The Waterford Restaurant in New Forest

Exceeded our expectations, friendly staff in a wonderful setting, matched with quality food. Highly recommended 👌

Great service and a delicious menu. Food cooked to perfection.

Good food, served with a smile, in a pleasant atmosphere.

The dining is not at all up to the standard you would expect given the grand setting and - more annoyingly - the grand prices. Very mediocre food. ‘Cauliflower Wings’ at £12 as a starter were two boiled florets sitting beside a spoonful,of giant couscous in a sort of heinz baked beans sauce. The malaysian vegan curry (£17j was shallow-flavoured and demonstrated no awareness of what a curry should be. The sauce seemed to have come from a supermarket shelf. The same was true of the king prawn pasta dish (£20) Homepride sauce or something like that springs to mind. I cannot believe they have a professional chef in the kitchen. These prices will buy you an excellent meal at, for example, one of Gordon Ramsay’s better restaurants. We have been staying at Elmers Macdonald in Lymington for many years and the food has suddenly taken a dip for the worse. So disappointing. On a positive note, the waiting staff were extremely charming and professional.

Lovely restaurant with friendly staff and amazing food, it was my birthday celebrations and the staff were so kind and thoughtful

Very poor. When researching online, the menu and hotel seemed to promise a gourmet experience. Instead, the food was bland and uninteresting. Have had better school dinners. Attended a wedding evening reception at the hotel after the meal and was surprised to find my monkfish scampi starter was exactly same as the fish bites being served as a buffet snack there! The main waiters were pleasant and attentive, however the rest of the staff were not as up to scratch. Left 15 minutes waiting to pay the bill and had to ask when the waitress was finished serving another table. I feel the quality of the restaurant may have been affected by the aforementioned wedding but when charging £45 a head for 2 courses and a drink simply not excusable

A super hotel with 2 restaurants. A lovely open fire. It wasn't busy. The fine dining menu was slightly more pricy and the portions were smaller. The room was stately and service excellent. Parking in the front of the hotel. Toilets were lovely too. I would have liked to stay in the hotel.

Excellent food in lovely surroundings with very good service. Discreet and cosy with an interesting choice of dishes

Not the first time at the Waterford. Every visit has been excellent and our recent experience must put this Restaurant as one or even the best fine dining restaurants in Lymington. The selection in all aspects of the Menu is so comprehensive and spoilt for choice. The kitchen even has their own smokery. Not cheap, but what to you expect for such quality and choice.

The food, although tasty and well cooked, was over elaborately presented, almost nouvelle cuisine which is nolonger popular if it ever was! Restaurants now tend to champion local ingredients, eg locally caught seafood and beef from a local farm along with seasonal vegetables, again sourced locally. All the wines on offer seemed expensive having a more reasonable priced white and red house wine available would be a great option.

Ribeye steak, £25 was a good size, well cooked and beautifully presented. So nice to get them hot and rare, exactly as ordered. Minted lamb £22, though was a joke….if you only have one portion left, don’t try to halve it, add a few veggies and pass it off as two. Two thin slivers of meat? This was insulting. Wine was very good but then you can rarely go wrong with a bottle of Malbec and at £42 it should be excellent. Sides were extra and broccoli was not as described in the menu…..sprouting it was not. Silver service was professional and efficient but a welcoming smile or two would be lovely and could not deemed over familiar. We love this resort and will return but sadly, not for the dining.

With wonderful weather, I asked if we could dine outside. Nothing was too much trouble and had a superb meal outside the restaurant, served so well by Oliver, with amazing views down the Avenue to the Solent.

The same menu each night and the same specials each night too. Very overpriced for very average food.

Fantastic place to get away for a few nights peace. Staff were very helpful, food in restaurant was very good. Would highly recommend.

My fiancée and I booked a meal here whilst away for a couple of nights. For a hotel that describes itself as four star luxury, I have never received such awful service in my life. Having booked a table for 7:45 we didn’t even get to sit down till 8:30. If someone acknowledged us and let us known there was a delay it may have been better but as it was we were not seated at our table till half past 8. It then took a further 45 minutes for the food to even come. During this wait I complained to the supervisor on shift however he brushed off complaints and said food was coming. What I found absolutely disgusting was the supervisors attitude towards us, he ignored us completely after the complaint and it escalated further when it came to paying the bill. I bought up the issues we had during the evening and commented on the fact a manager should not behave the way he had, to which he just said well I’m not the manager. He questioned several times if I was going to pay the bill, in which I had no issue paying, but I did request a gesture of good will from him. He then proceeded to use threatening behaviour saying if I didn’t pay he had my name, address and telephone number and was just completely rude to us in front of the whole restaurant. The member of staff at the bar and the receptionist who eventually dealt with this situation were great, but the restaurant ‘supervisor’ should not even be allowed to work in hospitality.

