The Otter Public House in Winchester

Today, twenty members of my family joined me for a special birthday celebration. We used the conservatory, and after drinks and lots of chatting together, our meals, which we had chosen in advance were served. This was efficiently done and not only were all the meals beautifully hot, but were tasty and everyone was delighted with the choices they had made. The dessert menu was then passed around and delicious desserts were then brought out, well presented and where appropriate nicely warmed through. Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate followed. The staff were always on hand and couldn’t do enough to make this a truly memorable occasion. We were not rushed out of the conservatory and it was great to simply be able to relax together. And all this, on top of a pub full of other guests who were drinking and enjoying the delicious food that was available. Well done one and all. One very satisfied customer.

Very good well cooked food was fast and efficient

Roast beef £22.00 potatoes and parsnips look like they had been sat for some time and dried out. Too hard to eat. Lots of beef not worth the money.

Apart from te salad leaves swam in the Caesar sauce- way too much, and too much salt on the chips, it was a pleasant dining overall. However, it was really noisy, and I could barely hear the conversation.

Service was very slow which was odd as there were very few customers. I had chicken ciabatta which was chewy and not pleasant

Love it here. Friendly. Great beer.

I've been using this Pub since the late 1960's, it was then known as The Cricketers Arms. It is still one of my favourite pubs, OK it's changed a bit over the years including the name changing to The Otter in the 1970's. But it's never lost any of it's charm/ appeal, it's still feels like a traditional local pub but manages to cater for modern tastes. It's well Managed & Maintained by the current staff. Although I no longer live in the village I always find someone that I know in The Otter.

We booked a table way in advance for dinner and the quiz. Turned up to find the front door blocked by plant pots! Not a great start, and poor for an emergency exit. Very inconvenient, as 2 of the 3 of us are disabled. They don’t even have disabled toilets here. We had to enter through the tradesmen entrance at the rear of the pub. Found our reservation card on our table and sat down, no staff around. A waitress turned up and gave us 3 filthy disgusting menus. We should have just left then, but unfortunately we persevered. She took our drinks order, I ordered a bottle of wine. She came back to the table a couple of minutes later to ask what size I wanted 😵‍💫. I said just regular bottle size, or a Jeraboam would do, she said oh, ok and walked away 😂. She brought our drinks, I said we would like to order the food, she was very unorganised, said she would back soon. She returned with a notepad (definitely in the dark ages here) and took our order. Our food arrived about half an hour later. The specials board mentioned bangers and mash, it arrived with gravy on it, and another gravy boat stuck in the food on the plate, disgusting! The gravy boat should not have been shoved on the food, who knows what it had been sat on beforehand. It should have been given separately! The gravy was horrible too, really tasteless. The lasagne was very chewy, mushrooms in it (WTF, that’s just a filler, most bizarre) were like rubber and chewy. Meat and cheese were ok, chips were really overcooked, shattered when cutting them, yuck. Salad, no dressing, just wet. The scampi and chips was the worst, once again, overcooked chips which shattered on just putting a fork into them, the scampi was way overcooked, verging on burnt, the salad had no dressing even. It was supposed to come with homemade tartare sauce, it was horrible stuff straight from a jar, false advertising!!! We received no check back, the waitress was obviously too busy just hanging around the bar 🙄. When she (eventually) came to our table to clear our plates, over 15 minutes after we finished, I told her how overcooked the scampi and chips were, she just said nothing! Dreadful/rude customer service! She had to be flagged down 4 times, to clear our table twice and order more drinks too, she definitely needs training, just shows how poor management is 😒. To top it all, despite making a reservation way before the evening, and mentioning we were there for the quiz, we were totally ignored. The quiz started without us included, I had to start writing answers on a napkin! Trams of 9 taking part, with teams of 2 or 3. There should definitely be a maximum team of 6 rule, it’s very unfair. The table next to us were so loud, we could hardheaded the questions, they were too gobby to hear themselves even, and several times asked if we heard what the question was! 😡. They cheated as well, after we scored each round for them they added 1 or 2 points, ridiculous! The person running the quiz should check the papers. There was only 2 x 5 minutes break in the whole quiz, not enough time to visit the toilets and get another drink, if anyone wanted a smoke forget it! All in all, pathetic service, poor food, filthy menus, staff and management don’t care! Badly run quiz, with no team size limit, and not enough time to have a break for the entirety of it 😔. We definitely won’t bother returning here until it’s under new management, despite being just 5 minutes from our home. Rubbish service, poor food, awful quiz. Don’t waste your time/money here. Plenty of decent places to go to eat nearby.

Very friendly, people who truly are passionate about what they do. Zak who works the bar is the best I have ever seen. Great Beer, Wine and a selection of Gin with all the different tonic flavours. Cheers Dave and Nick.

