| About
Us
We are four women who
live in Hampshire U.K. who decided in May 2001 to create
a web site about our favourite occupation, lunching
together. O.K. we'd had a few glasses of wine! We
had
also just had a nice meal spoilt by the
terrible attitude of the staff. This is
the result, a true critique, of any restaurant, pub, wine bar, or any other type of eatery we visit,
who ever we're with, & we'll include dinner as well. We are
neither gourmets nor wine experts, we just enjoy sensibly priced good
food and service. It doesn't matter what type of eatery
we report on, be it a café or a top class restaurant,
our marking criteria will be the same, we assess
the food, service, ambiance & most important,
did we have a good time!
We have decided to
remain incognito so that we can give honest
& unbiased reports! 95% of the
time the eateries we visit do not know it is us until we
have paid the bill. We then present them with our
card "You have been visited by Ladies who
Lunch in Hampshire". Some have
heard of us, some not, so please help to spread the word by telling any
restaurants you visit that you tried them because of our
recommendation.
Obviously
we get lots of emails disagreeing with our markings
but we judge a place on how it was for us on our
visit, so please help
by contributing your eating experiences, good & bad,
to our Guest Book this is the place to have your say! Your reviews make for
very interesting reading!
We also have a small
circle of close friends, including two lovely lads who
lunch, with whom we eat regularly and, as we know
that they have the same standards as ourselves, we trust
them to do the occasional guest report for us.
Since our success in The Hampshire Web
awards & the resulting publicity, we find that we are
now being invited by restaurants to do reviews, at last
proprietors are appreciating how much free advertising
they can receive from us. As the site is non
profit making & a hobby, we would be mad to turn
down such opportunities, all this eating out on
your behalf is very expensive! Therefore we have
decided to accept any invitations but we promise you
we are not open to bribery & corruption!
Our
reports will still be a true critique of our
eating experiences & our unbiased opinions will not be
compromised.
Publicity
2003
Our
fame is spreading click
here to read our press cutting in The Hampshire
Society Magazine!
Winter 2003
edition of New Forest Magazine features Ladies who Lunch
in it's Internet Corner "A really fun site from
four women who obviously enjoy their food & wine
& who pull no punches when reviewing! Be
prepared for some very high & appallingly low grades
on a range of local eateries ( it surprised me!)."
Spring of
2003 We had a fun interview on the Nick Girdler show on
Radio Solent.
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November 2004
we were awarded Runner Up in our
category, Best on Line Service, in The
Hampshire Web Awards. As complete amateurs
we very really delighted about this & obviously
did a fair amount of celebrating! |
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L
to R
CJ Web"master" & driving force behind the
site. (As in driving the others mad nagging for reports!)
Partial to plonk! Lives in
Southampton.
SA Bon
Viveur, Cordon Bleu cook, lives near
Marchwood.
CV
Lady of Leisure!
Expert G&T mixer! Lives
in Milford on Sea.
(CV was standing
in for JI who is also a Cordon Bleu cook,
believes in value for money & lives in Romsey)
SM
Sister of CJ. Fitness
fanatic. ( Except whilst eating & drinking!) Lives in
Southampton.
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These
were the Judges comments: This is a
good fun site which anyone could use given that
we've all got to eat! Despite parts of the site
being a touch slow owing to the use of photographs
of visited venues, the informal and light-hearted
touch of the site complements its ease of use.
There's an awareness of legal issues regarding
personal data and the option to join a dedicated
mailing list to keep up-to-date with the reviews is
an added bonus. I'll know where to look next time
I'm considering a meal out!
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Click
here to read Hampshire Chronicle article 12/11/04
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Because
of the award we were filmed by Meridian
Tonight, it was shown on December 6th 2004 in the
Newbury area.
January
2005 an article about us in
Hampshire Magazine
March
2005 another Radio Solent interview, this time with
Richard Cartridge January
2006 Hampshire Chronicle & Romsey Advertiser
started to occasionally use our reports March
2006 we held
our first ever luncheon for our Privilege Card
Holders at
Clos
du Marquis, follow link to view pics of the
event May
2006 Hampshire
Society Magazine started to use our reviews,
they have also very kindly published pictures of our
Card Holders lunches August
2006 we held
our second Privilege Card Holders Lunch at Whitley
Ridge, follow link to view photos
December 2006
we held our third Privilege Card Holders Lunch at
Wistaria,
follow link to view photos
February 2007
We appeared on the TV programme a Taste of The South.
They filmed us in the
Summer of 2006 at Alex Aitken's
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, great fun, thank you Alex for asking us to appear.
Watch this
www.whitleyridge.com/whitley_video.html and if
you don't blink you'll see us lunching on the
terrace!
July 2007
We were delighted to be short listed for Hants Web
Awards
this year it
meant we got to the final 10 so we felt it quite an
achievement!
August 2007
As we now seem to be finding so many excellent
venues we have found it more & more difficult to
separate the top scorers. From now on we will mark
out of 5 for each of the following categories: 1.
Food, 2. Variety of menu, 3.Staff & Service,
4.
Ambience, setting and decor, 5.
Value for
money thus making the total Yummy Factor out of 25
and thereby giving much more opportunity to split
the good restaurants at the top of the league. A
venue will now need to achieve 21 or more out of 25
to receive a
October 2007
We hosted a
Taittinger
Champagne Lunch at Clos du Marquis
follow link to
view photos
October 2007
CJ was interviewed on The Julian Clegg's Breakfast
Show on Radio Solent about the mystery shopper
aspect of our reviews.
December 2007
we held
our fourth Privilege Card Holders Lunch at
The Glass
House,
follow link to view photos
August 2008
we held
our fifth Privilege Card Holders Lunch at
Hotel Terravina,
follow link to view photos
February 2009
CJ & SM were interviewed on the Charlie Crocker show
on Radio Solent
March 2009
we held a small Privilege Card Holders Lunch at
The Potters Heron
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Contact:
If
you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, or
just need to get in touch
then please email us at Reports@ladieswholunch-in-hampshire.co.uk
L.W.L.
Greenbough, School Road, Romsey SO51 7NX
Tel: 07941223890
Please
remember
to tell any restaurants you visit that you
were recommended by Ladies
Who Lunch in Hampshire!
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