The best restaurants serving British food in Downland East Hampshire South East

From the moment we held our son’s christening here in 2022, I knew this is the place I’d get married. Simon and the team are the most accommodating, adaptable, friendly people and deserve a medal for putting up with us and our requests. No question went unanswered, no request was too much. Simon never ever left me waiting for a reply and encouraged us to visit the venue as often as we needed to set the scene. We had 3 whole days to set up (not that we needed it as Simon and the team were on hand to make everything look perfect before we arrived). He liaised with our suppliers and kept us updated constantly! He knew exactly what we wanted and exceeded all expectations! The following morning (with some sore heads) we arrived to undress the venue to find most of it had been done for us and our cards and gifts locked safely away. He even let my son have a ride on the lawn mower! My only regret from the day was not having our ceremony at the departure lounge as they make it look so beautiful! The highest recommendations go to Simon and the team at the departure lounge and we’re already looking for another excuse to throw a party here.

Could not fault anything, from start to finish, would definitely return...

We got here during a walk around the area. Chawton is lovely, as is this little cafe and we both really enjoyed a coffee and cake which was pretty reasonably priced actually. But the service was appallingly slow. We arrived around 4 p.m. so it was quiet, although there were a couple and a single lady ahead of us queuing up for a drink. We all ordered tea/coffee and a cake. It took 20 minutes for us to get our order... So 3 orders served in 20 minutes - sorry, that's too long! There was one person doing the coffees and serving the cakes and three around the back, doing who knows what? Well they did appear to be examining their phones a lot... Half the cake displays were empty so the lady in front of us asked if there was anything left. The person doing all the work looked under the counter, where I guss they keep records of cake sales or something and announced to the bunch at the back that they needed more cakes out front. After a couple of minutes, someone came round with replenishments and disappeared again... Why weren't the cakes sorted out before then and why weren't there two people working out front? I appreciate that people can order hot food at this place so they need staff round the back, but when we got there no one was doing that. We really enjoyed our drinks and cake, but the service was pretty rubbish to be honest. Someone out the back should have helped the poor lady out the front doing ALL the work! Maybe it was below their pay grade? I would still recommend this place - as long as you are not in a hurry - hence the 4 overall...

Exceptional country pub. Food was excellent, lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.

We went for one of the midweek roast events and what a disappointment it was. There was a very lukewarm welcome when we arrived and we were directed to the table with a point of the finger. The food was served quickly and just plonked in front of us. There was no asking what we’d pre-ordered so two of us got the wrong meals. This was rectified when we told them. It was hot but was very mediocre. I think my lamb died of old age. I couldn’t cut it, it was that tough. The potatoes were OK, the peas were peas that had once been frozen, carrots overcooked, the gravy was like water, the parsnips were OK and the saving grace was the cheese sauce on the cauliflower/brocolli. The Apple crumble was nice but again just plonked in front of us. The custard was lumpy. How much was all of this? It was a whopping £25 a head without so much as a jug of water on the table. It was daylight robbery. We wont be back.