We called in for lunch. A friendly staff and a pleasant ambiance welcomed us. This is an old…read morevillage pub that offers great food and beer. They also support local community events and activities. Toilets are clean and parking is available. I had the best steak and kidney pudding and all the trimmings while my daughter enjoyed the vegetarian menu, vegan options are also available. The Royal Oak is the essence of what a rural pub needs to be to survive these days. Only a mile or so off the A36 but in a beautiful old village. I heartily recommend, but do book early as this is a place sure to be popular with cyclists, tourists, locals and passing trade.

This is my third visit in about six years and each time I am impressed with the food, the service…read moreand the beer. (Visits are based on how often I am in England.) I have eaten pies, fish and chips and steak and chips. Each meal has been delicious. This visit, as I was not the driver, I could have a pint of beer. There were seven of us who ate and not only did we have dessert, we also had cappuccinos. Their after-lunch coffees are very tasty and round out a meal nicely. Our waitress was super efficient and remembered all our orders even though she didn't write anything down. There is a good-sized car park so you shouldn't have trouble parking. The road outside is a little narrow so drinking and driving is NOT recommended. This is a great place for a family meal or a business lunch.

I've been here twice and I enjoyed each time! Their fish and chips are excellent (that was the…read morefirst time I came here). Honestly, anything on the menu is great! Oh, I took a chance on the arancini not really knowing what I had ordered, but it was fantastic! Great flavors. They have a big parking area and a lovely outside area to eat if the weather is good. Prices are reasonable and the food is great! Don't forget to have dessert! The sticky toffee pudding was soooo good.

WOW!! I hadn't been in here for a few years despite living nearby, but I called in for Sunday lunch…read morea few weeks ago after my dear mum said it had changed hands and things were on the up. I have to say the food was superb, at the time I think i even said it was the best sunday lunch i had ever had, I think I was a little taken a back by the quality of the food on offer. They have successfully managed to retain some of the old charm and proper pub feel, while making the dining a cosy, friendly experience that is all about locally produced food. The lamb had already sold out (turn up early or book on the phone if you don't want to miss out) so the three of us had duck, chicken and beef. Each dish was cooked pretty much to perfection and the home made yorkshire puddings were great. Sunday lunch just how it should be! This pub focusses on local, fresh produce all of which is prepared on site and served in simple, traditional dishes. The menu is short, but in my opinion that is the way it should be, as it means each dish excels. It is always so disheartening to find a pub that has 30 dishes on the menu as you can almost guarantee each one will be mediocre. Not the case with this pub. To top it all off the ales are well kept, the Bowmans "swift one" was a very refreshing pint and anything on tap from Hopback is a safe bet. All in all this pub comes very highly recommended, great food, nice atmosphere, good beers and friendly service, what more could you want?!

Great classic English Pub with a nice food upgrade. Very good beer, thatched roof, neighborhood…read morepub. Nice garden where the locals bring their dogs and have a pint. Tuscan pork and bean stew (outstanding!), chili with chunks of real steak, first class fish and chips. What more could you want!?

