The Snakecatcher in New Forest

We decided to stop on our train journey to Southampton airport. The pub is just 2 mins walk from Brockenhurst station. We weren't disappointed. The pub was clean and good menu. We had a fish pie which was piping hot and delicious, served with a side salad. I had sorbet for pudding, as they did not have the flavour I asked for, they gave me extra scoops, which was good. Not surprisingly, it got busier, but staff and manager coped and kept everyone happy. Would certainly go back.

We called in here on two nights during our stay in Brockenhurst. A good pub with excellent local ales. We had a snack on the second visit which was good. Would certainly call in again if in the area.

We had an excellent meal on Saturday evening. The food was excellent, well cooked and extremely tasty. The portion size was pretty good as well as we were all hungry. They keep a good pint if real ale as well. I can't fault the staff for their friendly amd helpful attitude. Five stars on all accounts.

Nice place to eat and drink plenty of garden space and tables

Staying in Brockenhurst for two nights and our hotel recommended ‘Snakecatcher’ to us. Nice pub, good atmosphere and lovely food, portions were huge too! Great story behind the name, make sure you read it if you visit the pub.

Stopped off for lunch here, I ordered hunters chicken and my partner ordered chicken Caesar salad, both were good size portions, well cooked and very tasty. The menu had a good selection on offer especially for a lunch time menu, would absolutely visit again if in the area.

We enjoyed our lunch very much. Will definitely visit again

Amazing sandwiches, I had coronation chicken my other half had brie and some chips. Big plate of food lovely fresh bread. Was very cold when we arrived but once the fire was going very nice. Definitely be back.

Lovely dog friendly pub with great food!

Good spot to grab a quick pub grub, just minutes away from Brockenhurst train station. The indoors had a lot of history on walls especially about the local & actual ‘Snakecatcher’ who once caught 30,000 snakes from New Forest!! That bit was interesting. Staff and service were good. The food ok; fish and chips bit too oily and overdone. The fish pie was good though. Didn’t find a wow factor sadly but a good place to stop for a nicely poured local pint!

Lovely long lazy lunch with family. Staff were attentive when we were ordering and left us to relax and chatter after dinner. Lovely & warm. Open fire. Lovely hot food that was served promptly all well presented and prepared. Will certainly return again!

Had a lovely few hours in here enjoying drinks and company. Great welcome and lovely atmosphere, will Most definitely return.

My husband and I were in Brockenhurst for a few days and popped into The Snakecatcher Pub for our evening meal. We were served by two young staff who were friendly and attentive. We were the only people at first maybe because it was a weekday and we were early. Our meal arrived quickly and it was enjoyable. The portions were large and the menu had a good varied selection.

Popped in for a lunch. Food and service excellent! Chose the ploughman's sharing board and cheesy chips! Lovely! Highly recommend!

For the wheel chair friendly community, this establishment is a dream come true. Chefs Specials left me feeling out of this world and Service with a smile is always a bonus. An almost standing ovation. I asked for extra sauce and it came. Will be returning for more, snake catcher - you left my snake feeling great!

Wow, went here for my Xmas get together on Friday. wow, wasn’t disappointed at all. Staff so lovely and friendly. Food utterly amazing and good portion sizes. Stuffed was an understatement, the turkey, ciabatta, brûlée were so good. Reasonable prices for the area, and I definitely will be returning in the new year. Thank you all at Snakecatcher

Wonderful tasty lunch at this beautifully festive pub. Food was gorgeous and the staff really helpful and friendly. Really cozy setting, nice and clean. Would love to visit again.

Vegans, avoid this place like the plague. We paid £15.50 each for a jack fruit curry today. The only reason we ate it..was because we were so cold and hungry. I regret not complaining when it arrived. It was absolutely disgusting. A spicey watery soup like consistency with half a tin of unflavored jack fruit tipped in and some leaks. It's the worst vegan meal I've EVER had...and I've been vegan 18 years. My partner had 4 mouthfuls and left it. This is 2023....no game with vegan grub here. Don't waste your money.

