The best restaurants in Lyndhurst New Forest South East

Delicious food and excellent atmosphere in a beautiful setting. Perfect for a walk through the forest, plenty of outside space to enjoy and dog friendly to boot. Absolutely wonderful service from Chloe, a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Thank you for accommodating our large group. Highly recommended.

On my quest for 2 years on the best Ploughman's Lunch. No 1 at the moment May 2025.

Excellent food and coffee with quick service, best cafe in Lyndhurst will be going back for more

We popped in here for some morning refreshment whilst slugging it around the nearby shops of Lyndhurst. The waiter quickly found us a table, it was about 10am on a bank-holiday Monday so fairly busy. We ordered a hot chocolate & a chocolate-mint shake, which to be honest wasn’t very minty! It was okay, but a bit expensive really. The hot choc was very nice (words of my wife!) We decided to order a Croque Madame to share. It was actually pretty tasty, however they forgot the mushrooms and normally there’s more of a gooey cheese with this dish so I think they could do with improving this to be more authentic. We sat inside as it was a little nippy, but outdoor seating is available. Staff seemed very efficient and friendly. Other people’s food appeared nice as it was brought out. A nice selection of cakes available in the cabinet. Lyndhurst is served by a large main car park just down the road, in easy walking reach of this Tea House.

The service was good and staff friendly. The food was unfortunately not good. I agree with the recent review below. The food was a strange colour, tasteless and the chicken was chewey and dry. The sauces looked like they came from jars and the atmosphere was more like a cafe than restaurant and almost completely empty. It was the worst curry I have ever had. Regret having to write this before the staff were so nice.

Honestly food was amazing, can’t fault that at all! But the customer service was appalling, we turned up to an empty restaurant at 5pm asking for a table for 2, and was initially told there were no tables. After saying we wanted to eat right away, we got a table and sat down. Starters were lovely, mains came and I ordered a burger with chips, and it felt like I was asking for the world when I requested some Mayo. They didn’t check whether the food was okay half way through, when we asked for the bill, they came over to collect the mains and didn’t ask whether we enjoyed the food. Service charge added straight away, so we removed as I didn’t feel it was deserved. Weird atmosphere, but couldn’t fault the food!

Excellent food very fresh & the best Thai we have had for a long time great flavours. Lovely staff served with a smile & not too long a wait even though they were busy.

A lovely country hotel in the heart of the New Forest. Delightful staff!

We had high expectations for this Restaraunt/hotel with respect to Angela Hartnett as a chef and personality. However, sadly there were a number of issues which tainted our view and will not be returning. Arriving for our 7pm mid week booking, welcoming staff seated us at a table in the bar area, shown the drinks menu and asked if we would like any nibbles. We ordered some drinks and olives whilst admiring the decor and eventually after 30 minutes, a member of staff returned to ask if we would like another drink. Feeling quite peckish, we decided to wait until our meal and the waitress said she would fetch someone to show us to our table. Another 15 minutes later (7:45) someone eventually walked us to our table which was booked for 7pm. It must have been another 30 minutes before a pre starter arrived and literally 30 ‘seconds’ later when the starter arrived! We hadn’t even had time to finish the pre starter and you could see the staff wondering where to position the starters! I commented about being a fast eater and wasn’t expecting the starter so soon after a pre starter! They offered to take the starter away but we were concerned about time so they attempted to rearrange the small table and squeeze plates around us! We opted for the asparagus and crab which was tasty with exception to munching on crab shell! We politely complained and left some evidence on my plate. Hoping the main would be something special, we waited until 8:45pm for the £140 beef sharing plate to arrive! This was extremely pricey but intrigued as we do not usually eat beef and this was a special occasion. The beef was quite fatty but tasty. This included a tiny sharing bowl of chips, some dry rocket leaves with shavings of Parmesan, a sauce and roasted garlic! Not really a £140 quality meal for two! I mentioned to staff that we had to ration the chips between us and we asked them to pack the remaining beef for us to eat in sandwiches the following day. Moving to desert, the only gluten free options were cheese, ice cream or sorbet! When booking the meal, we were informed there was plenty of gluten free options! I commented that the local pubs have a wider range of gluten free options and the chef said he would offer a baked Alaska for me. I was grateful for the extra effort and the desert was edible! I lost track of what time we finally left but was saddened by our dampened expectations and feel whilst staff were polite and friendly, Limewood need to up their game. I’m just pleased we decided not to stay the night at £800 room rate!

Tried to go last Saturday evening, No phone attendance, booking system did not work, just turned up to find it closed.

This was our second visit to this wonderful pub and both times have been excellent! The food, drink and atmosphere are all exceptional, we would highly recommend this fantastic pub!

We really enjoyed this place The staff are friendly and welcoming We enjoyed the food and my husband loved the coffee The owner was a great guy he was very upbeat and friendly We throughly enjoyed this place Thank you

After passing this place numerous times over the years, I had the opportunity to visit today, I had a milkshake and pancakes with peanut butter and banana, absolutely delicious, I was the only diner and unfortunately today was their last day of trading, I'm so glad I finally got a visit in, such a shame it's closing tbh, very good food/service at a reasonable price

Best Indian food I've had in a LONG time and generous portions. Great service as well and very child friendly. Just in Lyndhurst for a few days but one of the highlights of my weekend.

Great pub in Lyndhurst! We stayed there for the night. The room was nice, the food was lovely and the service was great. The breakfast is very generous as well. It also has many parking spots which makes it super convenient.