The best restaurants in Burghclere, Highclere and St Mary Bourne Basingstoke and Deane South East

Nice surprise. Popped in as passing by, and what a lovely place, well-behaved dogs very welcome and friendly staff. Very nice food all freshly prepared and the roast dinner was just how it should be. Would definitely return.

Dropped into the Royal oak, A pub I've enjoyed visiting since 2014. This time after a 150 mile 3 hour drive we dropped in for late Sunday dinner 20 mins before final serving time order two roast pork dinners , we sat with coffee and zero alcohol Guinness, waited 20 minutes, no dinner .. Asked the young lady why the delay, she said she would check and sit down as she would bring our drinks.. 5 mins later she brought the drinks and asked if we were ready to order.. I reminded her we had 25 minutes ago.. We were drinking our 2nd drinks, 10 minutes later, I went to the bar again and asked what was happening.. It was late we had no other real options and we were really in need of some good hot food hence our patience.. we waited a little longer, the young lady came out of the kitchen walked straight past me.. At this point My partner and I left. We had such a lovely experience in Brighton, beautiful hotel penthouse suite and beautiful weather, fish and chips looking out over a sunset the night before and a full English breakfast.. The Royal Oak was our choice for a good Sunday lunch but THE ROYAL OAK at ETCHINSWELL NO LONGER SERVES FOOD.

Excellent service, really delicious food , great menu with plenty of choice. Higher recommended will definitely come again.

First class unassuming service on a pretty quiet mid week January evening. Food throughout very good and well presented. Excellent value, as was the wine by the glass especially the 2022 Languedoc chardonnay.

We went for a family Sunday lunch but unfortunately it did not live up to our expectations, it had gammon on the menu as a roast and it was rashers off bacon not a gammon steak. Also we were only given one set of veg between 10 off us we complained and was told they would get us some more but it never turned so some of us had no veg very dissatisfied. We will not be returning in the future I am afraid.

Lovely pub with a country feel garden with a stream running through it

Some lovely cosy creaky rooms across the car park from the pub, a little tired and in need of love but also charming. If I could change one thing I’d address all of the lights that shine in the rooms when the main light is turned off, I had to improvise and wrap clothing around them. Lovely biscuits and toiletries although no hairdryer. The pub itself if just lovely, the food is super yummy and the service exceptional.

Went for Carvery yesterday, was brilliant. Only thing is parking is limited, but that's not really a fixable issue!

Great friendly place for a pint 🍻

We wanted somewhere for my birthday lunch but being in a Motorhome can make finding parking challenging. We were visiting Highclere and passed this pub and did a quick u-turn. We were able to park at the back of the car park as it had a couple of extra long spaces. We were asked if we had booked a table and advised we hadn't, the serving lady found us a lovely table in the window for 2 plus our dog. We didn't want a big lunch so I chose the scotch egg starter with a side of chips, my hubby had cod cheek scampi with fries and salad. It was lovely, cooked beautifully and tasted homemade. Prices of some dishes were a little hefty but our dishes were well priced. There were dog snacks and water bowls We would definitely recommend, some dishes we saw coming out certainly looked very generous portions so be warned. Congratulations to the lady serving as she was serving behind the bar as well as waitressing, I don't think the pub had anticipated being quite so busy but she managed extraordinarily well until a colleague turned up to assist, well done.

Me and my partner came out on the hope Bourne Valley Inn was going to have space for 2 for dinner, it was our 3 year anniversary today and BVI did not disappoint! We got served by a Corey, he was very funny and even though there was a limited menu it didn’t change anything, he made us feel very comfortable. We will definitely be returning!! Well done Corey and team ❤️ It was a drive to get here as it’s a bit isolated but we enjoyed every moment.

Had a great stay at The Carpenters Arms, the accommodation is great, large, comfortable room with great sized ensuite. The we had breakfast, lunch and dinner here which was extremely good, food hot, tasty and plentiful and reasonably priced. The staff were very friendly and helpful as we're the landlords. Wish them the best of luck in their new venture.

Great staff, lovely to sit by the fire in the bar. Restaurant area felt a bit formal to me so stayed in the bar. Food was excellent but very small portions, and not cheap either. I had the gammon and could have eaten 2 plates.

Our 4th visit, lovely wonderful staff. Real value for money. Why pay £26 for 8 oz sirloin steak in Freefolk, when you can have 16oz rump steak for the same price at The George St. Mary Bourne. Lovely atmosphere, great value for money.

Beautiful pub, lovely welcoming staff, great pint of cider, but the star is the food. I can't speak for the whole menu, but if the burgers my other half and I had were any indication it's worth trying the rest of the menu... I'm picky about my burgers. Or. Well, everything really. Working in hospitality sort of gives you the burden of knowledge. Or maybe it just makes you a judgemental tosser. Six of one. The Carnarvon is a pretty pub, nicely decorated and kept in a good state - nothing falling to bits, nice and clean; through to the toilet. Staff in the middle of line cleaning a couple of the hand pull lines as we came in - while admittedly meaning that they had to deny me a pint of Proper Job, indicates they care and are attentive to beer care. Big tick in an important box for me. Aspalls instead; nice choice of cider, well kept, lovely pint. Staff seemed to be enjoying the work, they were nice to chat with and helpful. Attentive but not pushy. Perfecto. Based on all of that, and a quick glance at the reception, (which was where the handsome dark wooden panelling started in the building...) I'm going to make an educated assumption and give full marks for the rooms too, though we only ducked in for lunch, just feels unfair to ding on that while giving a nice review. I'm picky but I'm not petty. Back to the burger though. That was easily the best burger I've had in a long while, decidedly up there in terms of best burger I've ever had and my other half had essentially the same response, we both utterly wolfed it down. Absolutely deserved compliments to the chef, just outstanding. Very enjoyable visit. If that's the standard of everything but particularly that damn burger, we'll be back even though it's a bit of a trek across from Devizes.