Stopped in for a couple of pints. Lovely old pub.

Lovely outdoor seating, great service and the food is excellent. Lots of interesting tasty options on the menu. On a Tuesday evening it was surprisingly busy, so obviously it's a popular venue!

Great pub, great food, fabulous staff.

Great, quite traditional Pub with a good menu, on-the-ball staff, cute location & a good size garden to cap it all off. Would highly recommend 😁👍

What a lovely local pub, staff are quick to Steve with a smile and make you feel welcome, a mix of local people and visitors to the area really friendly,food reasonably priced menu around tradional pub food

Lovely pub, didn't eat but really nice place to visit

Lovely pub, great atmosphere, very helpful staff and great food

Had an evening meal here with family last Saturday. A traditional pub, serving excellent, good value food and a selection of fine ales, served by pleasant, friendly staff! Lovely atmosphere. Looking forward to our next visit.

Awful average food and over priced. Chicken burger was like a frozen piece of chicken thrown in a bap with ketchup, super bland supermarket mass produced coleslaw with chips that were over cooked like pieces of cardboard. Will not be coming back in a hurry !

Friendly staff, good food, nice beer. Dropped in for lunch most recently and enjoyed one of the specials off the blackboard and something off the lunch menu. As always tasty food, nice sized portions, served by friendly staff. Good selection of beer and other drinks including Guinness 0.0%. On other occasions we've had lovely evenings at the Otter, really enjoyable, good service and friendly staff.

Very nice pub. Staff very helpful and friendly. Fish and chip we're lovely, jacket potato good, pie was overcooked. Very pleasant visit.

visited an aunt who lives in Chandlers Ford...she recommended The Otter so we took her along . Honestly loved our visit. The pub is on the edge of a very pretty village ( Otterbourne) ,has a really nice garden and a lovely feel when in the building. The menu was extensive enough and had good GF options for the missus. Portions were very generous and all the meals very well received. If you are in the area and feeling a bit peckish you just have to visit. .

Great pub, lovely location away from the main road, excellent menu. Food was delicious and well presented. Staff were friendly and attentive.

on phoning to ask about a motorhome stop pleasant and polit. food and service was good and a nice pub atmosphere!

Arrived with friendly welcome from all staff.. Relaxed pub looked really clean and homely.. Great choices of drinks and there is also food been served. Located in a very nice area.. Thank you staff.

It's always disappointing when you go into a pub and get called "mate" by the bar staff. I'm not his mate, I'm a customer. What ever happened to "Sir" & "Madam" Staff training required

Good food, good cask beers/lager, good food and lovely staff. Large car park, easy access.

They were supposed to be serving food until 7.00pm on a Sunday, we arrived at 6.30pm and the kitchen was closed, so no food. The place looked OK though.

Table too small for 3, even though plenty of others available. Expensive meal microwaved beef pie with huge mound of virtually raw mange tout and baby corn. Won't be going back.

A really lovely place. It's a proper pub and also serves excellent food with fabulous music playing in the background.

I booked this restaurant for a group of 8 including friends from New York and from Canada. We went for Sunday lunch and we were completely impressed. The staff are all wonderfully knowledgeable, funny and friendly.

Staff were efficient and professional. Sunday roast was lovely. We pre-ordered as we were a large group. Everything was correct and delicious.

Nice pub and decent size portions. Tasty food. Worth a visit if in the area.

First visit of 2024 Service and food as good as ever. Large portions well cooked and presented. Not as busy when we first arrived, but customers continued to arrive, during our dining. Bonus a pub or business where the toilets are spotless. A few more establishments are a long way from this standard Always a pleasure to return Another visit to the Otter. October. This time dining for nine people on a Sunday lunchtime. Quality of food and service still excellent, despite three large tables being served and a busy bar. Seven roast dinners six roast beef and one pork, very large portions, smaller portions can be requested.Best roast dinner to date in the Eastleigh area. One chicken in creamy chilli sauce and chips. One pizza and garlic bread off the children's menu. PREVIOUS VISIT Dining for four people on a Saturday evening. The staff were very attentive and provided excellent service. A very good menu with a number of very good choices, there was also a specials board to accompany the main menu. Wide choices of starters mains and desserts which should suit most people. Excellent meals served at a comfortable pace allowing us to thoroughly enjoy our dining. Wine list adequate and not too expensive.. Good selection of drinks from the bar Very busy at the time of our visit and would therefore recommending booking a table. One of the best pubs in the Eastleigh area for dining especially as this standard has been maintained. Outside seating area suitable for warmer times Large car park available.

