The Carpenters Arms in New Forest

Went as a group of 4 with toddler. Pies lovely but should be served with a portion of gravy. We asked for some and got some so ok. Cabbage watery and peas looked reheated a few times but in the main nice. Clean table. Served quickly for drinks. Kids meal nice portion wise and all eaten. It's a local pub that we've not used much but will be returning.

Absolutely beautiful as always. Lovely, friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Went for the steak and stilton pie tonight which was absolutely perfect. Thankyou for another great experience x

I love the ESB . Lovely staff and great atmosphere as well as superb food .

Visited with a pal for lunch whilst out on a motorbike tour of the New Forest. Good sandwich lunch and good service to the outside seats. Would call in again if in area .

Family meal last night at the carpenters was great as always. We all had roast dinners and pies, every meal served piping hot with plenty of fresh vegetables and nice meaty gravy. Service was great considering they were quite busy

Amazing as always. We didn’t book, so busy, service excellent , food was delicious. Roast Beef, chicken pie and as always my salmon pie.

Ordered four meals- two roasts. Both roasts had long thick black hairs mixed in with the gravy. The second hair was found when the waitress was at the table. She took them back and we received replacements within 10 minutes. One of the meals had string on the plate which again we brought to the attention of the waitress. When paying there was no apology and we asked for a refund of the two ruined meals. The manager told us she had checked one and saw no hair (we had pulled it out at the table) and seemed to think it was fine for string to be on the plate because it comes on the beef joint. She eventually agreed to refund the two meals if it “made us happy” which we said not really as our evening out. Didn’t even apologise.

Great English pub food this is what pub food sould be like . Had a pie, this is the best one in years

2x Carvery and 1 Steak and Stilton pie.. Lovely. Highly recommend 👌

Very homely and friendly experience!

Had cod and chips was amazing no skin on service was brilliant very nice staff very good service really good price will come again soon

Food wonderful. Good portion sizes reasonably priced. Friendly staff and quick service even though very busy. Lovely atmosphere.

Stopped off for an early dinner. Staff and atmosphere was great, a shame it is not nearer to our house. There is a comprehensive menu to chose from. We both had a starter followed by roast chicken and desert. All the food was well portioned and we had no complaints. Will be visiting again when next in the area.

7 of us had an exceptionally good meal, arrived quite quickly, very tasty and reasonably priced. They had a varied menu. Would highly recommend it.

Eaten here twice , lovely food , fantastic value

I went out for dinner and a relaxing evening and had a wonderful time. The steak and ale pie was delicious and the cheesecake even better. All the staff were very welcoming and friendly. Definitely recommend

Good food as always. Can recommend, especially their pies

This is a lovely pub which is surprisingly spacious, with ample room inside and out for families (we visited with a group of 7) and smaller groups too. The staff were very friendly and polite throughout the service and were clearly hard working too. Our mains were very good value for money and probably could've sustained us over two days with some of them! The starters were the only sticking point for me as they were all priced at £7, which the prawn cocktail was good value for but the same price for the goujons and garlic bread seemed somewhat steep as there were 3 pieces each. However, the food was very nice all round and it is somewhere I'd happily return to again.

Lovely home cooked food. Reasonably priced good value for money. Home made pies excellent so are the roast dinners. Let very full. Staff lovely , We were on holiday and intend to go back next time we are away.

Nice place to have dinner, reasonably priced food and drink

Thank you so much for your help on the 25th Steve. Amazing highly recommend.

Excellent food. Served very quickly and staff were very efficient and friendly. The lamb pie was very good as was all the food with lovely fresh vegetables. Will definitely return.

Many years since last visited The Carpenters Arms, the premises have been enlarged and improved. Went for Sunday lunch, which was extremely good, food was nicely cooked. well presented and served hot. The service was faultless, each girl pleasant polite and helpful. It was so good that it was no surprise that the premises were packed with a constant change over of customers, which were made up of mainly elderly people with the odd young family. Certainly worth a recommend and re visit

Visiting the new forest and came across this pub. Great value food, really good portion size and was really delicious. We had a sharing starter for the four of us, a burger, ham egg and chips, the mushroom tagliatelle and scampi. Great service and happy staff. Would visit again - recommended.

