The Royal Oak Pub in New Forest

I would have gave 5*, but we went there Saturday. We had burgers. Very good food. But what let it down was that we went there today. For Sunday roast. Order a starter olives. And 2 roast beef. They all came out the same time. So I had to ask if I could take home the olives. The roast came out as soon as we ordered. A bottle of water was £4.50 which we was not told.only found out when we got the bill. We felt we were rushed. As soon as we finished our main. The pudding menu was there. No chance to relax. Saturday I give them 10/10 . Today I give them 4/10 .

A lovely thatched pub very traditional. Great selection of beers. Lovely cheesey chips a nice latte too.

Exceptional, 10/10 from the atmosphere to the food. There’s good pubs and then there’s this place, it’s leagues above. And Julie one of the staff was amazing too. Will be back again for sure!

We had a lovely roast dinner and the staff were very friendly and attentive. Only negative for me would be that the veg for all of the adults was in one sharing bowl and not enough for everyone to share. This was immediately resolved by giving us some additional, but going forward, I would recommend providing a portion per couple. Other than that, it is a lovely pub, and we will definitely be returning for a date night.

Booked for our wedding anniversary, what a great find…firstly the pub is beautiful, the staff and service was excellent from start to finish, our waitress was Julie and she was just so lovely and knowledgeable about the dishes & menu. We had 2 sea bream which was stunning followed by the sticky toffee pudding and a creme brûlée both of which were gorgeous…we were made so welcome we decided to stay and we also ordered a liqueur coffee and espresso martini, I love an espresso martini and that was a really good one!! Overall we felt we got excellent value for money and we will certainly be returning…thankyou

Lovely lunch, friendly staff. Even had china teapot, cups and saucers. We will definitely be back!

Popped in post dog walk! Enjoyed the bread sharing platter and Ham Terrine. Hit the spot perfectly! Friendly staff and would definitely return.

We visited here for my mother in laws birthday meal. We were staying at Sandy Balls holiday park so it was a short drive. There was a very warm, friendly feel and the server we had was very attentive and friendly manner. The meals that everyone had were very nice and overall had no complaints. Prices are as expected for the location, portions were very generous. We really enjoyed our visit and would come again thank you!

A lovely traditional thatched pub in the New Forest. Excellent Sunday lunch. Definitely recommended, but book a table because it gets busy

This pub is really nice. Cozy, quiet and the staff are friendly and welcoming. The pub garden is beautiful and the food was really on point. Its nice when you get quality food that has some care and detail. Dog friendly.

Booked a table for dinner based on Trip Advisor reviews and weren’t disappointed! Brilliant pub, fantastic food, great service from Will. We had a lovely evening, very enjoyable. Menu was very varied and lots to choose from.

The Sunday Roast was delicious. Beef excellently cooked, vegetables perfect. Thank you for excellent service to Natalie & chef Will.

Absolutely stunning pub with a really lovely atmosphere, but the manager made me feel like I was an imposition for being there. The wait staff and the food were stunning but got a really sour vibe from the manager which was a shame!

Sat outside in the garden for lunch with family. Lovely pub in beautiful setting, have been visiting for over 50 years. Food mediocre and overpriced, in my opinion, but the best dish had to be the Prawn and Smoked Salmon salad. Young friendly staff. Good place to visit and enjoy a drink.

We sat in the garden at The Royal Oak and enjoyed a lovely lunch. The staff were very friendly and efficient and the garden was beautifully kept. Can't wait to go back.

Really good roast dinners. Plenty of everything. The decor is lovely and very clean. Staff very helpful and friendly.

Very good quality food and portions

Love love love this place. Friendly staff and beautiful setting

Lovely New Forest pub with good food and friendly staff. Oh, and they have a gin menu for gin fans! Garden is absolutely stunning and the pub has that traditional cozy feeling. Highly recommended.

