A Hampshire weekend

 

The train strike means a change of plans for our short flit to Hampshire; we are driving down instead.  We decide to break the journey to Lymington for a lunchtime snack. I’ve researched Alresford off the A31 near Winchester as that is about half-way. Finding somewhere to park is a bit of a pain, but we end up at the Watercress Line railway station car park.

There’s a choice between The Swan and The Bell. The Swan looks a little pricey, and The Bell does scallops, so that’s where we go.  It’s very dark inside, with only large tables remaining – they were quite happy to sit us at one of those. The other diners fit a very narrow demographic, making us the youngest in there I suspect.

As we are going out to dinner later, we just have two starters to share and a bottle of SB at £18. We are waiting quite a while – half an hour – and I’m just ready to ask the waitress where our food is when she arrives with it.  There are four scallops, with roe, but they’re a little tough, probably just been de-frosted. Our other dish is billed as lamb kebab, but it’s more of a kofta. It is nicely spiced though, so pretty good. Total bill, including optional service comes to £43.

Dinner is at Chewton Glen with J&E, a Relais & Chateau hotel and spa. The taxi drops us at the entrance, with its immaculate displays of flowers – petunias, I’m informed. We’re a little early, and as it’s a lovely evening, we decide to go for a drink on the terrace before dinner – 2 large Sauvignon Blanc and two tonics. It’s a very pretty area with a view over the croquet lawn.

Eventually we go on in to the restaurant. It’s a bright airy room with lots of windows, many of which are open in the early evening warmth. Our table is by the wall though, which is fine. The first task is to find something affordable on the wine list. At first sight this is going to be a challenge as there are several in three figures. Eventually however I do find a few at around £30-£35, and select a Sicilian Grillo at £30, and a glass of Malbec at £15 for E.

The menu is quite extensive and interesting, without being over-creative. There’s a good selection of breads. For starter I choose the Devon dressed crab, with radish and celeriac. This comes as two good sized quenelles, and is very full of flavour, with both white and brown meat. B has the salmon sashimi with edamame beans and ginger, which is good. J seems happy with her smoked salmon – another good largish portion – and E’s duck liver “pressing” disappears quickly.

My main course is lamb cutlets, three with Portobello mushroom and triple-cooked chips. Mint sauce arrives as well, rather dry actually. But the cutlets don’t really need it as they are succulent and juicy. B has the sweet and sour Asian salad with added Asian beef. This is rich and sweet, as well having something of a kick from the wasabi peanuts, sesame and chilli.

J orders the roast pork from the trolley. This is something of a theatrical performance, with the big silver hood folded back and a huge knife to carve good slices off the huge joint. She says the meat is very good, but is less impressed by the crackling which, apart from the first bite, is rather soggy. She summons the waitress to complain, who seems at a loss as to what to do. She offers to ask the chef to try heating it up, but that wasn’t likely to work, so it’s just left.

 E has the wild sea bass, filleted with asparagus, and the two of them share a portion of green vegetable and new potatoes.

 J declines dessert, just having coffee and petit fours – some good macaroons. I have a honeycomb parfait, which is very creamy and chunky. Both B and E order salted caramel ice cream, and both opt for just one scoop – we’re not sure what the form is really, whether they expected them to have two different flavours. Both finish it off, but agree that it was more sweet caramel than salted.

 The restaurant has filled up, with several people going through to a private room. Oysters are popular, including at the table next us where a sugar daddy and his friend enjoy them with a bottle of Laurent-Perrier rosé.

 I had looked at the menu online beforehand, so when the bill comes I don’t actually have a heart attack. It is pretty eye-watering though, close to being the most I’ve ever paid. It’s not helped by the fact that the two glasses of SB on the terrace were £24 each!  At this level it’s hard to say whether that is “value for money”.  It’s been good, and service has been fine, but it’s not Michelin star quality.

 The next day we are off to Winchester to join V for her 70^th birthday celebration, along with a dozen or so others. We’re staying overnight at the Hotel du Vin, a change of plan from getting the train home that evening. Crawling along in traffic, I manage to spot the sign for their car park and try to work out the parking system. Eventually we do get in to find our allocated, named, parking space – at £10 extra.

 We then wander down to the rendezvous for lunch – The Wykeham Arms. We’re the first to arrive, order our wine (£29.50 for a NZ SB seems a bit steep in a pub) and sit at the re-purposed classic style desks in the bar. The others are at “Whethies” it seems!  When they arrive we go through to another room with one large table. It’s a Fuller’s pub, which means that on a Sunday the menu is dominated by roasts. We’d been asked to order our food in advance, and we pay for drinks separately – the very able and welcoming manager, despite looking only about 14, is confident she can manage that with us ordering at the table, but I go back to the bar for ours.

 We’re surprised to find that apart from V we are the only ones to order a starter – a shared plate of charcuterie. This impressive board includes four different meats, including bresaola and chorizo, plus olives, cornichons, bread and salad.

 B had been irritated by the limited choice for mains, and opted for a rather unusual pea and mint ravioli. She enjoys this, though it is very modest. I have the roast beef which like all the roast comes with huge a Yorkshire pudding, whopping roast potatoes, and tons of veg. On top of which there is cauliflower cheese and cabbage. The beef is fine, though not very rare, and supported by excellent proper English mustard and feisty horseradish.

 We don’t have dessert, but it seems that is more popular with the others, the BBQ pineapple being a particular favourite.  Our bill is £60 plus the wine, so that worked out rather more expensive than I would have expected for a pub lunch.

 In the evening we decide we to go Chinese. I’ve come up with a place called Shanghai Papa, but I haven’t worked out exactly where it is, so we end up walking quite a way to get to it. Winchester on a Sunday evening is not a buzzing metropolis, but it is fun to spot the colourful hare statues around the place.

 The restaurant is pretty basic, mainly doing take-aways this evening. There is one table of three Chinese girls, but otherwise it’s empty, and they leave quite soon anyway.  We have the Shiraz at £19, a bargain and then turn to the starters. Soft-shell crab (obviously) and pan-fried pork dumplings, both good.

 Then on to mains – salted pork loin, kung po prawns and Singapore rice. The pork was thin battered pieces that didn’t taste of a great deal, but were OK. The prawns gloopy and spicy and the rice was full of chicken and small prawns. The portions were massive. We took the remains away – the rice will make two portions.

 With another two glasses of house red, the total comes to just £66 for a huge tasty feast. That certainly is “value for money”, though the ambience is hardly Chewton Glen!