Stopped here for lunch on our way to the Cottage Lodge in Brockenhurst. Generous portions (we had a light lunch of sandwiches) and friendly service.

Came in for an early dinner, staff were very welcoming and friendly. Service was excellent as the pub filled up pretty quickly. A young blonde lady was super efficient and remained smiling even though she was looking after a number of tables. Food was great quality pub food, well done chefs. We only had mains but were absolutely full. Reasonably priced too. Can’t fault it. Well done.

I stopped here because of a two hour switch between trains and a bit of family research, and I ended up choosing at random one of the best pubs ever. Great drink, even better food which is served by even better staff! Massively recommended to everyone!

My wife and myself are currently holidaying at Brockenhurst in the New Forest (staying at the lovely Cottage Lodge Hotel - Review to follow) - and earlier this evening we had an early supper at the nearby Snakecatcher Pub. Being relatively early diners we had the pick of tables and found a nice one towards the rear of the lounge. The staff could not have been more welcoming and were soon enjoying our respective dinners. Both our Pies (Fish and Steak & Ale) were not only delicious but were accompanied by a generous selection of fresh vegetables. All in all, a most enjoyable evening and - as such - this will probably not be our last visit!

Great food, reasonably priced with massive portions. Wonderful service by Jake. Will definitely be back

We always enjoy our visit to this pub we hope you do.

We enjoyed good beer (I should say ale) and good food and the service was good too. It was a Monday mid afternoon so quiet. But still worth a visit.

Fantastic food, venue, staff and setting!! We had a fab dinner today and we will be back. Thank you

Would give 11/10 for food alone. I had a ham hock as a special, and it was exceptional. Staff were super friendly and made every effort to accommodate us, genuinely a 5 star experience in every way.

Excellent food. We had steak and ale pie which was extremely tasty and contained good quality meat which was cooked to perfection, it came with lovely crispy chips and perfectly cooked vegetables. Our other meal was the fish pie which was also beautifully cooked and freshly made. The service was good and the staff friendly. Would definitely recommend a visit.

Below par food esp given the prices, much better places in the New Forest

Quick light lunch and coffee. Greeting / hospitality was genuine and warm - lots of lovely fuss of the dog. Service and food equally great. Loos were spotless.

Great pub. Always go there when we’re in the area.

Came across this pub whilst out walking; wished we had walked on by. Greeted at the bar by a smiling young lady happy take my order and chat, it fell apart from there; She was undermined and belittled by another member of bar staff, apparently being her brother meant he could put her down in front of customers. (She walked off embarrassed and emotional), I felt very uneasy along with a customer who was sat next to me. We received our order, Ham, egg and chips; pie of the day and vegetables. Eggs were undercooked and warm at best, the vegetables weren't cooked and cold, the meat in the pie was tough. The food was left. The only redeeming feature was the ale which was a good pint. We won't be returning.

Really lovely atmosphere to come for a drink and food we came with friends and each dish looked and tasted great. We would definately recommend an evening here and will come again.

Lovely atmosphere and great food.

Nice pub, good food pleasant atmosphere especially next to the fire on a cold day. Try the hot stone food clever idea as you cook it yourself. Good side portions.

Everything about this pub is excellent, especially the food, so good in fact we went there twice 😋 during our short break in Brockenhurst

Amazing food. Great quality and tasty.

Went lunchtime but the specials board was 12noon till 1.30 so just missed it ,so disappointed because I was looking forward to the Cote de bouef . After 1.30 you would have to cook it yourself on the hot stone , didn't want to cook it myself. Then the specials don't start again till 6pm.

Great atmospheric New Forest pub, excellent food!

Great pub. Been many times. Great value food.

Fantastic place, great food with a great atmosphere. No difficulty in parking either.

Took friends for lunch, very relaxing garden, and good food, we had the ploughman's platter and chips,

Brilliant pub. Has lots of character inside and a lovely garden with kids play area. Good variety of food to suit all tastes. Great place to visit.

