When we got the food it was almost thrown at us and was so uncomfortable, that we all just drank up and left it. Needless to say, we won’t be back or recommending this horrible place to anyone.

Raw burger served to us twice! Got served a raw burger and was told "it's a steak burger so it's okay" that's just not a thing unless they make the burgers on site which I can confirm isn't the case as the chef walked past with burgers in their plastic packaging They agreed to do another but would be 15 minutes if we wanted it well done to which I said we just want it cooked! 30 minutes later we ask for it to be takeaway when it's ready and now we've opened it to see it raw again! Scary how little they care

Fabulous family pub great food

Excellent service, owner and staff very friendly. Relaxed Sunday afternoon, great food and wine. All what you would like in a roast and more! How we managed a dessert I don’t know - couldn’t resist the strawberry cheesecake!

Slightly disappointed to be honest. Wanted to check it out under new ownership and was upset that I could see only one craft ale. I may need to go another time and look more closely but on the whole was disappointed the new pub owners couldn't continue with a varied choice ( keg or handpump) of craft beers

As below have said BEST pub in the town! We’ll be back soon!

Best Pub in town! The food is amazing but the staff are what makes it! Warm and welcoming atmosphere with a great selection of beverages. See you soon!

Good selection of beers, friendly services, will try the food next time as it looks inviting.

There's nothing really wrong with The Nightingale it's just not very exciting. Bring back craft beer and the Tipsy Pig!

Very friendly, welcoming pub with nice food

I met up with mate for a catch up and some food. Sat down and ordered some drinks I had some Ale that was really nice and mate had a beer. Ordered food from the enticing looking menu. The starters arrived kind of. I got mine but my mates (who is a chef) was put behind for the staff and then given to my mate when they realised wasn’t for them. Really weird. The cheesy garlic bread was swimming in oil and quite unpleasant, my mate had mozzarella sticks which he said were ok. I had ribs and chicken wings and my mate had a burger. My mate quite liked his burger particularly the onion marmalade. Unfortunately my Ribs and Chicken were horrid, never had chicken wings that looked like they had been boiled? And we’re like rubber and the less said about the Ribs the better. My mates food was fairly good but i though mine was borderline inedible and still feel quite queasy a few hours later. To end on a high the staff were very friendly and amended the bill accordingly and couldn’t apologies enough and offered a free drink. The decor is cool. Very weird experience.

Decent atmosphere, decent pint but the food was very poor. I could have sworn my food was microwaved and I would not eat there again. Very basic indeed.

Previously the Tipsy Pig and a great lesson in how to take a great beer pub and make a generic pub. Every brand of mass produced tasteless beer available. Shame.

Excellent Sunday roast served in a very unique way!

Lovely food, and plenty of it, for once we left a bit - we are usually clean platers! Staff really friendly and a lovely atmosphere. Dog and child friendly.

Friendly staff but not OTT, ambiance relaxed with music, space between tables, decor good. Went on ‘Mexican Night’ which was really good and with drinks not too expensive. Will definitely go again.

Went on burger night - ok burger was fine - came with a limp lettus leaf and a sliced girkin - before we got our coats of the waitress was asking " what do you want to drink " so unprofessional - we will not return

Had the shared Sunday roast. Very tender meats and good choice of vegetables. Very filling.

I popped in for a beer. I was welcomed warmly and had two different halves of cask ale, both kept really well. The other beers on offer were kegged and all where fairly mainstream.

A warm welcome and fantastic service. I had the Sunday Roast. Really nice food and ale. I will be returning the next time I am in Romsey. Thanks

A gorgeous platter of 3 meats and loads of veg, potatoes etc. Excellent value for money as well. Would highly recommend

Lovely food and help friendly staff.

Had a delicious roast here, 3 different meats included all cooked beautifully with all the trimmings. Wonderful service too, will be coming again!

Staff are really friendly and food is great. Drinks menu is a bit limited at time of writing, but what there is available is a classic set of essentials and a couple of locals. They made a really good effort with the food though...

Nightingale is an amazing place, stylish decor, mouth watering food, beautiful ale - Wadworth's 6X. It has mainly amazing staff and a friendly manager, and only a few yards from the main drag in Romsey. Can't wait till I am there again

Our second time eating at The Nightingale, great service, good range of food and by far the best roast we have ever eaten. Great choice of lagers, ciders and ales. Lovely clean pub and child friendly, offering a separate family dining area