The best restaurants serving Italian food in New Forest South East

It might look like a cafe on the outside (if you can find it), but there’s a proper restaurant with a proper kitchen on the inside. A small but varied menu, good portions and tasty. The chef was out among the guests, taking orders and asking if all ok. Well placed confidence. We would definitely return.

We were staying locally for a long weekend and booked a table for two for the Saturday night. We were warmly greeted on arrival and shown to our table, at which point we order some pre-dinner drinks whilst we perused the menu. We had half an eye on the delicious sounding desserts so decided to share the parma ham and mozzarella focaccia starter, which we very tasty. I had the chicken butterfly and mushroom sauce from the specials list whilst my wife tucked into spagetti carbonera, both of which were very tasty. To finish, we had a homebade bunet and a light, lemon sorbet, which rounded the meal off perfectly. The staff were polite and attentive, and the food arrived at the pace we liked - not too quick so we felt rushed but not so drawn out that we started to fidget. Overall, we had a lovely meal in great surroundings at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Always a fantastic meal and excellent service. Generous portions and authentic Italian food. We are regular visitors and always enjoy our evening.

Lovely restaurant, friendly staff and great atmosphere. Food was amazing. Eaten here a few times over the past year when we visit and never disappointed

Had vegan pizza cooked base but toppings cold and raw then no pre-ordered dessert

Really yummy food and a lovely staff. Nice atmosphere too!

What a lovely little Italian restaurant, only a few minutes walk from our hotel. It is my husband's birthday so it was a lovely treat to eat in such a romantic place. The food was fab. Hot, plentiful portions, served by a young man (sorry didn't get his name), with attention and extremely polite. My husband had the linguine with mixed seafood and I had a vegetarian pasta which was heavenly. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area

Excellent meal with fab wine. Went on a week night and what a delight. Service wasn’t fast but it was date night so didn’t care!

As a regular customer to Rays Italian, both my wife and myself would like to thank Stacey for another wonderful meal last night. We love all things Italian and this restaurant certainly presses all the right buttons for us... What do we like about Rays Italian? Not just the great food but the staff are always so welcoming and attentive. Best wishes Mark & Jan Laming.

We had an absolutely fantastic birthday dinner here, and it matches or exceeds everywhere we ate on our holiday in Italy this year! The service was relaxed but very attentive, and the sommelier was superb, matching wines perfectly to our dishes. Each dish was faultless, from the gnocchi to the veal, paired with a wonderful glass of pinot noir. If we lived in the area we would eat here all the time!

First meal out in Ringwood since moving to the area and now wondering whether anyplace could beat this. It was faultless. Gorgeous meal, fabulous wine, great service. Authentic surroundings. I couldn’t fault it. Thoroughly recommend trying this restaurant.

Prezzo as we like it ! Very polite and welcoming staff. In spite of being overworked...only 2 of them to man the seating, the orders , the service etc ... These 2 men were really trying their best for a pretty busy sitting ! Our food arrived quite quickly, hot and delicious. The place itself is a bit ...squashed and dark but the atmosphere was good and jolly !

Attention SCAM! Terrible experience!! Shortly before arriving at the property, they sent me an email saying they had canceled my reservation, I called for clarification and they hung up, leaving me stranded. I highly recommend not booking.

Just about to change management but we've met the new owner. He guarantees lots of seafood. As he says " he's from Sicily so should know how to cook seafood". Looking forward to it.

This is a real little gem! The food is really lovely, tasty and fresh. The restaurant is very welcoming and the service was brilliant. Not over priced which in today’s market is unusual. We would happily come here again