"This restaurant is housed within the excellent Four Seasons Hampshire hotel. Unfortunately though this restaurant seriously lets the hotel down. We found the service to be very good, and the ambiance of the restaurant is lovely, but the food leaves so much to be desired....There is minimal choice on the menu (even most small restaurants and pubs have a more extensive and varied menu), so if you’re staying in the hotel for quite a few days as we were, you would very quickly become bored with eating the same things. However, the main issues are the portion sizes, the extremely poor value for money, and the way some of the food is cooked. As an example, one evening I ordered dover sole. When it arrived it was such a small piece that I could have eaten it in three mouthfuls. And on top of that it was hard and overcooked. These three mouthfuls of overcooked fish cost I have no problem at all paying that price, but I do expect the fish to be cooked properly and for the portion to be of a normal and acceptable size. We did bring this issue to the attention of the staff and I must say they addressed the situation extremely professionally, but the enjoyment of our meal had unfortunately already been marred. We originally had no intention of eating anywhere else other than the hotel restaurant, but after two nights eating at the Wild Carrot we’d had enough. We then found a great pub (The Queens Head) just a little way down the road where the menu choices were far greater, the food was cooked perfectly, the service was extremely friendly and efficient, and the portion sizes meant it was much better value for money. We weren’t surprised to see another couple at this pub who were also staying at the Four Seasons. They were eating at the pub for the exact same reasons as we were. If you’re in the area or staying at the Four Seasons, you definitely won’t be disappointed if you eat at The Queens Head pub. I did find it somewhat bizarre that eating in a pub was so much better in every way than eating in the restaurant of the five star hotel that we were staying in. The Wild Carrot really does need to up its game."
Cauliflower Soup
