The best restaurants serving British food in South East

Excellent service from our waitress Mary. Excellent food, will return

I recently attended a pub quiz at the Woodman and it was a fantastic experience! The atmosphere was lively, and the staff were super friendly. The quiz itself was well-organized, with a good mix of questions that challenged everyone, from trivia buffs to casual players. I loved the camaraderie among teams, and there were plenty of laughs throughout the night. Plus, the bowl of chips and drinks made it a perfect Wednesday night out! I definitely will attend a quiz again.

Sadly this place has gone down hill. We have visited on numerous occasions and this visit has been way below par. We travelled from Oxfordshire for a friend's party. I rang the day before we arrived to ask if the rugby would be on TV on the Saturday, to be told there is no sport shown. We went somewhere else for lunch and to watch the rugby, only to arrive to check in to the attached hotel to find a TV in the bar showing sport. The bar staff thought the late afternoon and evening were amongst the slowest and least engaged I have ever witnessed. There was no point at which they were swamped at the bar but it still took at least 10 minutes to be served. At one point 2 people were serving me, my round was just 2 drinks, and between them they still had no sense of urgency and actually had a conversation with each other instead of getting on with serving. The tables around the bar were littered with dirty glasses and used plates and cutlery, while the lady who looked like the manager stood leaning on the bar. Throughout the day and evening the place just looked scruffy and dirty. As the party we were attending got going, it was even harder to get served a drink. At one point my husband just walked away and went without a drink at all. I asked for a coffee at around 10.30 to be met with an eye roll from one of the female staff and her shout across the bar to ask another staff to get a coffee! Not sure if the pub has recently changed hands but whoever is in charge here needs to do some serious staff training, and definitely encourage eye contact and a smile as a minimum form your staff.

We were staying on the island for the week, and wanted to find somewhere to have dinner out as it was my birthday. We looked up places to eat on the web, and decided to book a table here. We were welcomed by the bar staff, where we ordered drinks, and the staff member told us about the card safe option behind the counter. We had to ask him what it was all about, as we had never come across it before. We were told where our table was, but we had to ask again as we'd never visited before. Maybe they need to take people to their tables? The meal was lovely - we chose the Hunters chicken and the venison pie, both of which were very big meals, and truly delicious! We even had room for dessert, which was just as nice. On reading previous reviews before writing this one, we noticed that people had mentioned a quiz night on a Tuesday evening - but obviously wasn't on the night we went. Would definitely recommend coming here for dinner - you won't be disappointed!

We have visited this lovely New Forest Pub many times in the last couple of years and is always our go to place for lunch when we have friends visiting.We were a party of four today and as always the service was attentive.Three of us had the Chicken Supreme and one had the Chicken and Ham pie all of which was very well presented and very tasty.Great food and service,whats` not to like

We went for lunch today. The service was fine and the staff friendly. I have only given it three stars because I have special dietary needs and requested a triple portion of greens instead of carrots broccoli and chips . When my lunch came the pie was nice but I was presented with six SMALL broccoli florets, The amount of food I on my plate was noticeably less than anyone else who had chips etc. The pie looked positively lonely. I sent the plate back and it arrived several minutes later with a couple of extra broccoli heads on. It was explained to me that a ‘normal portion was 2 pieces’ . This frankly mean spirited approach annoyed me. For goodness sake for the total cost of a meal I expect adequate portions. So I guess I won’t be going back.

What a delightful pub. Graham is an excellent member of staff. Very welcoming and clearly an asset to the brewery. A genius behind the bar with knowledge of the offerings.

We actually had a few trips here, for a casual drink, then lunch and a Sunday dinner. We couldn't fault the food and friendly welcome. New owners, Maddie and Billy made sure we were happy with food, accommodating a very fussy husband. Service from them and staff was lovely. Thai night food was amazing, thankyou Yada. And Sunday dinner, WoW! I have never seen so much food, and gorgeous.

It was a late lunch so we just shared a cheese and chutney baguette. It came with fries and a small green salad. Firstly, it was a good job we only wanted one to share because it was £11.99. The baguette was nothing special. Quite limited in cheese which was cheaply grated to make it look more. The worst thing was the fries. A horrible brown colour, looked like they had been overcooked or recooked. Sure they were also done in oil that was used for everything and well past its useable date. They were just short of disgusting. My wife wouldn’t eat them because they smelt and tasted of fish. Shame because staff were friendly and drinks fine with what could be a nice beer garden (there was some rubbish waiting to go to the top by the looks of it). Probably won’t be go again and certainly not to eat.

Mark and the team have been incredible this afternoon, warm welcome, great friendly service and lovely food. Always a pleasure coming here and the kids love it.

Great food and service - very warming & homely pub/restaurant. Staff were lovely and the food was delicious. They were also good enough to send an item back to me that I left behind when I got back to Manchester. Will definitely go again on my next visit.

we went for a birthday lunch, ended up very let down, food was badly cooked and cold, the place wasn't that busy yet the service was slow, out of the seven in the party not one will be returning, shame the pub is really quite nice, just needs a sort out with the staff all round.

Disappointed to turn up on a Friday at 2.45pm as they advertise food all day, to be told the chef is out until 5pm. Also noted the old 2023 Good Food Guide and other stickers still on the door - these were when it was under previous ownership when it was more of a gastropub.

Never again! Hotel close to the train station with a small pub underneath. With the English standards I have no problem with a somewhat “outdated” setup, BUT: - the hallway was full of rubbish and junk that you could hardly take a step without stumbling - the smell of the hotel was unpleasant - the rooms were equipped with the bare necessities, but some of the lights didn't work. The door lock was also broken - we received keys that didn't fit But the worst thing was that the rooms and the hotel were just dirty and disgusting. - Feces in the toilets - (intimate) hair on the sanitary facilities, - Hair and stains on the towels and in the bed - the windows are extremely moldy I am firmly convinced that this matter is not unknown to the employees. When we left the hotel prematurely (and, above all, hastily), we were laughed at and told that we should sort everything out with the booking platform and deal with them about the refund. There was no apology or anything. Kind advice for everyone who wants to fly home safely: it's best to look for other accommodation straight away ;-)

Busy cafe great location warm friendly staff led by Matt