| Ambiance: |  (4 / 5) |
| Service: | (4 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Toilet: | (3.5 / 5) |
My only requirements for lunch was yummy pub food, to follow a country walk and The Chestnut Horse seemed to fit the bill. Located in the heart of Hampshire’s finest countryside, (complete with absolutely no mobile signal) it was a beautiful, Tudor designed venue, with a lovely variety of cars in the car park.
For a Tuesday lunch, it was packed, albeit full of people who’d probably reached retirement age and were happily enjoying peaceful countryside lunches. We ordered a couple of drinks at the bar and quickly became intrigued by the duck competition displayed on the counter, which apparently is held every year. Essentially you choose a random rubber duck and hope for the best that it’ll be selected, for the chance to win £100. So, if you’d like your chance, get there quick!
We were shown to our table, at the back of the restaurant and my fussiness about where to sit was quickly squashed, as our table was perfect. Hidden into the corner, with beautiful artwork and various quirky artefacts and quirks throughout the restaurant, I was pretty happy! We were presented with narrow card menus, with the option to have a set 2 or 3 course meal, or order off an a la carte menu. Nothing particularly enthralled us on the set menu so we opted for starters and mains off the main menu. I opted for potted rabbit with home-made chutney and the swordfish with chimichunga sauce to follow. In standard English fashion, we were offered some complimentary bread rolls.
Unfortunately the rabbit proved a little dry, the chutney did help it slightly but the walnut bread accompaniment made the whole dish a little too dry in general so I ended up trading my starter for the remainder of my friend’s Thai consomme. I found the Thai dish perfectly spiced and it had that familiar after kick that Thai food generally has, however, I found it weird that this very country pub serves better exotic food than English!
Our main courses proved slightly more disappointing than our starters as both the chicken and the swordfish were over-cooked. Despite being impressed by the huge vegetable side dish I was surprised with, the vegetables were actually undercooked and had absolutely no seasoning on them. All in all, I ended up leaving the majority of my food, or passing it off onto my friend’s plate. Ah well, I saved some calories at least!
Although the food wasn’t great, I loved the location and the service was lovely and I would definitely go back, if it were only to have a drink and a packet of crisps.
Recommendation
Extra Information:
Address: Easton, Winchester, SO21 1EG
Phone: 01962 779257
Website: http://www.thechestnuthorse.com/
NTK: Make sure you book as even on a Tuesday lunchtime, it was packed to the rafters!