A bit dark to read my magazine at the table, but lovely bangers and mash with steamed veg. I will be back next time I am down here.

Loved the food, the portions were massive which works well with my friends and family. The waiters/waitresses were really friendly. Only drawback is the fish pie was slightly salty for my taste but other than that, definitely a must for visitors.

Good food and good beer...what more is there to say.

Great day out, first since Christmas with friends, had a couple of sharing platers, brilliant food very tasty and plenty of it at reasonable price. Staff were great, helpful and attentive. Thank you Snakecatcher for providing a safe comfortable environment for our meeting with friends. Highly recommended. Came again had a sharing plater ploughman's and basket of chips. Staff as ever very friendly food brilliant and plenty for 4 oldies. Still highly recommended.

Cosy pub, large garden, friendly staff, great food

A well-run pub/restaurant with plenty of staff and a very good kitchen. We had the ham, egg and chips along with the pie of the week - both enjoyable and promptly served. A choice of real ales and a good wine selection made for a good evening. There’s a large car park to the side too… A sound choice if you want better-than-average pub food.

Amazing food. Friendly staff and cosy atmosphere

Last minute decision, called and booked 30mins ahead. Friendly, very polite, on the ball staff. Excellent menu choice, also a specials board. Large portions, hot and very tasty. Will certainly visit again and highly recommend

Last minute decision as we were staying just up the road. Staff were all really pleasant, greeted us on arrival, table was ready although we were a few minutes early. Good selection of draught beers (Snakecatcher bitter is recommended), ciders and wines. Great choice of food plus several specials on the blackboard, including "pie of the week". Scampi and chips with proper whole tails not 'reconstituted'. Snakecatcher burger and chips. Really good sized portions and very tasty. We also ordered the trio of bread which was probably a mistake given how much you got!!!. We did our best and the plates were almost clean. Highly recommended.

As previously mentioned by another reviewer, we too booked a table on line earlier in the day for 5 of us which was duly accepted & said 'booked'. Arrived at 7.15 ready to dine. Walked in and were completely ignored for at least 10 minutes until someone acknowledged we were there!!! Not once did a member of staff say a word not even 'we'll be with you in a minute' SO damn rude. Eventually the female staff member promptly asked if we'd received an email confirmation, with a snidey smile on her face, which we hadn't at that time but it came later after our booking time had come & gone! Ridiculous booking system - didn't offer to squeeze us in or come back at a later time or offer a table in the garden. Haven't received such poor customer service in a long time and having gone elsewhere, we had the best dinner at Enzee near the station who couldn't have been more welcoming & accommodating! Suffice to say won't be returning to the Snake Catcher any time soon.

Rude and unhelpfully Booked on-line but they said they had not got it. Made no effort to see if they could do anything. I see others have also had thus problem

The menu attracted us as there were very interesting choices. We both had the hot stone dishes. The side orders that came with the mains were extremely delicious too. Very friendly attentive staff, dog friendly and all the food we saw being served looked tremendous. Will definitely return and highly recommend.

Happy for you to while away the day reading and sipping good cider

On holiday looked on Google yours came up . First impressions when we walked in was to try your menu for something to eat. We didn't even have a drink ,the tables were all close together and very dull . Nothing against dogs but they sat on sofa which people are meant to sit . We walked straight out ,not very inviting.

Could be so nice. No vibe, no service. Boring food.

We are regular visitors to Brockenhurst and have had many nice meals sitting in the garden. However the visit on Friday evening is probably our last .There was red lipstick on the wine glass -bit off putting but glass changed and spology. We ordered the fish basket which arrived with cremated sweet potato fries, obviously unedable. Why would you serve this ? Such a shame .