Not what l expect from Macdonald Hotels. Service very slow, food served cold. No response from complaint. Eaten in numerous othe Macdonald Hotels, but this was a real let down. Not on my must list.

Good atmosphere, friendly staff, good food and a very pleasant time.My steak was excellent and the desert was lovely. Well stocked bar meant we were well looked after, cannot wait to go back.

Nothing excepional about the menu but all dishes well cooked and presented. Rolled shoulder of lamb and sea bass very enoyable. Perhaps priced towards the top end of accepability for what it is, but the take Tastecard which makes it excellent value. Wines rather pricey by my standards; no English draught beer at the bar but the usual Peronni (also bottled Speckled Hen) Cannot fault the service - prompt, polite and helpful.

Great ambience Great service Good food

The Waterford restaurant had been closed for some time we were not told this when booking and ended up in the Scottish steak restaurant , which is mediocre and not fine dining.

We had dinner here whilst staying for a weekend. The food was fine, well-cooked and presented, and tasty, but not what I would call fine dining. The room was on the chilly side, as if someone had forgotten to put the heating on early enough. We had drinks in the bar before hand, which was fine, except that the wine list only had prices per bottle, not per glass. There was a water jug ready on the table, but the glasses that were not used, were also left on the table, making it feel cluttered. Food service was fine, but the service for drinks, once we had st down, was very slow, as was any attention at the end of the meal, such as offering coffee.

We had a lovely dinner here last weekend. We started in the bar with pre dinner drinks looking down over the Solent. We had a table with gorgeous view and had the 5 course dinner which included a taster spinach and rocket soup and an orange sorbet between courses. I had the smoked salmon followed by the chicken and my husband had the smoked salmon followed by the beef. It was beautifully laid out and the flavours were delicious. We had desserts. Mine was white chocolate bread and butter pudding with creme Anglaise and my husband had sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream. Coffee and mints were taken back out in the bar area and we waddles around the grounds before retiring for the night. A perfect evening with lovely staff and ambience.

Wonderful food cooked and presented to a high standard. Staff were discreet but attentive. Courses were not rushed so had time to breathe between them

Food was tasty and reasonably priced, but definitely not a fine a dining experience in any possible way.

We visited the Waterford Restaurant on the last night staying with friends in a time-share. It is a very interesting period building but with only about five tables occupied on a Friday night it was rather dead. Service was good once the waiter returned and realised we had been waiting patiently to be shown to our booked table. The £29.95 three course menu looked to be good value but turned out to be frankly pedestrian. It was difficult to see how they were charging a supplement to have Artisan Breads and Olive Oil as a starter???. The wine list was less good value with just one wine under £30! This suggests either extremely high markups or they need a new wine buyer. There are better choices for fine dining within walking distance.

We ate here with friends while staying at our timeshare.The ambiance and food are very nice and the service was good.In the past we have used this restaurant to host parties and it has always been very good.

Don't bother to go there for breakfast as you won't get food. Dinner would be the same, Read my full review with pictures under the main hotel's review.

No atmosphere in this restaurant. The service was friendly and efficient, other than that I can't say the food was very good.

El entorno es lo que te trae aquí: la vista de apertura lymington con el mar, cercado por árboles y el césped que se extienden hasta el agua. Dentro, todo es de paneles de madera maciza, ventanas de plomo, y servilletas de lino. Pero la comida era excelente, y relativamente razonable dada la tres campos. El vino es un poco caro, pero nos dieron una copa cada uno, y no romper el banco. Servicio del viejo mundo (en el mejor sentido de la expresión. ).

La comida es de buena calidad, el servicio y el ambiente. Fácil de reservar una mesa, pero es temporada baja, así que espero que será más difícil en temporada alta.

La comida era excelente y muy buena relación calidad-precio. El servicio fue amable y muy eficiente. Teníamos un vegetariano y otros 2 vegetarianos pero felizmente el menú variado para encajar dentro de este.

We ate here as part of a DBB deal. Lots of choice, very high quality food. Delightful staff. We were made to feel very welcome.

Very pleasant attentive staff and the most tender steaks in the area. Very nice smoked salmon and fish cakes. Four ribeye steaks ordered to various doneness and came to table perfectly cooked. Thanks for a really nice evening.