Overall, the experience was fairly good. Hospitality needs a little work we as felt a little unwelcome during our visit. Food took over an 1hour to arrive - for the time taken for the meal to arrive would have expected better quality. So if looking for a quick meal maybe give a swerve. However for the price it was ok. Overall okay but customer service needs work as some staff looked like they didn’t wanna be there.

Sadly a big let down today. Ordered a vegan roast dinner. Waited quite a while (which is ok as it's often a sign of something being cooked fresh). However, nut roast had a weird sort of dried strange tasting crust. Everything was absolutely tasteless including the watery gravy. Not enough roast potatoes. Carrots were julien which made them totally tasteless & hard, (julien is ok in stir fries). Nut roast is so old fashioned anyway, there are great vegan sausages out there which would have been a good option. Not worth the £30.

What a great night lovely food superb service great atmosphere. Lovely place Thank you very much.

Excellent meal and service, good value

Lovely proper pub with great food and excellent service

Lovely Sunday evening meal with friends. Service was excellent and food delicious. We had salmon & asparagus pie, steak & kidney pie, liver & onions and a lamb roast. The vegetables all tasted freshly cooked (they still had a bit of bite to them) and the meat and fish were succulent and moist. Portions were generous (including the ice cream scoop size for dessert) and prices were very reasonable. It was fairly busy but service was quick and friendly. Thank you Carpenters Arms - we would come again.

I gave 5stars for atmosphere because great pub and food we were there at lunch time and it was a week day but nice staff helpful great sitting outside to eat thank you

We are a walking group,& booked a lunch for 22 people.We had a room of our own.Excellent food & service & we didn't have to pre order! Well done to all the staff at The Carpenters Arms! 👍👏👏👏

A real find- lovely roast lamb dinner even on a Tuesday evening!

Everything was perfect. Quality of food, prices, service, atmosphere. No faults found atall.

My Wife and I don't travel so well these days but decided to go a little further afield from our usual Highcliffe and Christchurch haunts - we live in Mudeford. We went twice in point of fact. The first visit was the 21st June when My wife and I had a quiet Birthday celebration lunch prior to the Family celebration later in the day. It was excellent. We only had the Mains and despite it being busy and not having booked we were served promptly and cheerfully with a round of drinks. My Wife had Chicken Pie and I had Liver and Bacon. Both were excellent and my Wifes vegetables were freshly done. I don't have vegetables. We liked it so much we went back three days later to celebrate our youngest Daughters birthday and again had lunch before the Family celebration later in the day. The meal was as fabulous as three days prior. My Wife had a Chicken Roast, our Daughter had Beef Roast and I had an amazingly well filled Steak and Merlot Pie of the Week. As before the vegetables were freshly done. Unusually for us we also had puddings (Lemon Meringue, Bailey's Cheescake and Apple Tart with Custard. All were excellent. All washed down with Tea and a Latte the former being served in nicely twee Teapots. Total cost £80 for the three of us on the second visit. Worth every penny. All in all First Class and couldn't fault it. Disabled parking nicely located in the front with ample parking for those more mobile at the side and back. Just a note for History buffs. The main building was built in 1853 by John Harrison(?) a Carpenter thus the name Carpenters Arms.

Had lunch with the girls yesterday, great lunch as usual and good service even though I believe they were short staffed that day, but still served quickly and with a smile. I am celebrating my special birthday this year and guess where we are going.

Menu provides a good choice of meals, reasonable prices, good service, good food

Our first visit but certainly not our last. Fantastic food.

A lovely, friendly pub with a wide menu choice, excellent food, great service and good value. The above says it all - we will come again!

We ate here twice during our short break in the New Forest. The food was excellent both times. I had home made steak & kidney pie on our first visit and fish & chips on the second. Both meals were delicious. My husband's coices were liver & bacon and home made chicken & mushroom in mustard sauce pie, both cooked to perfection. On top of that our dog, Luna, was also welcome! Roll on next year. 😊

Went to Carpenters for Sunday Lunch I had the Roast Pork which was good generous portion all nicely cooked wldve liked a Yorkshire pud&stuffing tho! All meals were nice&generous portions ,lovely pub/restaurant with very friendly staff

We decided on a whim to take the motorhome down to Dorset for the weekend but hadn’t booked anywhere to stop over. We called in for dinner at the Carpenters arms. Lin and Steve were really friendly and the staff were all amazingly helpful. The food was delicious and all home made. My wife had the butternut squash wellington with roast potatoes and veg. The meal was hot, filling and deliciously tasty. I had salmon fillet and sauté potatoes. The salmon was a decent sized portion and also very tasty. Deserts were also decent size very tasty and again home made. The landlord and all the staff were extremely friendly and prices were very reasonable. We ate in the bar area which is very nice and dog friendly. There is also a large outdoor area which seemed very nice too. (Forgot to take the customary food photos, sorry!)

