Now in Discount Directory AND they are offering Sunday discount!

They have now opened MIX a new bar with a different concept in Winchester, very funky!

Visited March 2006  

 It would be easy to pass this brasserie/café/cocktail bar as you speed through the village of Hartley Wintney on the busy A30 since it has just a small frontage onto the main road. But don’t – you’ll be missing a real treat! The village is quaint and English but the Pour House, with its heated cocktail terrace to the side and its sophisticated décor, could have come straight from the city. And the city in this case could be New York.

By mixing tables of diners with tables of drinkers they quickly achieve a fun atmosphere even when it is relatively empty and this is carried through to the styling of the lunchtime menu which is divided into Light Bites at £4.95, Bigger Bites at £9.95 as an individual course, or two courses (which could include a dessert) at £9.95, plus their Pour House Classics individually priced at around £9.00.

While we got to grips with the menu we ordered drinks (a choice of gins plus individual bottles of tonic, a definite plus for CJ and SM, and spritzers which came in lovely balloon glasses) and delicious nibbles including warmed almonds, marinated olives and warm flavoured breads drizzled with balsamic vinegar and pesto. What a start! The menu is very creative, the work of their American chef Joe who has worked in some impressive restaurants including the Fat Duck at Bray.  In fact it is so creative that we kept changing our minds because it all sounded so tempting!  Alex our charming and knowledgeable server advised us every step of the way but we finally settled on starters (Light Bites) of Crispy Egg with Grilled Mushroom and Hollandaise (which almost defies description) and Baked Goats Cheese with Beetroot and wine reduction. Both were fabulous!

For main courses, we ordered Fried Crab Cake with Red Pepper Mayonnaise; Vegetarian Taco with Pinenuts and Black Bean Chilli; Chicken Laksa with Malaysian Style Noodles; and Butternut Squash Risotto with Hazelnut Dressing. And they were all every bit as good as they sound! As you might imagine, by this stage we were approaching “Full”  but avoided bursting by having just one dessert between us, the Roast Rhubarb and Filo Stack with Tahitian Vanilla Bean Custard. Just writing it down makes the taste buds tingle! It was of course delicious.  We finished with seriously good coffee.

The evening menu is almost as flexible as the lunchtime menu and offers many of the same dishes, and from Sunday to Wednesday they do 3 courses for £24.95, exceptionally good value. And should you be passing through between 12 and 5.30pm, you can even have afternoon tea, a reminder that you are still in England, not New York.

The Pour House really has got is just right with a young international team who create a great atmosphere with attentive, friendly service. It has superb food and a widely varied cocktail menu, many of which are of their own creation (how about an Apricot and Nutmeg Cobbler, “fresh apricot muddled with vanilla, shaken with apricot brandy and Chenin Blanc wine with a dark rum float”?) It could certainly hold its own in Manhattan. Thank goodness they chose rural Hampshire instead!

Cost £ £ £ £ £

Yummy Factor 9/10

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