Odyssey in Winchester

Totally recommend a stay at the Winchester Royal Hotel Fabulous stay. One of my favourites of the last few years travels for work. Great location. Wonderful service at every touch point. Relaxing lounge and bar. Loved the menu with quality food. Cleanliness attention. Plus overall a super mix of retaining the history with the modern features added by the new management team . You won’t be disappointed if you book some time to stay here.

A busy half term Friday night in this Italian chain restaurant: how nice to see lots of staff bustling around! Our waitress was everything you could hope for - friendly, competent, efficient. The four of us had starters and mains, everything was brought out hot, fresh and well presented. I had prawns to start and there was a generous amount with beautifully fluffy bread to soak up the garlicky oil. My main of gnocchi with nduja and burrata was absolutely delicious, see picture for full droolfest. The nduja was charred on top and the gnocchi was "pillowy", a texture I never manage to achieve at home. There was a little wait between the starters and mains but not excessive, especially given how busy it was. Plus we had some nice drinks to keep us company (👋🏽Ciao Ignuza). My pathetic family had no room for dessert so I had to forgo a sweet treat or face looking like a glutton but I'm sure dessert would have been delicious given the standard of the rest of the food. The restaurant was warm and cheerful in decor with a big circular feature light on the upper floor. Overall, a fantastic experience and so nice to see a place that doesn't automatically add a "service" charge (yes of course we tipped but it's the principle of UK eateries adding this Americanism that bothers me). The food was pricey (£9 for a starter and £18-£22 for a main) but it was totally justified for the quality and taste of our meals. This would be a treat occasion for us in the future.

Fairly unimpressive.The kids were so excited and the decor is great but there seems to be some underlying issues. It was not busy as we came in early at 5pm. 25 minutes to get a menu, at least 8 items not available which was only an issue for adults, food arrived before our drinks which eventually arrived incorrect, food was decent though, we requested a menu again for desserts but after 15 minutes, no sign of it so we paid the bill and left for Kaspa’s. Seemed to be a similar story on other tables, eventually the people hearing the unavailable items just left without ordering. In hindsight, this probably would have been our best bet. Such a shame.

Consistently the best costa branch. Always make a great cortqdo and always friendly. Every costa should be the same standard as thi one.

Excellent 2 course evening meal and good ale.