Pizza was not great, seemed like a frozen base with some toppings added and very expensive for what it was. The atmosphere would be improved if the lighting was dinner.

My husband and I were visiting friends in Winchester, and we all decided to dine together. The food was delectable and reasonably priced. The pub had a very cozy atmosphere, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Did a campervan stop over. Had a drink in the pub which was heaving ! Great atmosphere, friendly staff, locals were friendly and lots of different alcohol . Will definitely visit again. Literally 18 minutes from Southampton ferry ⛴️ ..perfect . Thank you for making us feel welcome

Have visited this lovely authentic public house regularly and went again with a large group of 15. The staff were helpful from initial booking to arranging menus and the experience was excellent throughout. Food was exquisite especially the chilli lime chicken and service attentive and prompt. A good range of beers and wines were served at the bar.

Had a meal here. Booked online. Effortless. Had a table in the restaurant but the bar staff moved us to a cosier table in the pub. Our order was taken very quickly. Great ale selection, stunning wines. I had the ale pie which was superb. Very homemade. My fiance had the chicken liver pate which was homemade and equally delicious and my son had the Southern Fried Chicken Burger which he loved. Staff were so friendly. A real locals pub. Would definitely return. Reasonable prices too. Excellent

Dog splept throughout the meal. Well looked after by thec staff. Obviously a popular place for a meal and a drink.

Warm and friendly, good service, great food and drink, reasonably priced x

Good beer in a dog friendly pub with great bar staff

There are only three stars for the atmosphere because the restaurant bit was so cold and i mean freezing cold i have had food here many times and its always great but its the first time i have had to keep my coat on hopefully the heater will be fixed for the next cold snap 🥶🥶🥶😄

Nice local pub with good sport on and great garden area

Nice looking pub. Didn't try the food

Visited here recently with friends as we wanted a traditional pub with traditional food. Lovely atmosphere, good service, food piping hot, well worth a visit. May need to book tho as gets busy.

Just returned from an excellent lunch. Lamb Shank, pie, burgers and tagine were all delicious. We will be returning soon

Never have I seen staff so happy all dressed in pink with flashing Dickie bows said they had just had a 15o/o pay rise

Great pub...fast service and lovely food. Best of all though was the awesome pint of TT Knowle Spring....delicious!

Nice friendly pub serving good food. Will definitely go again.

Visited this pub for a roast, food was quite good, meat was spot on and veg was tasty. Unfortunately the service let it down. Although staff were friendly we ended up ordering at the bar as was left waiting for 30 minutes with menus. Drinks order was forgotten so didn’t turn up. Had to request dessert menus 3 times as the waiter continuously forgot them. Overall food was good but service was erratic and frustrating.

First time going here and the owners even have the same surname... No idea if related but what a lovely place. Service was really good, polite, helpful and friendly. Food was brilliant. Had a fantastic sleep and Sunday roast. Between the four of us we had all options and everyone loved the food. We settled the bill and was surprised that it was £55 per couple which was very good value for money. I would not hesitate to recommend and I will definitely be going back.

Love the atmosphere at the Otter. Have been post rugby training for dinner, for Sunday lunch, and out for an evening out… food great and service fab. Been with and without dogs too

Friendly staff with a super selection of drinks, the menu looked great. They have basically moved the pub outside, their is plenty of undercover areas with a potential external Gin bar 👍

Just been to the Otter whilst having a few days in the area. Lovely food and friendly staff. Will come back when we are in the area again

We had a great evening here! Great waiters, Seb and Josh, who were friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The food was delicious (thank you, chefs) and hot-proper pie, not just a lid. Yummy deserts in a fun atmosphere. Definitely recommended. Will be back!

First time in this village pub and I really liked it. The staff were friendly and welcoming, the anmmbience felt warm, cosy and a bit historic and the food looked very tasty, we will be back to try some grub! :-).

Great food and service. Would highly recommend.

Lovely pub with indoor and outdoor covered space. Delicious soup and bread lunch with generous amount of food. Their Otter Ale is very good!

Das Essen und der Service waren sehr gut. Das Ambiente hat uns gefallen.

Went here for Sunday lunch, food was fantastic, best Sunday roast I've had out, staff so polite and helpful, nothing too much trouble will return sooner than later

Great food and drink choice. Lovely pub

V enjoyable lunch in the lovely covered outdoor area. Friendly and quick service

After reviewing several similar styles of pubs offering Sunday roast dinners, This one came back as one of the most highly rated. As you can see from the photo it was certainly the best Sunday roast dinners around the area.

Excellent lunch for 3 of us; two of us had the Mediterranean tart made by the chef which was delicious. The scampi and chips was also very good with loads of scampi and green peas. We have been before but will certainly go again.

