Shamblehurst Barn — Restaurant in Eastleigh

Decided to go there off the cuff. Tuesday night. They have 3 things for vegetarians on the menu. My mother is a vegetarian. This is not uncommon and not a moan. No haloumi in stock, didn't turn up today. Not their fault. Ordered the Asian vege burger. Paid for it. Sat down. Then told that is out of stock. Mum had to order the cheese and potato pie. (She's not keen) Then we were told that was out of stock also. The server's and the manager very apologetic. No problem with their attitude or customer service for that I give them a 10/10. The manager admitted he had to sack a chef as he was rubbish and the new one was equally rubbish. Apparently the chef is responsible for ordering stock. This in itself is archaic, but as it is a fact he should be able to keep on top of what they have in stock. Apparently they aren't paid enough to attract anyone decent (their words). This is proven by the blatant fact that they aren't really 'chefs'. Evidently they get stuff out of a freezer and blast it in the microwave. They cannot and don't actually cook anything from scratch. Understandably when you pay under a tenner for a large plate you expect maybe not the best quality. The pub manager to his credit made my mum an omelette himself after going through very sparse vegetarian options. (a cheese salad) the 'chef' apparently isn't skilled enough to cook an omelette. I was shocked. To top it off when I ordered my pudding I was told that they had no custard. Put your stock on auto replenish. Pay your chefs more so you can avoid the obvious monkeys you may be employing who can't muster up an omelette and order the right produce in when you look like you're running out. One or 2 things missing off the menu is ok, but multiple things and no plan B to deal with it indicates bad training and bad management. Were we offered a goodwill gesture or a discount? No chance. Apparently you have to ask for it. Not likely considering the embarrassment and the front of house staff already had to go through.

Other than that it was an...

New visit May 2025. Not my choice to come, ordered the mixed grill and the steak was missing (again) had to ask for it and the piece delivered was the size of an onion ring. Missing items is becoming the norm here. Great shame

New visit 2nd May 2024. Tried the mixed grill again. The heart of a mixed grill should be the steak, I ordered medium steak and the miniscule offering was burnt and hard as a hockey puck, in fact I've had less chewy hockey pucks. Continually disappointed but revisit occasionally in the hope of improvement.

EDIT AGAIN: Decided to try lunch today. Ordered the mixed grill, it arrived without the steak and I ended up feeling like a complainer for asking for it, the rest of my meal had to wait while a steak was found which was well done and not the medium I ordered. Early lunchtime so the place was quiet enough for mistakes not to happen. It feels like every visit is a potential cocktup. Shame.

EDIT. Was asked to come back by Kieron & the team, this evening they knocked it out of the park, great service and lovely food. Thank you to all at The Shamblehurst Barn. A lovely, value for money meal.

First visit for 2023 and it may be the last. Has the Barn changed hands? The food was shocking, the fish supper (my meal) had fish that was pretty much all batter and about a 5mm streak of fish running through the middle, the bread was stale, the scampi was soggy, but worse of all the mushy peas were absolutely stone cold, to the point of having them replaced by some tepid ones instead. My dining partner had the sizzling chicken skewers that weren’t sizzling and had no accompanying peppers or onions at all and were really dry. This is an edited review, from where I was praising the food (given the price point) to this review where I wouldn’t recommend at all. We left the food half eaten and feel robbed of what it cost. Avoid this place if you want any value for...

We have tried to support our local but recently had enough, this pub has been run into the ground over the last few years. Despite the renovation of 2018 you would not notice it now. The garden is totally neglected and unkept, the upstairs toilet and bar are permanently out of order, there is never enough staff to deal with customers. There is also a constant "bookings only " sign outside of the pub which does not give a warm welcome feeling. No Sky Sports or BT Sports anymore and a distinct lack of stock for popular items. We are fed up seeing lines through the favourite products on the online app. This pub / restaurant should be a thriving success as it is situated in one of the most highly populated areas of Hampshire where jobs are plentiful and there is more than enough disposal income to make this a successful venue. Today we tried to order food in the garden and despite the table behind us having 2 seperate food deliveries, we were told that they were not serving food outside so we left. I offered to wait at a table near the bar whilst the order was being prepared and take the food out myself to the garden but my request was denied. ? The barmaid really needs a refund from the Charm School. Wait for the "anything but stellar response" or " We are dissapointed to hear about your poor experience". Instead of reaching out to his long standing customers and finding how best to address and improve the valid constructive points that not just me but other disgruntled consumers have made on here they will fall on deaf ears and nothing will change. It is such a shame as it is our family local and our average spend over the years has been £60-£70 per transaction at least twice a month sometimes 3. We won't be parting with this hard earned...