This is a lovely pub in a lovely setting in the New Forest but the food was far too expensive for the quantity you received. We went for the Sunday lunch and literally only received three small quarters of roast potatoes and they were hard. The quantity of vegetables was also very small. The portion of chicken was just one small breast. The mixed meat and cheese platter was really bad for the cost of 28 pound. Presented on a wooden board and squashed together to make it look more was terrible value for money. Would go for a drink again but not to eat.

Excellent meal, lovely location and very nice garden.

We called in just for a drink and some nibbles late on a Sunday afternoon. A friendly welcome and efficient service made this a very enjoyable visit. Keen gardeners might have to prepare themselves for pangs of jealousy… Definitely worth making an effort to get here.

Perhaps the best pub in the new Forest? Lovely welcome, food, garden and ambiance… so much better than the typical new Forest pub

Great food and friendly service with a smile. Had to wait a bit as they were very busy on a sunny Saturday afternoon but definitely worth the wait. Honestly couldn’t fault the food - tasty, fresh crispy salads, seafood was yummy and presentation spot on. Will definitely return soon

We have been staying locally so have visited this pub a couple of times. The staff are friendly and the drinks are what you would expect from a pub. The food is nice but not what I would call value for money. I know all the pubs in the area charge a premium, but for the price (IMO) the portions are very small.

We had a lovely family meal most the staff were very friendly. One member of staff seemed cross that my grandchildren where playing near he's flower beds and accused them of touching hes flowers but they where collect something that had dropped into the flower bed. The overall experience was very nice.

Having eaten at the Royal Oak on a number of occasions and enjoyed fantastic food and service I am disappointed to find myself writing this review. Booked in for Sunday roast today and terribly disappointed by the quality and quantity provided. Don’t want to go into forensic details at this stage but my suspicions were raised by the fact that the meals began arriving within 30 seconds of us ordering ? Actually had to have both of them sent back to the kitchen straight away to be warmed up properly. When the plates were returned to us I honestly thought the chicken breast was one of the roast potatoes ! As I said, this was all very strange when taking account of our previous experiences and I hope we can give the pub another go and a chance of ‘redemption’, especially in view of the cost incurred ! Would have gladly given my thoughts had I been asked by someone if everything was ok….. but I suspect the ‘room had been read’ and there was no desire to do so. Not good.

Great location with the food and service excellent. The seating was comfortable and we were welcomed in and made to feel at home.

Just popped in for a drink and had the lovely back garden to ourselves.

Lovely pub in the heart of the New Forest. Full of character. We went for Sunday Lunch. The staff were excellent and the food was good. It's maintained it's character whilst being modernised and it's well done. Accessible - great toilets and a beautiful garden to the rear.

An extremely pleasant visit (for Sunday lunch).

Absolutely wonderful pub for lunch today. Beautiful scenery, gorgeous pub garden and surrounding countryside. Good choice of food, well cooked and presented. Sit and watch ponies and cattle wander by. The place to have lunch.

Good food and a lovely pub. I had the impression that they want to make the most money out of every customer though. Probably wouldn't go back for that reason.

Lovely pub, lovely to sit amongst the beautiful horses and view..Food great portions, and tasty ..We ordered for one potion of chips and battered cod sandwich with salad generous amount thankyou

Fabulous lunch, lovely pub inside and out, good selection of beer and wine. Would definitely come back. Staff really lovely. Thanks

Absolute gem of a find. Will be back when in the area. Food was amazing. Staff attentive and friendly. Thank you

Love little place. Service was great. Food was great, staff friendly, sat outside. And had the best view.

Lovely food, freshly home cooked. We had a pie and a chicken burger. Very picturesque spot.

Lovely pub, great food, friendly staff and great atmosphere

Visited Sunday Bank Holiday after recent refurbishment. Only stopped for quick drink will definitely return. The Sunday Roasts looked appetising and fairly priced. Good selection of drinks. Dog friendly areas. Outside seating.

This pub is amazing. Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, pretty and clean. The food is presented very professionally and tastes delicious. We’ll definitely visit again.

