Sometimes when travelling you chance upon a real find - and the John Barleycorn is just that! Under…read morenew ownership, the Indian curries are a delight! Every bite was mouthwatering, with subtle flavors that ensure the customer is completely satisfied. We will be back soon!

Great place for a pub lunch on a hot sunny afternoon. Amazing food however it is a little pricey…read moreand the portion size is a little on the small size. That said, great place and I would highly recommend it to anyone!

We found this restaurant very randomly, and we were pleasantly surprised. The classy design and…read moreambiance, along with the welcoming staff, made for a great experience for us. Their lamb stew with veggies stood out as a posh British dish, which is quite rare. They also offered some nice starters.

One of the best surprises in Hampshire, fantastic ambience, nice service and the food was just…read moreincredible. I had a lamb roast that was divide, my wife had an incredible mushroom gnocchi and my daughter had a what seemed a never end.tower of fine chicken breast, English bacon and cheese with a good portion of home made barbecue sauce. Lovely lunch in the middle of the New Forest.

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?!

The Sunday lunch was superb roast beef to die for. Great service and good value.read more

This place was absolutely superb ... I had a mackerel followed by orchard crumble and custard …read more... both absolutely superb !! The staff were friendly and very efficient too ... I'd definitely come back here

Loving the Empress of Blandings! We were travelling through the area and needed a place for some…read morelunch, in no rush, we came across this pub and I'm very glad we did. Spacious and welcoming I felt instantly at home. It's part of the Hall & Woodhouse chain so I was already familiar with the drinks on offer and the menu wasn't anything unexpected either but the service we received was fantastic. Efficient, fast and SUPER friendly. Sometimes I find the food in these chains to be quite dry, but not in this one. Beautiful food in decent portions and nicely priced too. It was a nice day so we sat in the garden which to be honest wasn't majorly impressive but peaceful all the same. The pub seems like it's in the middle of nowhere but judging by the healthily filled car park that doesn't keep people away. I believe the pub is themed on a fictional pig so there's plenty of pig references to try and spot inside. If I was in the area again at some point I would definitely be tempted to come back.

Lovely staff and brilliant food - thanks very much for a really great evening will definitely be…read morecoming back. Very good value for money as well!

Always great food from the buffet; the staff are miserable and not very friendly or helpful... But…read moreworth a try for the cheap food

We stopped in Godshill for dinner after an afternoon sightseeing (Orborne house and grounds, and…read morethen the Brading Roman Villa), because I'd seen it recommended on Yelp. We parked down the street and walked here, and it was pretty busy around 4pm. I'd wanted to try some local cheeses while in the UK, so I ordered a cheese platter (6.95 pounds) as an appetizer and the Duck platter for my main. The cheese plate included crackers, some fruit paste, apple slices, and three local cheeses. I wasn't a huge fan of the crackers, which reminded me sort of like communion wafers in taste. The cheese was tasty, but I neglected to write down which cheeses we ate, so I can't really remember those. The Duck plate... Holy cow! Delicious! It came with gravy, on a bed of (red?) cabbage. I remember the way the salty, tender meat went together SO WELL with the gravy, combining the savory with the mild tang of the cabbage. As I was eating it, I was actually surprised by how flavorful the meal was. I can't say I eat duck a lot, but the way they'd prepared it really brought out the salty, savory taste. PROS: -Delicious, hearty pub fare. -Lots of locally sourced ingredients, from the meat and cheese, to the vegetables. -Cozy atmosphere, with a lot of exposed bricks and wood. CONS: -I wasn't a huge fan of the provided crackers... they reminded me of communion wafers, though I imagine there's some specific reason for that lack of flavor (to really highlight the taste of the cheese, perhaps?). -Small parking lot; I could see this place easily getting packed. THE VERDICT: This was the perfect place to stop for a meal after our long day. We arrived hungry, and left satisfied. The food proved to be delicious, simple fare, made from local ingredients and seasoned oh-so-perfectly. A fairly happening spot when we were there, I would definitely consider coming back here again if I was ever in the area.