Well, where to start . . …read more I found this place by accident when I was doing my articles to qualify professionally in Salisbury, by sheer good luck I took rooms just a few yards away from a pub I had unknowingly driven past a hundred times - it is - it really is - well hidden. Once I found it I practically moved in . . .. This pub is located in the tiny hamlet of Netherhampton - just outside Salisbury in Wiltshire. If you are in the area - eat here! It is a chocolate-box cover thatched pub - all oak beams, real fires and horse brasses. The beers - ever changing - are kept in such fine condition that they have won awards (plural) from CAMRA. Their lagers are - well - lagers (enough said) if you're in this pub drinking lager you've missed the point utterly. However - their ciders (and I'm thinking Black Rat in particular) are first class. If you want a drinking pub you can't go wrong here However . . . their food . . . is . . . sublime. Now don't get me wrong they serve pub food. You won't find some sort of Cordon Bleu stupid pretentious nouvelle cuisine here. But you will find things like sausage and mash with sausages made from local wiltshire pork with REAL mash made from real spuds. The ham and eggs are made with ham from the local farm simmered in Black rat cider for four hours then roasted slowly and served with eggs from the hens next door. Their Jambalaya Gumbo and Cassoulet are beautiful creations scratch made by their chef (and she really is from New Orleans!!). But - and I challenge you: try their chilli. Normally Chilli is a dish that is best avoided at all times - its usually made with left over roast beef from the Sunday roast or it's just minced beef with tomatoes and hot stuff. This is different - this is real chilli, real steak - in chunks, whole tomatoes braised to a vermilion syrupy sauce ignited with fresh scotch bonnet chillis. The other chef, Taylor (the boss's son), has made this his signature dish. Now listen up: I hate chilli - it's usually secondhand, second-class, reheated muck that I wouldn't serve to my dog. I NEVER order it when eating out - with one exception - the V&A. I regularly travel from my home in London down to Netherhampton just for lunch, and if I'm to be honest, I order one of their fabulous pub meals and get them to pack me a serving or three of their chili to take back home. Great beer, great food and great hosts. I know of no finer pub in England (that hasn't stopped me looking you understand . . .) One more thing, dogs - even three-legged ones - are welcomed. Oh yes - forgot to say - you'll find a picture of it among my photos.

Super friendly. When the owners saw we were foreigners, he took special care to bring us a menu…read moreand ask after where we are from. He spent a bit of time chatting. We were even offered free tastes of local beers. Service is amazing. Food is great. Large vegan menu. Superb local atmosphere. Sweet! ! They even offer Spotted Dick on the menu. It's a special today! !

From the owner: We're a small village pub situated right next to the historical, Stonehenge…read more Our staff are extremely friendly and always ensure that the customers are satisfied with their experience.

A really good pub nestled in a picturesque spot. Staff are very friendly and the menu is changed…read moreregularly and features both innovative and more traditional dishes. The food is good and reasonably priced but the venison I ordered was rather overcooked and the spring lamb cutlets were insufficient for any but the smallest appetite. A good range of beers are on tap and the ambience is warm and relaxed. A little tweak here and there and it could be great.

From the owner: Traditional Freehold Country Pub Real Ales, cold Lagers,…read moregood selection of Wine Open log fire to keep everyone nice and warm Exciting special menu nights, quizzes, fun evenings, live music nights Reasonably priced menu and special dishes available Warm welcome assured

A lovely local pub in Winterbourne Down…read more This has been my family's local pub for around 20 years and it hasn't changed one bit. It's still as charming, still has the same locals, still the same landlord and, I think, still the same roaring log fire. The Cross Hands doesn't do food, but it does do lots of guest ciders, ales and a brilliant atmosphere. The landlord and landlady (Pete and Lesley) are great (Pete is the spitting image of Peter Stringfellow - with open shirt and hairy chest) and make you feel like part of the furniture - which can make leaving quite difficult at times! Friday nights are good fun. Typical local pub style. A bit of cheese on the jukebox and a good mix of young'ens and old'ens to keep it interesting from one end of the pub to the other. But the best thing about this pub isn't its huge back garden. It isn't the fact you can use one of their massive BBQ's and bring your own meat/food. It isn't even the regular events they hold in the summer with live bands and cider in boxes. The best thing about the Cross Hands is the pub dog. A beautiful Staffordshire Bull terrier who has the gentlest demeanour and wonderful personality. She'll pin her belly to the ground and wiggle her way over to say hello. All the while snorting like a little pig. She has her own arm chair and sits with the locals who play cards on the big round table from 4pm every day. This is a lovely little boozer that has a huge garden for the summer and wonderful warm log fire for the winter. As it is out of town, you can knock 40-80p off the price of pint. A must if you're in the area.