Great food and beer, good walks in the area, sometimes too busy to accommodate us, advise to book well in advance!

Beautiful spot in the forest for such a great pub. The beer was brilliant and this was only exceeded by the level of the food. Delicious, affordable and felt like fine dining. The portions were generous and the service was excellent. A really friendly place that we have returned to many a time.

Food was really good. Had salmon, was perfectly cooked. Beautifully crispy pork belly with melt in your mouth meat. Apparently the sausages were very tasty too, but Dad didn't give me a taste!

Never disappoints, great food that’s very flavourful and hot, best pub food in the Forest!

I had a family get together on Mothers Day, 10 of us and 2 dogs. Our meal was absolutely fantastic and the service was amazing. A wonderful experience, we are always made to feel so welcome, can’t wait for another excuse.

We visited the Royal Oak on Mother’s Day and the whole experience was great. Despite being busy the staff were friendly and attentive. The wait time was short for food. We ordered Sunday roasts which were very tasty, good portion size and variety of veg. Definitely will be returning. The location is also beautiful in the forest with animals grazing outside. (Good for gluten free - I am coeliac and the roast / main and dessert options were good)

Every single aspect of our visit was 10/10. From the warm welcome to the unbelievably good service - we were blown away. The lunch was honestly some of the best food we have ever had in a pub! The team made our dog very welcome and even had a menu of dog treats. The Royal Oak should be very proud - an absolute gem in the New Forest.

Yet another great lunch with the family in lovely surroundings. Well looked after, as always by Will and his team. Highly recommend.

Visited The Royal Oak today and had one of the tastiest pub roasts we’ve ever had. Definitely recommend for a family Sunday lunch. Staff were brilliant and the pub dog Guinness is adorable.

Fantastic Sunday lunch. Always great service from Will and his team. Great place for families and dogs.

We live locally and this is our go to for a meal out with family, friends and Sunday roasts. It’s also great for a drink especially in the sun. Food is IMO of a higher quality than you find in many forest pubs. It’s still got the trusted pub options but the whole menu is great especially the Sunday roasts. Drink options are good and change regularly especially the real ales. Certainly recommend

Food is always excellent here - from Sunday Roast to Chicken burger, fish and chips to pie. It’s always delicious and excellent portion size, leaving room for the yummy deserts (chocolate brownie is the best!!!) I always enjoy a visit with my family or friends. It’s a really lovely pub to visit.

Absolutely gorgeous pub with stunning surroundings 😍 the pub is beautiful, all of the staff are very friendly, kind and attentive and the food and drinks are amazing! We will definitely be coming back 🥰😋

This is the most magnificent country pub full stop! We booked for dinner on a wet Friday night - Google sent us down a country lane that was flooded- but feeling bold we drove through it… car stalled as it got deeper and deeper - stranded we rung the pub half a mile away - and like something from our distant caring past - Will the supervisor said he would rescue us ! And wading through the river that now surrounded us - climbing up a bank and through a barbed wire fence - he did just that. Once at the pub we were given the table next to the radiator and served gourmet soups and a magnificent meat and cheese platter - everyone including all the regulars came to see if we were ok. The pub even let us leave the car there once recovered - so we could save it ! Sunday lunch was amazing too x

Very nice pub, delicious food, great service

Gorgeous food, cozy environment, friendly and efficient staff! Would recommend and will be returning!!

Spent valentines night with the wife and two friends at this wonderful pub. From the bar service to the delicious food everything was exceptional. I would highly recommend the duck spring rolls. We all enjoyed our food and would highly recommend this establishment to anyone.

Delicious tasty food recommend this place.

We had a wonderful lunch on Saturday at The Royal Oak. A good menu, reasonably priced and food was served hot and fresh. Ample parking and we saw the donkeys walk on by!