Although we live locally we had never visited Elmers Court, but wanted somewhere special as a "thank-you" to friends. It certainly lived up to our hopes. Lovely wood carved paneling and plasterwork ceilings. The service from the barman and the lovely waiter Colm was attentive but discrete, and the food excellent. Though we all thought a few more vegetables "for colour" might have improved the main courses. We got "two for one" with our Tastecards, so overall the evening was excellent value

we ate here for two consecutive nights. Although the drinks are on the expensive side i found the food to be more adequately priced.We ate 3 courses on both nights and paid £30 per person. The choice and quality was first class. The service is spot on without being too over the top.

We enjoyed one dinner here whilst staying at the hotel and we were pleasantly surprised with the food served considering the state of the hotel. The staff were friendly and very attentive (although as with the rest of the hotel, understaffed). We had three courses all of which were delicious. The menu is European including British classics such as a sticky toffee pudding - can't go wrong - and they certainly didn't. The wine was also very good but again rather expensive (we paid £26 for a 500ml carafe). The restaurant was also very quiet and not very busy, probably due to lack of staff to cover more tables. However, I don't want to take away from the experience which was very positive. Thank you for a very enjoyable meal.

Attentive service both in the Tudor bar and Waterford restaurant. A really excellent meal, could not fault any course. A relaxed atmosphere for a special birthday meal.

Restaurant not up to standard of hotel rating and little if no change to menu. We gave up eating in hotel and went out after 2 nights to eat, breakfast in the other restaurant was much better don't just have toast and coffee its the same price as a full breakfast

High standard of service in this restaurant.Staff very attentive.Food out of this world-thank you Elmers Court. for making my daughters Hen night so special. Memories forever.

I went with a group of 20 friends to one of their Christmas Party nights. We waited ages to buy a drink at the function bar as they couldn't work the credit card machine for the previous customer. I had a gin and tonic, but they had no lemon. The fish cake starter was nice. My friend had the soup, but couldn't discern the flavour, so asked the waitress. She didn't speak English and did not get someone who could. I had a vegetable strudel to follow which was really dry and boring, as was the fish. There was no salt or pepper on the table so I asked the waitress for some. Again she didn't understand so simply said 'I don't know' and didn't go and find someone who did. If they don't understand their diners, staff need to be trained to find someone who does. Looking down the table, no one finished their main course - I hope the chef saw how much food was returned to the kitchen. My pavlova dessert was simply ice cream with some meringue in it. A very disappointing evening, certainly not worth £30+ each.

Excellent service and superb food. We were right next to the Christmas tree so very atmospheric. Would recommend it.

I had dinner with 11 friends. The restaurant were kind enough to give us a private room. The food was delicious and the staff very friendly and professional. 12 women of a certain age could have been intimidating but we did not faze them.

The adjoining wood panelled bar is ideal for a pre dinner drink, although we did feel a little rushed by the Irish waiter who was keen to get us into the restaurant and sat down, a little before we were ready. The ambience has character and is relaxing and elegant. Despite being advised that a dress code is required it doesn't seem to be enforced. A three course meal costing £30 per head is served with four choices for each course and the food is of good quality. The hours are between 7-9 although I get the feeling it is preferred to have guests in earlier and out by just after nine.

We stayed at Elmers Court and decided to take advantage of the Waterford Restaurants Ultimate Dining Experience as advertised at the reception desk. Boooked a table through reception so far so good. On arrival we decided to have a drink in the bar before dinner, sat down and waited for one of the staff to take our drinks order, after some time we got fed up with waiting and my wife went to the bar spoke to the Maitre d about getting some service and was asked to sit down and he would get the barman to take our order. The barman then ignored us just walking past, eventually our drinks order was taken. We had plenty of time to look at the menu before ordering waiting for a drink. When we were shown to our table our drinks were taken to our table then the wine arrived we finished our drinks and the glasses remained on the table for the entire meal so did the plates for bread so the table was somewhat cluttered.After the first glass of wine was poured no body came to pour any wine or check if our meal was ok, the water was pesented in what can only be described as a hospital jug. It was not the Ultimate Dining Experience that was advertised we had better meals in Lymington for less money. If Macdonald Hotels want to advertise and offer an Ultimate Dining Experience they must staff their restaurants accordingly it was not possible for a Maitre d and a barman to service the bar and a 40 seater restaurant and provide silver service.

Good value of £29.99 for three courses. Beautifully cooked and presented. Friendly attentive staff. Elegant period bar and restaurant.

The food was very well prepared and presented, with a good choice of wines. The staff were very attentive and could not have been more attentive

Great food, but a bit overpriced for the size of the portions. It did save the hotel experience and was a touch of luxury.

