The Pig 21/24
Rooms&Kitchen Garden Food

Beaulieu Road
Brockenhurst
The New Forest
Hampshire
SO42 7QL

Tel: 01590 622354

Website: www.thepighotel.co.uk

Vegetarian: Yes

Parking: Own car park

Wheelchairs: Easy

Loos: Above average

The Pig! The name has been the subject for much discussion especially amongst ourselves and now that we have actually been there we find it quite appropriate. Apparently the thinking behind it is to convey that this is a restaurant with rooms with the informality of a pub!

It is certainly informal, we love the ambiance and the shabby chic décor is stunning, one immediately feels relaxed and tranquil.

We had drinks in the comfortable bar (lots of squashy sofas) from where you can see the authentically reproduced Victorian greenhouse dining room.

Their 15 Mile Menu promises that 95% of the ingredients on it are either grown in The Pig’s kitchen garden or are sourced within 15 miles; there is even a section “Literally Picked This Morning”!

Whilst trying to decide what to eat from the “Starters & Small Plates (or Bigger)” and the “Forest & Solent” choices we had some “Piggy Bits” with our drinks! We shared four, Saddleback Scratchings & Apple Sauce, Mr Bartlett’s ‘Karma’ Ham, Chipolatas, Fried Onions & Honey Mustard and Hampshire Chorizo & Mixed Olives, yum yum!

Piggy Bits, scratchings & chipolatas

Piggy Bits, chorizo & ham 

Sea & Shore Salad

Home Smoked Salmon

New Forest Truffle Risotto

Bartlett's Cured Mest & Beets

Pork Chop from Romsey Farm

The Pie at The Pig

Small portion of Lyme Bay Diver Scallops

Poached Test Valley Trout

Lemon Verbena Burnt Cream

Treace Tart, Orange Cream & Marigolds

Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream

The Kitchen Garden

Head Chef James Golding relies on forager Garry and kitchen gardener Mike to provide him with the freshest possible ingredients and because of this the menu can change at a moment’s notice so you may no longer find our choices on the menu.

The dining room like most of the hotel has bare floorboards, bare wood table tops and
mismatched bone handled cutlery; it all adds to the informality as do the staff. Our servers were all delightful, chatty (but only because we were!), friendly and very efficient.

As well as tasting good our food was a delight on the eye; the flower petals are not only pretty they seem to enhance the freshness of the food and hope our photos convey this.

At the moment we have a bit of a thing about about this fashion for serving pies on planks; it looks attractive but we think it’s lovely to cut into a pie and let the gravy run into the vegetables so much easier on a plate! Talking of veggies it would have been nice to have had a green vegetable included with the pie instead of more potato… picky perhaps?

Almost forgot to mention the gorgeous homemade bread! It’s not surprising that after all these delights we shared two puds but also wanted to sample the Earl Grey Tea ice cream, shall we just say it was different!

The sun was out so we enjoyed coffee in the courtyard before touring the extensive Kitchen Garden, it is well worth a visit.

The Pig is highly recommended, you will love the atmosphere and from their menu it’s possible to enjoy a full lunch, as us little piggys did, or just a snack and a drink in gorgeous surroundings. Next time we want to go back for the weekend, the rooms are very inviting!

Cost: with a bottle of Rosé ££££££££££

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Ladies Who Lunch Scoring:

Quality of food 3/5
Variety of menu 4/5
Staff and service 5/5
Ambience, setting & decor 5/5
Value for Money 4/5

Total Yummy Factor

5/5 = Cannot be improved upon, 4/5 = Very good, 3/5 = Good,
2/5 = Satisfactory, 1/5 = Poor, 0/5 = Terrible

The higher the "Yummy" factor, the better the food & service. The higher the number of £ signs the more expensive. (Roughly one £ sign = £5 per head)