The Rising Sun — Restaurant in Basingstoke and Deane

Before the change of management we used to be in here almost every Sunday for the roast and general atmosphere as its our local for around 6 years. The pub itself is lovely and a big pub garden which is great in the summer. Since the changes though, we experienced a few things that have knocked the rating.

The roast has been hit + miss. The last time we were in though it was lovely. -There used to be place mats and cutlery set out (especially if you had reserved a table) but this doesn't seem to happen anymore. When you get used to how a particular place operates in regards to serving food, reservations and general service, you notice. The music in the pub seems to come from the one large speaker that is on the bar. The times we have been in there, it has been blasting music that you would hear in a nightclub and at a volume where you cannot hear yourself speak. Came in for a quiet drink and would have been fine in the evening when more people were in, but there was only around 2 others in the bar. We asked for juice and lemonade but it didn't taste right (more like squash and something else) so we asked for it to be changed to just lemonade. Didn't taste like lemonade but more like tonic water. Not sure if it was due to running out of certain things or the bar staff not understanding what we were asking for, but we haven't had a issue with asking for that...

Sadly we've driven past this place for years...dropped in Sunday afternoon purely by chance for a sunday roast. Was not disappointed. For under £9 each we had a beef roast and a pork roast. Very generous portions of everything you'd expect to see on your plate with very tasty yorkshire puddings (i think they were home made yorkies?). Would definatly eat there again. Lad that served us was very tentative. Plenty of parking at side and rear of pub with a nice little beer...

A lovely little potential gem of a local pub that sadly seems to change owners a lot and therefore has the odd spell of not being open. It has a lot of promise and just needs to have some minor work done to improve the decor and add some more light. Staff are friendly and nice. It would seem though that this place has been harmed by the larger chains in town. Hopefully with the building of the nearby Chapel Gate estate, there is potential for this pub to bring in...