We had a lovely lunch here, as you can see from the photo the ploughman's was huge so we shared it. It was rather a warm day, but we sat out the back of the pub in the conservatory area, we didn't venture outside in the garden, but it looked like a nice sun trap. The lemon tart special for desert was absolutely beautiful. This was out 2nd visit, and we would go back.

Great authentic pub and lovely choice on tap.

Had Sunday lunch with friends and we all commented on how good this Hostelry is.Excellent service throughout and the food was superb, portion sizes are huge A must is the homemade Pate it is absolutely wonderful.Overall a must place for lunch,I for one will definitely be back Thank you all at The Otter.

After a 3 and a half hour drive, we arrived at The Otter to have a bite to eat. It was busy and all tables were reserved. The bar staff asked if we were ok and when we asked for a table for 6 people, we expected to be turned away. An area reserved for 4 didn't turn up and we were lucky enough to be given the table. The food was very good,it was especially good to have a choice of veggie options and the quality was far better than we expected! The food was absolutely delicious 😋 We could not fault the service and the chance to have an enjoyable meal at lunchtime. It's so disappointing when people reserve tables and don't turn up but we benefited and we're very grateful! Thank you to the team in The Otter, we will definitely be back when we are in the area again!

Very friendly staff.Very friendly

A typical local pub, decent grub. OK service, I understand it's hard to get staff and this team needed a bit of training

Great toasted gibata, excellent service.

Friendly service, and a place in the UK that actually has Angostura bitters behind the bar!

Great food if a little on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for.

Warm, friendly local neighborhood pub.

Great local pub with good selection of beers and food. Organised events are always a great time!

Bigger meals than expected. Quite a busy pub. Used the pub as a stopover on the way to IOW. Would recommend

Great traditional pub, warm friendly atmosphere, good outside seating

Amazing if a little pricey, but we'll worth it...xx

I live in the north of Scotland or it be more regular

Run by a super family with the accent on providing a great selection at sensible prices. Have been visiting for years and the standards stay high.

We had not booked but were advised to come early. We were not disappointed and got outside service under canvas. The14 of us received courteous service from the young waiter and were all eating within 20 minutes. We were allowed to have our own birthday cake afterwards. The tables were cleared and our bills brought promptly. The waiters received a £10 in thanks

Lovely pub on a River ask landlady for stopovers

There were 6 of us having a meal.5 meals were burnt over cooked. We raised our complaint to the waitress she just smiled. We were sitting in the garden. No manager came out to see if they could put things right. Not sure if the waitress did not take this serious and pass on we were not happy.

We've been here numerous times and it's always been 5* until today. It was a bit disappointing all round really, both the starters and mains were a bit overdone and dry, staff not as friendly as usual. Hope it picks up again.

Lovely pub, food was great as was the staff. Would highly recommend.

Never been here before but excellent choice of venue for lunch and a catch up with old friends. Large car park was an added bonus. Clean, friendly and comfortable enviroment. Service was prompt, no long waits for the food to be served. Food was hot, tasty and well presented ( my fish was the best I have eaten in a long time ). Prices are very acceptable and menu well presented. I am so pleased we chose to eat here and will definitely recommend to others.

Enjoyed a lovely meal here with very friendly staff. Will certainly call again when next in the area.

Love this quaint little pub. Good selection of ales, lagers and gins. Not to mention a great food menu, highly recommended.

Otterfest was great, an excellent selection of cast beers and ciders, as well as food. Worth putting in the diary for next year.

Beer is a tad overated and expensive. That said, it has a great village feel and style. A great place to visit for those out of town. The food is good aswell.

Food well presented but unfortunately my meat was under the recommended safe temperature.other members of my party were content with their food.i returned my food and waited near to fifteen minutes before a fresh dish was served. Not a pleasant experience.

Lovely food, Really decent portions too. 5 stars without a doubt.

Really good food and service was great!

See trip advisor review. Completely embarrassed I even chose this restaurant for my mums birthday, I feel awful

Good food, The lamb curry was really tasty. Good steak, the steak pie, beef bourguignon and English mustard were excellent.

Love this place - but why is the lager so feckin’ expensive? Best Atmosphere in Otterbourne ito pubs, but the prices of the beer makes it less of a destination. I know I am being slightly grumpy here - but the ‘’Forge sells a pint for 40p less - and that’s quite a big difference!

Love the Blue Moon they serve. Bar staff excellent. When we have eaten there always enjoy the food

Nice staff Good food And a nice atmosphere

Needs the heating on. Went hear for lunch, 90% of the customers had coats and or scarfs on.. Food was OK. Would visit again in the summer.. 👍

Drinks are very pricey here, and so is the food. Although the food is alright.