The Harrow Inn, Steep — Restaurant in East Hampshire

This must be the must original tiny coaching inn in the counrty. Lots of character with the pub being owned and run by the same family for years. How old is it? Well the toilets are not in the pub but accross the road in a block partialy open to the elements.. One serving hatch in each bar adds to the originality of the place. Beers are land out on stllages being the bar and served directly from these. The bars are quite small by modern standards with the man room being the site of a large house liking room but with a log fire in the winter this is a very cosy place. Outside there are plenty of chairs and tables on which to eat and drink in the summer or if you want to brave it in the winter try one of the covered tables. Food is a small menu of basic good pub grub with door stop sandwiches and wonderfully thick tasty soup consistency of wallpaper paste but much tastier. I have seen the pub mentioning in national awards with the ploughmans lunch being one of the best around. A note of merit goes to the landlady who has a fantastic commitment to using the pub as a vehicle to collects money for charity so when you visit take a few pound more and treat your partner to a bunch of flowers or give the chef a brace of phesants. The pub is not the easiest to find but well worthy the effort. I just with i lived...

Such a disappointing first visit. It's a lovely quaint pub and we felt very welcome at first. However, my second drink was a pear cider which tasted vile and 'off', like vinegar. The others I was with tasted it too and agreed it wasn't right, so I took it back to the bar and politely asked if it could be replaced. I could not believe that the old gentleman behind the bar flatly refused to replace the drink - when I said it didn't taste right he said perhaps it was my sense of taste, or 'not to my liking' as it was from a capped bottle so it must be ok! What? It was NOT ok, so I said he was welcome to taste it but he just replied quite smugly that he 'doesn't drink'. Fine, but in that case, take my word! He was patronising and quite rude, and gave an outright No! - I didn't buy a replacement drink as I really didn't want to give him any more money! When somebody makes you feel like YOU are in the wrong like that, it's hard to enjoy the rest of your evening in the same way. Whatever happened to customer service or the customer being right? Had he just apologised and replaced it, I would now be recommending this quirky little place and looking forward to another visit. Instead, we probably won't go back because I don't believe you should be made to feel small and uncomfortable about making a genuine...

Before you go you need to know one thing: it's cash only! A traditional little pub with emphasis on doing things the way they always have. And a total gem for it. Famous it seems for its outside toilet block opposite. I only knew the pub was there because of the beer glass on the OS map and it was right on the walking route. I was early, and by noon opening time a good queue was forming at the door, a lively crowd advancing in years and experience and ready for their lunch had descended from far and wide. Inside is small (though I didn't look in the "smoking room") with a smokey old fireplace, but it has quite a large garden, front and side. The two ladies running the place are super efficient and they take your order at the bar and pour it out of sight. No idea what the lager was but it hit the spot. The quiche was very good with a vast plate of salad and a hunk of bread and real butter. The giant plates of soup also looked fabulous. Heartily recommend. There's birds nesting in the roof above the outside seating and they're lively and active, flitting about. There's a zebra impersonator in the field opposite. They sell plants outside. Read the history on the laminated cards on the tables. It's far from modern, but if it never changes they don't mind and neither should we. Good...