Four London Road — Restaurant in East Hampshire

My mother booked a lunch time table to celebrate her 81st birthday at this restaurant with the family. It was immediately apparent that it was not a good choice given the loud music on arrival, which became even worse when a DJ arrived with a ridiculously loud sound system. We had not been informed that the DJ would be present when booking and could see no reference to this on the website. The food is a mixture of tapas style dishes, pizzas and other main courses. We all chose pizzas and non-sharing dishes but the food was still served gradually, as if it was tapas. This meant that three of us had finished our meals before some of the pizzas arrived. My 85 year old father was left waiting a full 45 minutes with no food, despite numerous chases, meaning he was eating after everyone else had finished. The food itself was pleasant enough, but the drinks left much to be desired, with several being unavailable. My niece was served "pomegranate juice" which was brown. The worst however were the coffees. These proved to be undrinkable and I can only assume that there was a fault with the machine or else there was cleaning fluid in them. The staff seemed young and inexperienced and were totally unapologetic, seemingly oblivious to the problems. I seldom, if ever, leave a bad review (so please don't disregard my comments, thinking I always complain) but I feel I need to warn others that this restaurant is not suitable for family events and does not seem well run. Two of my mother's friends subsequently told her they had been in and found it to be truly awful. It's a pity we didn't know this in advance, as birthday celebrations should be special, especially...

Visited on a Monday night for a light dinner.

Fairy busy and buzzy feel, very popular. Music from speakers a little loud though.

Service excellent. Very friendly and welcoming. Menu explained and service well paced.

Food is where I have an issue. I didn't really enjoy any of it and wonder based on reviews if I just had a bad experience.

Bread with balsamic, parmesan, and olive oil. The vinegar, oil, and cheese was mixed together into a weird cold unpleasant emulsion that didn't really stick to the bread. Impossible to tell if it was good quality oil, vinegar, cheese. I think individual dips of oil and vinegar with cheese to sprinkle might work better where diners can mix and dip the various parts depending on taste.

Spicy crispy chicken probably the best of the dishes we tried but tasted about the same as any crispy chicken dish you'd order at any British Chinese restaurant. Not bad, not great, just fine.

Pulled Pork Tacos. Not a taco. A flat "taco", not a folded shell that ingredients fell off of. Pork was well cooked and generously portioned, but lacked seasoning. Guacamole wasn't fresh, lacked any acid and tasted dead which mixed with the refried beans added to a stodgy mouth feel. Each bite lacked balance of flavour

Garlic and Ginger Pork. Pleasant spiced sauce, good ginger flavour but a bit sweet. Pork was overcooked and a little dry. Perhaps fewer larger chunks would help as the smaller chunks continued to (over)cook in the hot plate. Again, like an average Chinese takeaway dish.

Overall, I think I expected more for the money based on reviews and I'm disappointed I didn't have the experience so many other diners...

I came with some work colleagues it was busy and the music was very loud. It has a trendy feel about it and I must say the Christmas decorations were lovely. Toilets upstairs were so so, urine on the floor. The period features in the building were beautiful I loved the fireplace. The other clientele were off putting I guess they are attracted to the trendiness and vibe of the place, loud, shouty, obnoxious, and not discouraged by the staff. Our table was for 8pm and our food order was not taken until 8.50pm. The first set of drinks brought to us were not ours, water was forgotten and I had to remind. Out of the 3 cocktails I sampled two were excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed them. My colleagues also enjoyed their drinks. Tapas food came out as it was ready and I liked this, it was a hit and miss bag on the food, some tasty bits some things not so or quality seemed lacking. No serving spoons brought with the dishes and had to ask for some no steak knives and as the meat was tough and chewy they were needed. A cup of tea forgotten later had to be asked for again. All and all it was an ok meal but not amazing food and bits lacking on the service side, some polishing needed. For younger adults with different expectations I can see why they rate it. I was pleasantly surprised however when the bill came, averaged at £55 per head which is...