Food very dry, had to send chicken burger back which we were not charged for, but gammon and pie dishes dry too - overcooked. When spoke to staff, no apology just told all their regulars are happy, asked if we go to The Crown regularly because everyone that goes there when they try The Carpenters arms complains about their meals!! Obviously The Crown is better!! Very disappointed because we went for a family meal for my mothers 86th birthday.

Having phoned ahead to confirm they were showing the racing, and booking a return taxi, all was well on arrival. Without warning, all TVs were switched to football and the staffs attitude was tough luck. Very rude staff and no customer service. Will not be returning!

Excellent home-made snake & ale pie. Only downside was that gravy had been liberally added, mayne just me but I prefer to pour my own. Vegetables seasonal but tasteless due to boiling. Staff attentive.

Not far from our caravan site so thought we'd give it a try. Glad we did as the pie I had was as good as I have eaten. My wife had the roast which she enjoyed also. Attentive staff particularly the waitress. Beers choice was excellent. All in all a great place for an evening meal.

Excellent food good service lovely company great night thank you

Could do with extra bar staff , wait for drinks not great but all in all brilliant Sunday lunch venue

My friends stayed here for four days very pleased with the caravan it was spotless and very comfortable

Fantastic food - so varied. Nice people. This is the way all pubs serving food should be run!

This is simple. Phone up and book a table. Turn up, sit down and order the steak and stilton pie. Eat the pie and enjoy. What is there not to like, this pie is to die for.

We used to come here regularly, both for the food and for the service, which were excellent. However our last visit - our very last visit - was appalling. The landlord has obviously decided to cut back on quality to protect his profits. Not only was the quality of food lower standard than usual, but I ordered a Latte and was served a watered down version (literally). When I asked the waitress to bring me a jug of milk with which to top up my coffee, she brought a jug of watered-down milk!! Once I removed the froth on top I could actually see how watered it was! Never again!!

We had Sunday lunch here today and I have to say the service and the food was 10/10 also very reasonably priced too. A pub full of life - nice and busy but very quick service !! Definitely will come back again

Great traditional home cooked pub food, lovely selection and good price. Service was friendly and food cooked to order. Puddings are 10/10

The pies came highly recommended as they are made on the premises and we can second that. They had plenty of filling and a good sized portion too with an assortment of accompaniments available. Good selection of drinks, friendly staff and a dog friendly area to boot. Don’t make it too popular please as we’d like space to be available for a return visit. Cheers.

I had the steak and mushroom pie with mash, peas, cabbage, carrots and fantastic gravy. Excellent, £15.00 well spent, the ales very nice also. Went on a Wednesday lunchtime thinking it would be quiet but it was very busy which shows how popular/good it is. Highly recommended.

Pre-booked with dogs. Great service and lovely food. Large portions at reasonable prices.

Best pies ever, I tried all the special ones for British Pie week and they were lovely. Yummy freshly cooked veg. I can’t wait to come back and have another pie 🥧

Great food, great value, never disappoints. Party had mixture of pies, liver and bacon and a generous nut roast. Be back in April in my motor home. Thank you carpenters, lovely friendly greeting and service as always.

Awful 😖..canteen like..no atmosphere food a dusgrace..avoid at all costs.

Second visit and probably the last. Steak & Mushroom pie was great however veg were tasteless sauté potatoes undercooked and tasteless. Burger had to be sent back as was bloody and very rare- bun was soaked in blood chips undercooked ! Burger came back cooked better still with bloody bun❗️not impressed. Maybe compared with other reviews we had a different chef. But please get better tasting vegetables.

Nice reasonably priced meal, good selection of very nice pies , friendly staff, recommend.