After a day out sightseeing and driving around the countryside, we decided to stop into The…read moreTaverners to partake of happy hour. The interior is welcoming with a definite quaint, homelike feel, from the rustic beams to the uneven floor (fear not: cardboard coasters are provided with the express purpose of steadying any wobbly tables or errant chair legs). An interesting feature is the large blackboard on the wall indicating via colored dots what is at the peak of its taste and freshness (meat/fish/fowl) according to the season. There is a lot to see here, including pet-owners bringing their dogs to this pup-friendly pub (note: there is a container of dog biscuits at the ready). It seems like this pub also has an international following, as at one point I heard a group of tourists speaking English (but not quite) at a neighboring table. I later found out that they were visiting from Canada. Surprisingly for a pub, the wine list is comprehensive, even rivaling that of some restaurants. As happy hour was quickly morphing into the dinner hour, we decided to take a look at the menu. I appreciated that the offerings were accessible and local/seasonal in nature as it is often tricky navigating a menu in an unfamiliar country. After some deliberation, I decided on the dover sole (excellent and very moist with the bone still in) and my Aunt had the roast with seasonal vegetables. This was a leisurely meal, with none of the rushed feeling or hovering that often evidences itself in dining establishments. I wish that I could magically transport The Taverners to a corner near me so that it could become a new favorite watering hole, especially as the cold winter months approach. For now, I will just have to content myself with filing it away as a quality eating and drinking option for the next time I am in England.

We stopped there for dinner due to the great reviews, but I didn't pay attention to the dates and…read moreit looks like things have changed in the last 10 years. The pub no longer serves food themselves, instead there was a small pizza van out front, which was out of pizza by the time we arrived (7:30pm). They have no cask ale, only low end beer on tap, but do have a collection of barrels. It is a beautiful location, with lots of outdoor sitting.

Wow - what a great pub! In the tiny village of Fritham, just over the Dorset-Hampshire border, in…read morethe New Forest. The surrounding area is gorgeous, a lake with duckies and which used to supply water to the gunpowder works (long since closed) and woods with many wild New Forest ponies (they don't like to be stroked), cows with horns wandering round and even saw a massive owl, twit-twooing, and a woodpecker. Unspoiled, real English countryside. And now to the pub a little place, with a small field with picnic tables outside, looking over meadows and woods. Delightful. Good range of ales, drawn straight from the barrel. The food is outstanding - not a huge range and they don't do sandwiches or chips. But why would you want that when they offer a selection of ploughmans, all with the finest, local ingredients. I had the pate ploughmans - two good helpings of their homemade pate, home-pickled onion, fresh salad, crusty roll, a mini jar of their own, homemade chutney it was just delicious. My companion went for their homemade pork pie, which also came with salad and coleslaw and chutney, and was gorgeous - crumbly pastry, a good jelly and firm meat. Yum! Apparently they don't sell tea. But if you're in a pub, I have no idea why you would want a cup of tea, so no marks off for that! Oh, and they also had a live jazz band playing in a small marquee they had put up. Can't guarantee they will be there everytime though! Cannot recommend highly enough.

Food was pretty average, service was fine, nice place, but nothing to get too excited aboutread more

I have had a most memorable meal at the Boot - a simple affair in the bar that will linger long in…read moremy memory. All we had were grouse (from the famous Stockbridge butchers, Robinson's) and a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin, but it was perfect. The wine was decanted at our request and was absolutely delicious; rich and smooth, and was the perfect accompaniment to the grouse. The grouse arrived whole in a glorious rich gravy and dressed with spinach, game chips and bread sauce, and looked as good as it tasted. It was one of the finest meals one could have. The grouse was £21.50 - very reasonable. The wine cost considerably more. The service was perfect and the ambience, surrounded by locals, everything that a good pub should be.