We were really impressed with the food. Loved my steak on lava stone. Everyone liked their dish. Good pub grub and nice garden

Saved our evening! After being turned away at the huntsman up the road we made our way down to the snake catcher, we arrived at 8.20 and enquired about a table for 2, the staff let us know that the kitchen would be closing at half 8 and very graciously let us choose our table, saying we could come up to the bar whenever we were ready to order. Unfortunately many of the specials were sold out, which is to be expected as we were late in the evening and they all sounded very delicious. We were still able to find something in the main menu which we were very pleased with. The staff were very accommodating. Thanks everyone for making my evening!

absolutely amazing! food was great and staff were amazing even though it was incredibly busy! One of the staff had to deal with a very tricky customer who had emailed to book an hour before not had a response and still expected the booking. She handled it really well and apologised to me for the drama! Thanks guys your amazing will be back again

Lovely little pub, with a nice outdoor seating area with a kids playing area. The food really let the place down. Ide go back for a pint but not the food

Beautiful pub in the heart of Brockenhurst. Not much has changed in the 12 years since I last visited, but it remains as stunning as ever. Ideally situated for the train station too. Unfortunately, it was far too hot to sit outside, and I didn't want to be mobbed by wasps, but by the window was lovely. Thank you :)

The Snakecatcher...don't book online if you want a table In the New Forest for a short break. Booked a table at the Snakecatcher online via there app for Thursday 31st 7.30pm two people and a dog Turned up as planned barman can find no booking for us and they are rammed. He asked if I'd booked online and he said they have to manually transfer the on line bookings to the booking book...and he hadn't had a chance to do it No apology No we will try and squeeze you in NOTHING what can one do? Make a scene demand to see the manager Ask for a refund (except we hadn't paid anything) None of which would magic up dinner We opted for leaving vowing never to return and document our experience

Love this pub.. Service is always good and the staff are friendly.. Always visit when in the new forest..

Sticky tables, found a large piece of plastic in my pint (part of beer taps or something?!). Management did sort it by not charging us for our meal.

Decent food (though I'd already ordered by the time I spotted the more interesting dishes at the back of the menu!) and friendly service. Gets pretty busy at the weekend so worth booking a table.

Great family meal - steak on stones and great service. All was well until the bill turned up with a bottle of wine we didn’t order and a pint of beer. We raised this with the staff who without question took them off the bill followed by a half hearted apology. Unfortunately hard to believe this was an honest mistake. Ruined an otherwise very nice evening. I wonder what would happen if as a customer you refused to pay for 15% of the bill? Because some places appear to think it is ok to add 15% without reason.

Food was OK, pub food but pricey, lovely beer garden and friendly attentive staff. Very limited parking

Large portions, plenty of veg with meal.

We dined here this week and although they were welcoming and dog friendly. The table wasn't clean, the food for the price was very average. Both our burgers 1 pork 1 beef were very dry. And the 80p charge for a lemonade dash on a Heineken top...unnecessary. Over all the pub and food was okay but I wouldn't hurry back anytime soon.

Staff were really lovely and dinner was delicious with large portions. We went for the hot rock food and were surprised how good it was. If we are ever in Brockenhurst again we will definitely be back for dinner!

Lovely pub lovely food great friendly staff.

Fabulous steaks on hot stones yesterday, and delicious desserts, particularly the brownie! We sat outside as it has a bit is a play area for the children, who did not want to leave the pub. Great atmosphere, not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for and the meals were worth it.

Only had some drinks but service was great and the setting and seating were well laid out. Car park on the side but not very big.

Lovely play area, some nice food. Chips, curly fries and scampi were enjoyed. Kids chicken nuggets were spicy and were not eaten by 2 out of 3 children. There were vegan options but expected to pay the same price for less food eg take the goats cheese off the salad and no sauce in the veggie burger making it very dry. Maybe could supply alternative instead or have a separate option at a lower cost.

We walked in the rain and wanted to get back to our campsite before it got dark. We saw the specials and now we are going to need our torch. It was exceptional food, the cote de beouf was stunning, well charred and tender but the accompanying tomato and mushroom had just as much love. The staff were kind and engaging. Our only criticism is that the food came on paper that was destroyed by the juicy food!