Pre dinner Bombay gin and tonic came with slimline tonic. when this was questioned we were told that this was all the hotel had. The main restaurant was quite soulless and to bright. The only saving grace was the witty banter of our Irish waiter and the food which was rather good.

Lovely food, reasonable price for three courses and very good service. I felt sorry for the grandfather on the next table who ordered mussels for a starter and four were closed or only partly open, he struggled and managed to open one or two. I always thought if they weren't open they shouldn't be eaten? If it was my restaurant I would not serve any that were closed. I went for the salmon and it was delicious, and so was the beef which I had with main. You have to order season veg as a side dish though it didn't come with any. The crème brulee was superb too

We went as guests at the hotel. We had crispy fried squid and beetroot and goats cheese risotto to start, lamb steak for mains and lime tart with raspberry sorbet and honeycomb cheesecake for dessert. The lamb was particularly good. Colm, our waiter, was professional but easy going and really added to the experience.

We ate here whilst staying at the hotel. The initial impression was not too encouraging as we were one of only two tables booked in the evening. However that meant we had a window table with view over the grounds. The set price 3 course menu offered a reasonable choice, the food was delicious and well presented for all courses. Service was attentive without being intrusive. Overall the food was good value for money. The wine, however, is expensive.

Nice restaurant with good service and reasonable menu. Wine a little expensive but good choice.pleasant location with views over the grounds towards the solent

We ate here whilst staying at the hotelLovely friendly staff quick serviceReally Lovely tasty food all cooked to perfectionWould recommend :)

Lovely setting, Antony the Reception Manager, sorted the booking, all went fantastically. Good service, lots of space between tables. Food was good although the Duck may have been a 'little pinker'. £29 for 3 course A La Carte, very reasonable, wines a little pricey, but good flavours. You will need more toast with Duck Terrine.

The food was of a good quality but the choice was limited in the package deal we had. The alcoholic drinks were very expensive

The food was good but the service was average as there were not enough staff. The food is pricey and the drinks are a rip off.

The food was of high quality but be prepared to pay a high price for it. The service was just acceptable as there should really be more staff. Also be prepared for a very high bar bill if you drink here.

Excellent Sunday lunch in this grand old dining room with gorgeous views down the garden to the Solent. Great value for money at £15 for two courses or £19 for three, including a small glass of wine or a soft drink. Service was quick and efficient. Food was good, with 4 or 5 choices for each course, and very well presented.

The resturant was very warm and stuffy, but the food was excellent. I wanted something not from the Menu and the chef was accommodating and cooked something special. Great Value at £30.00 a head.

My wife and I had Sunday Lunch in the Waterford restaurant on 11th May. The setting, location & service were very good indeed.However, the main course of roast beef was a disgrace. It consisted of a "Chargrilled" steak that was served with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy.As a steak, it would have been really nice, but roast beef it most certainly was not.If I order roast beef, I do expect it to be beef that has been put in an oven and not a piece of steak that has been flamed on a grill. It just did not go with the other items on the plate.I did mention this at the time but my comment was just ignored.I think that my big mistake was in actually paying the bill.When I returned home, I sent an email to Elmers Court via the website and I received an auto confirmation but no actual reply. I have since sent it again with exactly the same NON response.I find it quite incredible that 2 emails can be just ignored.Perhaps somebody will now give me the courtesy of a reply.

As part of a dinner, bed and breakfast package we ate at The Waterford Restaurant in the main building on Saturday evening and the restaurant was nice and had loads of character, the food excellent and the service superb. However the atmosphere was lacking. It was less than half full and no background music at least that could be heard.The cheese board had a very good selection of cheeses, could have done with having a selection of biscuits rather than just one type.

Beautiful delicious food, stunning in presentation and always of very high quality. Silver service restaurant in Tudor House with historic feature fixtures and fittings and large open fires. Very romantic setting and lovely views whilst dining here. Melt in the mouth steaks and vegetables like you've never tasted before. You must dine here. There's no screaming kids in this restaurant! All children I've ever seen eating here are wonderfully behaved and have lovely table manners. We're usually staying at Elmers when they do their Valentine Special menu, which is out of this world. This is a fine dining restaurant, and you won't be disappointed.

Everything first class here - both food and service. Good choice of menu and wine. We'll recommended.

We ate here during a two night stay at the Elmers Court Hotel. Us and two other couples waited patiently to be seated in an almost empty restaurant but of three staff seemed keen to assist us. Eventually we were seated at a nice table. Having been asked if we would like a drink, I asked for the wine list. The waitress produced it and then disappeared...until I complained! Food was very good however...particularly the steaks.