Picturesque pub in small village Varied menu mix of classics and modern dishes Good atmosphere , tasteful surroundings Local beers Generous portions , freshly prepared, specials featured daily The food is good This pub is worth a visit and a return visit

This pub was recommended by the hosts of the holiday accommodation where we were staying for the weekend. They weren't wrong to recommend it! It was a bitterly cold Friday evening in January & we were given a warm welcome. The service was really good & staff extremely friendly. Food was fabulous. Definitely recommend.

Hidden gem! Delicious food served with a smile. Dog friendly. Will be back for sure!

Beautiful place, fantastic food, lovely atmosphere. Highly recommended.

High quality food that tasted amazing and was worth every penny. Will served us and he was exceptional. Can't wait to go back.

Food and service was pleasant, it’s a lovely pub full of character but when my friend and I came to pay the bill with our hard earned cash they wouldn’t accept it, it’s card only. That makes me mad so sadly won’t be returning.

We felt really welcomed. The food was amazing and Will was excellent. We will most certainly come back.

Booked a birthday celebration for my partner and her family on Wednesday 27/12/23. The service was very quick and helpful. Holly has a gluten allergy and they have plenty of gluten free options on there menu, the staff were very helpful with the menu. We all had a lovely meal and the food was fantastic, probably one of the best, if not the best lamb shank in red wine jus! Two others had pork and looked and tasted incredible, the fish & chips and salmon also looked and tasted amazing by the others who had those meals. We Highly recommend and will definitely return again when we are next in the area :)

Good pub food, lots of cask ale on the bar, and cozy atmosphere.

We went here to have a pre Xmas dinner. Booked a table and it was well organised. The staff were excellent and very attentive, especially the young lady who said she hadn’t been there long. No question on the service. However, we went for the Christmas menu and we were disappointed. I had the turkey, which came with two potatoes, two slithers of carrot and two slices of what looked like canned meat. The turkey was perfectly round, so looked like something pre packed. The whole dish was disappointing. My partner had the Rissotto, which was bland to say the least, and quite frankly at £25.95 was well over priced for what it was. To be fair the desserts were excellent, drinks were fine, including the mulled wine. However, the overall cost was the killer. Main and dessert @£33 per head for what was served was not good value. It’s a shame as the place is lovely and the staff were excellent FOH, but the main course were a let down.

The service was lovely and attentive. Atmosphere is whsts to be expected in a new forest pub. The roast was not bad. The meat was cooked to perfection. The yorkies were slightly over done. The veg was plain. The potatoes lacked taste. They could have been roasted in goise/duck fat for flavour.

I want to bathe in their gravy for eternity! Roast is tip top Service is tip worthy

We were there for lunch Sunday and what a feast. The roasts are amazing and so much meat was in our plates. This was the third time we have eaten there and we can’t wait to return

Amazing pub, such lovely food. We visited New Forest for the weekend and came for food on Saturday night. Food was so good we came back for roast on Sunday, and of course wasn’t disappointed. Staff were really attentive too, honestly can’t fault this place at all. Love the pub dog Guinness! Will definitely return. Thank you

Great food and great service. 100% would come back again.

Thoroughly enjoyed a hearty lunch

We visited this pub today whilst staying in the area. The booking was last minute but we had the opportunity to celebrate my husband’s birthday with a quiet evening out, so booked a table. We were seated at a cosy corner table near to a little log burner. The pub itself is really cosy and warm and also very clean. We ordered a burger (see pic) and lamb shank (I tucked in before I remembered to take a pic!). Both meals were really good, very tasty and well made. We didn’t have a pudding but finished with a coffee, which came with a tasty little shortbread biscuit. Everyone at the pub was really welcoming and they kindly placed a ‘happy birthday’ banner at our table, after I mentioned on the booking that it was my husband’s birthday, which was a lovely touch, particularly as it was a last minute booking. Highly recommended and we would definitely visit next time we are in the area, it’s a shame this place isn’t closer to home as we would love to have somewhere similar as our local! We had a lovely evening, thank you.