Great food including the vegan lunch. Service excellent

When we go out to lunch we always go to the carpenters arms because we know that we will be well fed with good quality food at a reasonable price. Always a good selection of food in nice surroundings.

Nice location, very busy Sunday lunch time, slow service excellent food. Large portions and reasonably priced. Car parking has potential to be difficult.

Fantastic pies, nice traditional pub.

The home-made pies are incredible. Plenty of choice for fillings, all served with fresh vegetables and a large choice of potato sides. The rest of the menu is based around hearty home cooked food at a very reasonable price. You can’t go wrong here.

I went with my wife, her mother and friend for lunch. All were happy with the food, I had steak and kidney pie with mash and fresh vegetables. It was first class, the pie was a proper one (not in a dish with the crust stuck on top). The staff were all happy and friendly. We hope to return next time we're in the area.

Good selection of beers. And the food was good today.

Great place and very friendly staff highly recommended fresh home cooked food and the pub is clean and also dog friendly

A first class country pub. Amazing service and great food at decent prices. The home made pies are to die for. All this and a great place to just spend time drinking, superb atmosphere and excellent customer service

Place packed out with office parties, and it showed. Food okay generally although the sauce on the hake fish was insipid and made the fish taste awful. Service slow as to be expected. Staff worked very hard to accommodate the numbers. I'm sure it would have been better if it wasn't so busy. Obviously popular.

This place is the business. Just had our Christmas lunch at the carpenters Arms, and it was great. I would recommend this place with confidence. Thank you, carpenter arms.

Went as part of a group Christmas thing. The staff did their very best and the athmosphere was great.

Lovely food at a reasonable price. Staff very efficient and friendly. Feel that the stark white interior makes it feel like a canteen but I can see what it once was.

We recently visited this pub / restaurant with friends, and the first thing we're noticed straight away was the atmosphere from a nearly fill restaurant. The waitress showed us to our table and handed us menu's which covered both standard and special meals, which covered all tastes. It was good to see Gluten mains and desserts on the menus. Everyone of us choose meals from the special menus, and when the mains arrived they were piping hot and tasty. Overal we all enjoyed much our meals including desserts. The staff were very friendly and helpful, also the service and food were amazing. They also served gluten free bottle cider. I would certainly recommend this pub / restaurant, and we will certainly visit again in the new year.

Introduced to this pub in the New Forest on a Tuesday lunchtime by a mate. Very large spacious pub with excellent food & service at reasonable prices. Not exactly cosy due to its spacious size, but pleasant enough.

We visit here every 3/4 months, food is always lovely and decent sized portions. Puddings are a little expensive (but they are everywhere now). The chocolate peanut cheesecake is divine! 😋

Food very acceptable but the pub is a bit like a canteen,not a lot of atmosphere the were OK but acted like it was just a job to be done.

Fantastic food. Will be taking friends next time.

Very spacious pub/ resturant. Staff are lovely & friendly. The food is also very good. Will definately go back. 🍽🍾🥂👍👍

Absolutely sh*t hot. Brilliant service, fantastic food. Nothings to much hassle, generous portions, good range of food. The chef must be some kind of super hero making all those different dishes so well. Just go there. You will not be disappointed

We "discovered The Carpenters Arms a few months ago and this is our 3rd visit. We have no hesitation whatsoever in giving it a five star review. My Wife had Lamb Shank with a well stocked dish of vegetables. and I had the Steak and Kidney pie with saute potatoes. It's a little out of our way as we live in Mudeford but it's well worth the extra drive. We will happily return another time. There was a 70th Birthday function on at the time but it didn't affect the service we got.

We have been eating at The Carpenters Arms for the past 18 years, travelling some 120 miles there and back because we loved the food, service and ambience. However, over the past year we’ve noticed the quality of service has gone dreadfully downhill. Today, for example, we ordered their steak & kidney pie with new potatoes, peas, carrots and cabbage. While the pie was as delicious as always the potatoes and carrots were tasteless…perhaps tinned? Also - and to me most important - I’ve noticed they had begun serving their latte coffee with more water than milk, so today I asked for a separate serving of cold milk. When the jug arrived it contained WATERED DOWN MILK, frothed up to appear milk-like - and when I asked for it to be replaced with MILK, I received a jug of BOILED milk which still, when added to my coffee, didn’t improve the flavour! It appears they are cutting back on quality to save money; something we can’t forgive them for. So we shan’t be going there again.