Group of 25, pre ordered, service swift, polite and very efficient. Fantastic food enjoyed by all. Atmosphere really good, nice choice of background tunes.

Nice pub with nice big garden. The staff were a big let down though. No acknowledgement at the bar and waited ages to be served even though no one else was waiting - it seems finishing a conversation about not getting the days off they...

Excellent food and service in pleasant surroundings. Nice big garden with its own outside bar nice way to spend a sunny evening

Had a great time here .There was a small garden play area for our grandson to burn up some energy whilst looking at the trains going past .They had a cast variety of Beers and an even greater variety of food which I recommend the kebab sizzler

Nice pub for a drink after a lovely walk in Brockenhurst😃

The Snake catcher is well-known in the area for having friendly staff, a superb range of drinks and a great food menu. The efficiency of the staff, especially when clearly very busy, is admirable. The pub has a superb atmosphere, a beautiful garden with a...

Excellent food 10/10 nothing to fault, great history about the pub, would definitely go back soon

Great pub food, fast service. Would recommend.

Went in to the pub with a potential to eat, a family of 4. My wife was completely ignored at the bar with the bar maid moving to someone who was next. My daughter tried to get...

We stopped here on our way home from IOW on the off-chance of getting some food. What a find! We were expecting bog-standard pub grub but what we thought were slightly high menu prices were completely justified. The food was delicious and staff friendly and helpful. Plus there is a large beer garden and play area for the kids. All in all, a winner for us!

Staff was polite and professional however. Table and chairs was sticky, my food had a missing ingredient, and my wife's drink had parts of plastic pipe jammed in the bottom of her drink which she didn't notice until she had drank it. We didn't have to pay for the food or the drinks. (Most was still left when we walked out anyway). Not a great experience for us unfortunately.

Friendly staff, nice busy atmosphere, good selection of drinks and pub grub!

Having left the Filly who had NO FOOD FOR WALKINS we walked to the Snakecatcher. Very nice welcome . Very busy, happy staff and delicious food.Perhaps they could train the staff at The Filly. Thankyou Snakecatcher

Had a drink with friends before boarding a train (the station is very near). Sat in the pleasant beer garden.

Lovely atmosphere, great food, would definitely recommend the wild boar sausages and mash! Great family meal.

Visited twice,we all enjoyed the food on each occasion.

Never fails to please, lovely food, great beer garden with plenty of tables

Food was so good - we both opted for the steak which was amazing. Veg was delicious. Our kids ( aged 4&2) had spag bowl and a pizza. Both were reported as very nice, but we had quite a lot left over as the portions were very generous. One meal to share would have easily been enough for my two children, so something to think about if you are feeding under 5s. Service was quick by friendly and cheerful waitresses. We've eaten out somewhere different every night this week in the New Forest, and we was slightly gutted that we only found this place the night before heading home - 100% the best place we've eaten all week! Will be back if we are in the area again. Only downside in my opinion is that it wasn't easy to book a table. I called twice (no answer), so submitted a "request" for a table via the website, but my table was never confirmed in the two hours that followed (presumably no one at the pub looked at the request). In the end we just turned up, and we're immediately seated, so it wasn't an issue. But it was 530 in the evening, and I suspect we may have been turned away if it was a bit later on, say, a Friday night. Perhaps you could invest in a better booking system that provides real time availability....

Another fantastic meal here, highly recommend the fish and chips and the ploughman's sharer. Kids loved the play area. Great service from the bar and front of house.

Nice pub with really good beer and a great atmosphere. Food was pricey but good although some really questionable options like bolognese on nachos 🧐

We popped in off the cuff as a group of 10 (we where camping nearby). It was busy but there was a table inside free. We all ordered, food came out quick and was fantastic. Portion size was good, kids meals where near adult size. For the quality, quantity and service it was amazing value and wouldn't hesitate to go again when close.

Nice Pub with beer garden close to Railway station. Decent selection of beers and wine