We took our kids to the the Waterford (they're 4 and 6). Although it is a white-table-cloth type of place, we always felt at ease and the atmosphere was always quiet yet very pleasant and relaxed.The Salmon was very good, grilled to perfection, though it could do with a little less hollandaise sauce. The soup was good and creamy. The chocolate tart was very good - deep and not too sweet.

A Fixed price three course menu with a reasonable selection and extra for smoked salmon starter, two different steaks for mains etc. and also for sides.Pleasant but priced too high especially with extras and quality and presentation only 3.5

Went here after reading reviews on here and must admit a bit disappointed it was all just ok deco was ok and wasn't much of a atmosphere. Didn't think much of customer service ? Was all just ok

The attention to diner satisfaction was impressive as was the quality of the food. The staff were knowledgable and friendly. Nothing was too much trouble including a dessert not on the menu! The choice and quality of the food was excellent accounting for all tastes. All in all a really great experience that helped make our break really enjoyable.

my family and i had a private lunch on sunday the food was amazing and the sevice was to match. we have bin here manye times and always go back and this time was even better we will deffinatly be back.

We ate here twice in the week we stayed at Elmers Court and the food and service were fantastic on both occasions.

visited this restaurant as non-residents of the hotel a couple of months ago. There were 4 of us and we were seated on a round table in the middle of the restaurant which was lovely so we could all talk together and comfortably without disturbing the other diners. The service was great - all the staff were attentive and checked on our satisfaction throughout our meal - which you don't get in some places which just leave you to it and ignore you for a while. The wine we had was lovely and good value for money - a lovely reisling! We had 3 courses each, and were accommodating for a fussy eater that we had with us and allowed us to 'change' the menu slightly which was very helpful. I had the lamb rump which is fantastic - so happy I went for it and my partner had the beef blade which again was lovely - beautifully cooked! You can get cheaper 3 course meals in Lymington but this restaurant has a lovely ambiance and great service with fantastic food!

During our stay at Elmers Court we had a family evening meal and whilst the food was good and the staff were pleasant it could not be considered as special or memorable

Good quality food - bistro style. When told that one dessert had run out we were offered another which was even better.

Excellent service and fantastic food. Very good value for money.

We booked the DBB option for our first night, and you have the option of Sails or here. I'm always suspicious of restaurants which bill themselves as "fine dining" as they so frequently aren't, and unfortunately this is yet another with delusions of grandeur.We were a group of 10 - 4 adults, 2 teens and 4 younger ones, but any restaurant worth it's salt should cope with this. We had pre dinner drinks in the bar, everything was fine and the service was good, but once we moved through to our table it all went downhill.The wine mark ups are VERY high, and the white wine was warm when brought to us. In hindsight I should have sent it back. Our starters were a mixed bunch, with the mackerel mousse probably the highlight.The mains were very ordinary, and took a long time to arrive. The puddings were rubbish and took even longer. Overall the bill came to more than £300 with only two bottles of very average wine and 4 kids meals. This is some way from fIne dining, despite the best efforts of the waiting staff, who did do their best.

the food and sevice was 1st class yet again me and my family enjoyed the carvery lunch there was 10 of use and nothing was to much trouble.

Well presented good quality food with first class service from all staff

part of the package. No rush to eat the food - well presented although my husband thought there should have been more vegetables. Only carrots were served

Choice of meat all carved by Chef with loads of veg, potatoes and Yorkshire puddings and lashings of gravy!3 delicious course as well as coffee and petit fours....

It was our first night at the hotel so didn't know what to expect but had a good feeling following the warm greeting we received and the staff continued to be attentive but discreet throughout the meal. The braised beef was excellent and vegetables nicely cooked.

my family enjoyed mothers day lunch at the hotel the food and service was amazing it was a carvery but very well done. my son really enjoyed the play ground and walk down to the solent.

Ate as a family, children aged 9 and 11. Their menu was superb, our two chose sausages (3) and mash with onion gravy, and roast chicken dinner. They were too full for puddings but again nicer options than you normally find for children, as indeed were their starters. The wife and I both chose Lemon Sole which was cooked to perfection with beautiful asparagus and new potatoes. For dessert we went for the trifle, maybe a little small but excellent, and an Orange Scented Panna Cotta which was superb. Good menu, enought choice. Wine list also good and not too expensive either. Would certainly eat there again.

Dinner was absolutely divine. The food was of an incredibly high standard and I especially enjoyed the white chocolate creme brulee. The dining room was cosy, with comfortable chairs, yet had an air of decadence about it. The staff were freindly and welcoming. Would happily return for more of the lovely food.