The quiz was enjoyable but the evening was marred by a very disappointing meal. A Thai Green Curry that we all thought was very poor indeed. Extremely stringy mange tout, overly firm broccoli, tough chicken and a bland portion of rice with very little curry sauce. Then charged nearly £10 for a piece of brownie for dessert with an additional charge of about £2.50 for a scoop of ice cream! If this was an advert for the quality of food provided by the Royal Oak, I'm sorry to dash that we have been put off.

Main menu was average, about 10% up on the norm! Food was excellent, service very slow. We asked for a bottle of Dry Rose wine, when I came to pay the bill the bottle was £32!!, for an average wine, retail price on the high street is £12!! A bit of a mark up!!

We sat in the garden at the back and could not believe how beautiful it was. We had two starters – a pea and mint tartlet (tasty, but odd as it is essentially a spoonful of peas in a pastry casing) and caramelised plums with feta on sourdough (delicious and I would happily have it again). Our mains were a Naughty burger (very big and tasty) and a pastrami open sandwich (pretty ordinary and definitely not worth the money). Everything is beautifully presented, e.g. pea shoots on top or deep fried capers (unfortunately, I don’t think they’d been rinsed as they were way too salty). The beers were good. Very friendly staff. I would happily come back.

Excellent meal, good sized portions, pretty pub in a lovely location. Very impressed with my pork belly.

We were driving passed this pub, and saw kerb appeal. What a find, we stopped for lunch of hake and roasted new potatoes, and pulled pork ciabatta with salad. We added sweet potato fries as well, the meal was so filling, big portions and delicious. The Guys running the pub were friendly and helpful, didn’t have a sweet as so full. But the menu is full of lovely things to eat. You would be hard pushed not to fine something to suit all tastes. We will return again hopefully soon.

The service was quite slow, think we waited 50mins with no explanation! The food when it arrived was pretty good, i was was quite generous with my tip as i was celebrating and in a good mood, one more gripe would be, why no cash only card!! Last time i looked cash was still. Legal tender? Tim Ashford

Great country pub in an idyllic location. Walk distance from Flaxfield House (where we stayed).

Found this pub by accident while visiting the area. We stayed for a late Sunday lunch before travelling home. We both had roast beef which was cooked perfectly and accompanied with a massive Yorkshire pudding ! Roasties and veg were cook perfectly too. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Would definitely go back when in the area again

There seems to be a staff shortage in the kitchen. We were waiting for a very long time for our main course (over 1 hour). The staff that were there were friendly.

Best homemade food in the area. Amazing and fresh with pinch of love. Actually one of the best pubs in UK.

A beautiful find on a meandering sunny day; food, garden, friendly service, and peaceful atmosphere means we'll definitely be back. Highly recommend.

Great homemade burgers - been there twice in the last week. Our favourite New Forst pub.

The food here is fabulous! Friendly staff and good service

Found this by accident and how good that turned out to be! Lovely gardens and staff. Food was great - huge burgers served in a proper bun, not a brioche! Will return again soon!

Had driven past this lovely pub several times in the past and often wondered what it would be like to have a meal there. Yesterday, we did stop, and what a lovely experience. The food was excellent. Lovely friendly staff, and great service. We will certainly come again when we are in the area.

Second visit, about a year since the first. Table booked online and very convenient. Staff were professional and helpful, attentive but not intrusive from the moment we arrived. Food was excellent, we sat at a garden table which was good after a hot day. Recommended.

Cracking New Forest pub. Very good food and a fine selection of drinks on offer.

Haven’t visited this classy pub in the new Forrest since pre covid Wanted to treat my retired parents to a great Sunday roast My dad booked the table in advance

Our experience of this wonderful place really was nice food great,service friendly timely with smiles.

We all enjoyed our meals in a great off the beaten track location. Looking forward to visiting again.

This is one of the best pubs we've been to. The garden is stunning, we saw a herd of deer crossing before we left to go back home! The staff were very attentive and such lovely people and the food was stunning. I highly recommend this place

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I booked a table for 7.30 only to be told when we arrived that the kitchen was closing. From then on we were rushed at every point.