They dont do food here mate ! But you can bring your own and cook it up on one of the complimentry…read morefree bbqs ! This place has tons of character and a great choice of beers ciders and ales all at a very reasonable price. There is a beautiful big garden out back or benches out front if you fancy just sitting and watching the world drift by. Pete the barman is one of lifes winners always there with a warm welcome and a joke or two for you to enjoy. Stick a lepord print thong on him and marvel at the way he transform into Peter Stringfellow oh yeah ! All in all a class bozzer in the country.

The Bull Inn is quite unique in that it is loved by locals and visitors alike…read more The pub is a 17th century country pub with one of the best gardens for miles. Food is renowned and is available in the restaurant, bar or garden. Like many who regularly eat and drink at the Bull I always return knowing that I will never be disappointed. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD6joAD4no8

Adorable little restaurant just a couple of miles from Stonehenge. We decided to stop here on our…read moreway from Stonehenge to the airport. When we arrived we were asked if we had reservations and I can see why. The restaurant is very small. Although we didn't have reservations we didn't have a problem and were seated. There is a front room with a small bar and another room in the rear. There is also seating outside for nice days. We sat in the room in the back. Service was excellent here and so was the food. We let our waitress know that we were catching a flight in Stansted and she helped us avoid the traffic around Stonehenge. She was so helpful she actually wrote out turn by turn directions for us. If you're in the area definitely stop by. So glad we came here instead of eating at the cafeteria at Stonehenge.

Great experience here, food was awesome and the hostess was as awesome help! She took the time as…read morewe were in a rush to write down directions to avoid the traffic on the roadway since the phones apps keep pushing you into the traffic. The setting for the place was warm and inviting, great spot to stop if your in the neighborhood or stopping by to see Stonehenge!

Not just a pub -- an establishment! Locals tell me it's always enjoyed a reputation for good food…read moreand our lunch held up the tradition. The menu is extensive (sole, veal, pheasant, salmon, plus the usual suspects) and rich (in sauce as well as money). We ordered from the specials board: dover sole in spiced butter and manor farm pheasant in red wine gravy. Both were excellent and my only complaint is that the sole was drowning in the butter sauce. This seems to be a trend with English cuisine -- dousing the food with tons of sauce, whether it's gravy or butter or curry. We didn't have room for dessert (oh, sorry, pudding, as they call it here), but we ordered one anyway -- the panna cotta was light and delicate. And then we got humbugs with our check. That's mint candies, Yanks. The dining room is tiny and popular so do book a table in advance. If it's wintertime, ask them to hold the one by the fire for you -- very romantic. This place is down the road from some delightful thatch-roofed homes and English cottages, and horses share the road, so if you sit in the garden, you might see them. When I think of England, this is the kind of place I think of. If you're driving around aimlessly or on your way to Salisbury, this is a good choice for a pit stop.

I had this on very high recommendation, my parents went on a mini break at Fordingbridge. They…read moredined here twice as they said they liked the menu so much that they couldn't just go once and wanted to sample more of the menu. When we came back to this area on a family holiday they said they had to take me here. The pub was a bit tricky to find and we relied on sat nav, located in a small village its only slightly out the way. The exterior and interior is lovely with the traditional countryside pub reflective in even the traditional ivory looking handled cutlery. The massive fireplace was slightly modernised with white pillar candles that looked warm, cosy and elegant. I like a menu that is one page and this one was. I was immediately drawn to the Steak served in a garlic, oyster mushroom and tarragon sauce and knew I had to try it. It was amazing! The steak I ordered as rare and it was cooked perfectly, the meat was very tender. All are mains came with a side vegetable selection including a perfect potatoes dauphinoise, buttered carrots, grilled courgette and cooked beetroot. The vegetables were almost as good as the steak! I had a traditional Queen's pudding for dessert which I've only ever had once or twice at home. It was delicious and I was completely impressed by the meringue on top as it was huge and fluffy - making it very fun to eat