Palace Lane
Beaulieu SO42 7ZL
Tel:01590 612324
Vegetarian: If you ask
Parking: Adjacent
Smoking: No
Wheelchairs: Entrance through the front door
Loo: Excellent
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Palace Lane Beaulieu SO42 7ZL Tel:01590 612324 |
Vegetarian: If you ask Parking: Adjacent Smoking: No Wheelchairs: Entrance through the front door Loo: Excellent
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Visited November 2006
The Montagu Arms Hotel has recently been awarded Best Restaurant in Hampshire by Which? Good Food Guide 2007, so naturally we had to discover why!
We picked a beautiful bright sunny Autumnal day for our drive to Beaulieu. Set in the heart of the New Forest this is a hotel of character; as the car park is tucked away behind it one can wonder through their beautiful gardens (see above) to appreciate the overall ambiance before entering. There are several steps and uneven paths so wheelchair access would be difficult, best to use the front entrance. The exterior is as tasteful as the interior.
We were ushered to a delightful lounge area where we had pre lunch drinks and studied our menu. There is a set lunch menu of 3 courses for £22 and £19 for 2 courses. An al la carte menu is available and obviously offers a much wider choice. We ate in The Terrace Restaurant, it is an oak panelled dining room, do look at the pictures of it on their web site, it is very beautiful! We sat at a table with a wonderful view of the garden, it was from there I took the picture above. The service was impeccable.
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We settled on the set menu and our choice of starters were sautéed sweetbread and pancetta with sherry vinaigrette (above) and mussel and clam chowder (top left). Main courses, an assiette of rare breed pork (Belly Pork, Tenderloin wrapped in palma ham and chopped trotters) with red wine jus (top, right), and roast monk fish tail, caper & parsley butter with sauté potatoes and fresh green beans (left). Only one of us had a dessert, fine apple tart with clotted cream right). We enjoyed a bottle of Muscadet and finished our meal with coffees and very yummy petit fours (see bottom of page).
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Between the 4 of us we sampled everything on the set menu apart from a chocolate fondant pud. Everything was really delicious, flavoursome and with local and seasonal produce used. Very yummy fresh bread rolls too! Our only criticism was that there were only two choices at each course and no vegetarian dish although we were advised that the Chef would be happy to produce one from the al la carte menu. One of our party is not a vegetarian but she does not like fish and, like so many people, not keen on the idea of eating sweetbreads so she declined a starter. The portions are well presented and adequate in size but for some the choice is limited. CJ loved her pork but would have liked a "little greenery" with it.
For these reasons and because the pre lunch G & T’s had all the tonic already added to the gin, which you all know we consider a mortal sin, this reporter awards Yummy Factor 8/10. For the graciousness of the dining room and the garden 10/10! A really lovely place for a weekend break in a picturesque setting and with the benefit of very friendly staff.
Cost £ £ £ £ £
Yummy Factor 8/10
Report SM
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| 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 ) |
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