The New Inn at Heckfield — Restaurant in Hart

Went on a date and the place was full. We realised it was pay day weekend. We were seated and handed menus timely, we ordered our drinks. When they arrived, the lady serving us mentioned we could move tables to a corner booth — bit more cozy and romantic. Why thank you very much! 45 minutes later, we had to get up and ask for someone to take our order. The kitchen couldn’t keep up so had asked to stop taking orders but no one communicated that. Soon after, our orders were taken and promptly served — and the food was gorgeous so that made the wait almost worth it. I had the crispy squid which was almost perfect, and the lamb which was succulent and delicious. I just don’t fancy waiting that long again so probably will be a while before I return. Which will NOT be on a payday weekend.

(Side note: surely you’d know since you took the bookings? I don’t think a venue is under staffed unless someone genuinely just doesn’t show up to work — otherwise, you’re not under staffed, you’re overbooked. Don’t book what you can’t serve)

EDIT for response to venue reply: I am not trying to take a pop at you, I promise; I’d caution against the petrol pump analogy — it doesn’t take reservations and is completely unorganised or even unplanned. My side comment centers specifically around known reservations — I assume that if you have a service timing, you’d know what an average timing that a table for 6 vs a table for 4 would take. I’d hope your reservations team would not, to put my point in perspective, accept a reservation for every single table in the pub within half an hour of each other. There’s no way your kitchen would be able to service that so you would, I hope, stagger the arrival times. Whatever your timing strategy, it was off that night. But the cooking was spot on. Almost worth the wait....

We stay at the New Inn at Heckfield on the 18th May on the way down to Swanage for a weekend break. We had high expectations as we had visited Tom & Laura previous pub in Hook. Well we were not disappointed. Firstly the room was lovely, very spacious, clean, comfortable beds, and the the shower was amazing. The dinner we had was amazing. we started with Chipolata sausages and Black Pudding scotch eggs, the flavours were amazing. then to the main Sea Bream with Greek Salad, which they changed simple to a green salad, as my wife does not have cheese & Rack of Spring Lamb, this was amazing, great flavours an date lamb just melted in the mouth. the final part was the desert. I had the Eton mess, and I cheeky said I was challenging them as I had eaten an Eton mess in another pub only a few days before. Well they smashed, one of the best Eton mess I have ever eaton, so light and chew with delicious fruit. and the was a real surprise with the Eton mess, that blew me away, however I am not going to say, you will have to visit yourself, eat the pudding and try to guess. The breakfast was great and set us up for the day. I would like to say all the staff of Tom & Laura were amazing, and what they have done to the New Inn is quite amazing, and I wish them well for the future. We...

We were planning a trip to Downton Abbey/Highclere Castle. Travelling from Suffolk, we wanted to stay somewhere in the vicinity but not too close. The New Inn Heckfield is approximately 40 min drive to Highclere and the winding leafy roods travelling through lovely villages was a nice addition to the trip. The hotel was spotless. My husband is a bit of a clean freak and he had no complaints. Our kingsize room was bright, airy and very comfortable. It had everything you could want from a room. The ensuite was exceptionally clean with a double length shower and was well equipped with fluffy towels and good quality shower products. Without exception, everyone of the team were welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. We stayed for 2 nights with breakfast which was plentiful, really well cooked with quality produce. In addition to breakfast we also ate at the hotel for lunch and dinner. I checked out other restaurants in the area but they did not offer the wonderful variety of dishes which the New Inn had. The food was just stunning and I had the best chicken supreme I have every had. Only wish we could have stayed a few more days to work our way through the rest...