We were treated to a Sunday lunch from friends, it has been a while since we were last at the Carpenters so we were extremely surprised as the place has been updated and does look amazing. The menu not changed too much it’s all old fashioned pub grub but it’s good food piping hot and good portion sizes. Highly recommended and we will definitely be returning. Parking an issue sometimes as car park is not that big.

Have been to the Carpenters Arms many times with family to celebrate various occasions. The staff are always lovely and friendly and their pies are brilliant too - I highly recommend the steak and stilton!

Have been going to The Carpenters for Sunday lunch and their legendary pies for years. With two significant, family birthdays in October we decided to hire the function room for the party. Lynn, John, Katy, Ben, Noah, Steve and all the girls in black could not have been more accommodating. Room available for us to do what we wanted, bar close by and a bespoke buffet which featured lamb canapes, and Carpenters pies in individual format! Thank you Carpenters - a great night was had by all.

Absolutely excellent steaks and homemade steak pies followed by superb homemade sticky toffee pudding or ginger pudding with mint conditioned Fuller's London Pride! Great service too! Thank you!

Great food and drink in a pub without commercial pretence run by a hardworking family..

We drove to The Carpenters today, as my friends gave me vouchers for my birthday. Homemade Steak and Mushroom Pie was fantastic. Scampi and chips where very tasty. Good prices and portions where plenty. Very friendly and well worth popping in if you are that way, or on holidays.

Pleasant place, clean and staff very helpful. Very nice and large portions.

We had a family gathering last night of 18 people to celebrate my wife’s retirement. The food & service, choice, was as lovely as ever. The perfect venue for large or small parties. Thank you ever so much Katy 🙂👍🙂👍

My wife and I met with friends it was a table of 11 on the 20th September at the carpenter arms Bransgore and what a great experience it was, the food the staff and the atmosphere was exceptional. I had asked one of the staff what would she recommend for dessert, and she was very helpful. I found out she was the owner and her name was Lynn. She was great. Thank you Lynn for recommending the sticky toffee pudding.....it was lovely.

I initially visited here with two family members for lunch which was very good as I wanted to see what the food was like as I needed to book the function room for 30 people later in the month. The function food was just the usual buffet items of sandwiches, pizzas, quiches, sausage rolls, gala pie, scotch eggs etc. which was fine but I was very surprised to find that when my guests requested tea or coffee they were asked to pay £2 for it. I had assumed that these drinks (obviously not alcohol) would be included as every other similar function I have arranged included tea/coffee as part of the buffet food/refreshments within the cost. The bill for 30 settings was £300 i.e. £10 a head and whilst it was not really a problem that this didn’t include tea I had simply assumed that it did and so was left in the embarrassing position of discovering that my guests had had to pay for those teas themselves. Since this function was food after a family member’s funeral, that embarrassment was something I could have done without. Overall good but I really do think that the policy of not including tea with the food cost needs to be looked at by the owners of this establishment as it is atypical for this type of event.

Just love this place, love the menu and vista. My fourth visit

I visited this place for the first time on 6 September 2023 with my partner and his cousins. The service was prompt, considering how busy it was. The food was delicious, the portions generous and the prices very reasonable. I'd definitely eat here again, but next time I'd leave some room for the sticky toffee pudding!

This is the place to go for well cooked traditional food, we go there fairly often and have never been disappointed, consistently well cooked, good portion sizes and very good service. i would recommend the pies as they are delicious and have plenty of filling, I would also recommend booking, as it can get busy.

Exellent food, great value and all home cooked , and hot food, well worth the ride from Southamptoand

This pub has a good menu for people with dietary needs. I recommend it here.

We dined here as a family travelling home after visiting Bournemouth. As the weather was so good we decided to dine outside and unfortunately this didn't prove a good a choice as we first thought, the smell from the drains did put us off to the point of moving tables. Inside may have been better with plenty of tables available. The menu was good with the usual favorites as well as vegetarian options particularly good for my daughter. Service was friendly and the food and drinks came quickly. This pub is dog friendly and welcomes them inside and out.