Ploughman's Platter
Wild Carrot

Wild Carrot

Dogmersfield Park Chalky LaneHampshire RG27 8TD, Hook, United Kingdom

Full • Coffee • Breakfast • Bar-lounge


"Extortionately overpriced for basic pub grub, plus poor service and no allergen menu. First of all, my wife and I regularly frequent very high end establishments. This isn’t what you would expect at this price point. The location is beautiful, the staff are well dressed and courteous, however, the decor on the wild carrot is tired and the food is 50/50… read on… On arrival we were seated at a dark table with no view, when there were plenty of nicer tables it was quite quiet . We shortly asked to move which was a waste of of our time. My wife has an egg allergy and was horrified to discover they had no allergen menu they could share with us, plus the two waiters said they had no idea about allergens so had to check with the chefs each time, which made us nervous. I’m fairness the cocktails were good. The Wild Carrot starter, which was meant to have rainbow radishes and crudités was a £0.75p £1 bag of mixed leaf salad you’d get in a supermarket with some cherry tomatoes and sliced carrot, no radish. The fish and chips had thick undercooked doughy batter and they hadn’t removed the skin on the fish. The chips were supermarket chunky McCains type frozen chips and undercooked. For £28 I expect far, far better. This was more £18 pub grub at best. My mushroom toast was excellent and the mushroom pasta was also good but the side of fries for which I didn’t ask the cost was £8 !! they were limp and flavourless, essentially KFC/McDonalds level when not fresh, small portion too. My wife left about 30 40% of her food it was so bad, I ate mine as I’m more stubborn, but in hindsight, it really wasn’t worth the money as experiences of that price point should be equal, certainly not compatible to pubs and takeouts. The correct cutlery wasn’t laid out and our water wasn’t topped up once. To make matters worse, they added 15% to the bill but didn’t bring the itemised bill, just put the total on the card machine and brought that, at this point we just paid up and made for the exit. A totally embarrassing set up with incompetent staff and horrendous poor quality produce and cooking. Felt like daylight robbery and ruined our day. Read the other reviews, there’s a running theme for being overpriced and disappointing here and it’s letting what looks to be a very nice hotel down. Everything needs changing here except the cocktails and the mushroom toast starter. Also, other reviews are correct, wild kids everywhere, no wild carrots in sight. AVOID."

The Bell Inn

The Bell Inn

Bramshaw, SO43 7HE, New Forest, United Kingdom

Steak • Vegan • British • European


"In the approach to Christmas, at the time of goodwill to all men, I feel hesitant writing this review. We 've had meals at The Bell before, probably on three occasions, and they have been fine with good service. This time we met friends here and had driven a long way through driving rain and were hungry! The restaurant was full, and so was the waiting area. I think the other half of the room was being used for a meeting or conference maybe, so perhaps the restaurant floor area where we normally sit was reduced. We were greeted reasonably and shown to our table and sat down, We were presented with the Festive menu. We preferred to order from the main menu. After about 15 minutes, we had to ask for these from behind the bar. Our drinks came pretty quickly our waitress was courteous and friendly, and our food order was taken. After over an hour, and noting that other tables who arrived well after we did were served before us, we enquired as to whether we had been forgotten. We had to go and find someone to ask. After 20 minutes more, our food did arrive. The bream, liver and fish and chips were OK. But I don 't think the chef knows how to cook the basics, unless a work experience person or the like was given responsibility. Mashed potato was cold and getting solid. Saute potatoes were few and far between, overcooked, small and cold. The salad was a dozen olives thrown onto a couple of lettuce leaves. The waitress offered to have the mash replaced, but we didn 't have another hour to spare. The waitress was full of apologies, but said she had asked about the delay from the kitchen. The food isn 't cheap here, so quality ought to have been reasonabe, not partly sub standard or unenjoyable. We apologised to our friends for recommending this venue. Although the bill was adjusted, we 'll probably try somewhere else next time. Shame, because we love the area and the decor."