Green Dragon — Restaurant in New Forest

I normally don't do negative reviews, but I have to write this one as it has high comic value and I need to warn fellow travelers :). I was looking for a nice pub for a pit stop on our way back from New Forest and this place looked magnificent, good food, prices which should inspire a certain level of confidence and - donkeys grazing in front! What could go possibly go wrong? Episode 1. I saw Cesar salad with halloumi and olives on the menu and decided to give it a go. It is an unusual thing to have a vegetarian Cesar salad, so as a wary vegetarian used to hidden traps, I asked the lady who took my order twice, of course it was vegetarian, so we went ahead. Episode 2. Another lady pops to our table and tells us they have only enough halloumi for one salad so they can top it up with feta for both instead, but it is up to us of course. Ok, this would be a different dish, but not willing to explain such subtleties we settled on one with feta and one with halloumi. Episode 3. The food arrives and there are anchovies in the salad. (Of course they are there, but I did ask whether it is vegetarian, and having a vegetarian Cesar salad was the whole point.) Having asked about it the waitress agreed to have it replaced with a vegetarian version. The apology was toned down from what you would expect under the circumstances, but we are raising no fuss, it's a nice day and they have donkeys after all! Episode 4. The salad comes back but tastes a bit strange (too fast, that should have been my clue...). Unfortunately upon examination not all bits of fish have been removed! Magic. So I return to the bar with the salad and hear a sorry and "would you like anything else??". The question of refund did not come up until we asked for it and the lady who took my order first and told me it is vegetarian never even apologised. Bottom line - if you are a vegetarian, I would suggest steering clear. Great donkeys...

Sadly very disappointed - took 40 minutes for food to arrive then one meal was not cooked! The pie ordered was still very cold in the middle. Realised that it was busy as a big party had turned up unexpectedly outside, but this was no excuse for sending out a meal which hadn’t been cooked properly - it should be standard practice for every meal to be fully checked before sending it out, especially as being a pie it may well have health implications for not being properly heated through. Although this was replaced quickly (within ten minutes) and a verbal apology given we were still charged full price when the least we expected was for something to be taken off the bill for our inconvenience as one of us had to then wait over 50 minutes for their meal to be suitable to even eat! We had also had to ask for the bill several times - the original girl said okay then went off to serve someone else?! Why not deal with one customer at once properly rather than try to deal with numerous customers badly? We had to request a reduction at the till, as no one came back for payment, even though we were already upset over the service, and a reduction was given, but this should have been offered without us having to ask. It seemed as no one really cared - using the excuse that they were really busy. Sadly being busy is not the customer’s problem just bad management of staff and resources. Everyone seemed to be running round like headless chickens - we were asked twice for our initial drinks and handed the same bill twice by two different people, no one person took responsibility for a table and no real customer care given. Had someone taken responsibility for the mistake at the offset I wouldn’t now be leaving a poor review as it seemed a nice pub, just poorly run. Won’t be returning nor recommending the...

This is a very beautiful pub on the main road, but not a very busy road. When we went it was full, but the staff were nice and offered us to wait for a table as we had our dogs. They have an area for people with dogs and one without, and the doggy friendly area was full. Food and drinks are expensive compared with other places around. The starter was around £7.25 and a main for £12 which was a burger. A lamb chop with salad and potatoes is £17.50 and a rump steak will cost you £20.95. They do children and gluten-free meals.

They have 8 different types of beer between the ales and larger. They have a big selection of wine from crisp and fresh to soft and mellow, to rich and full, etc. From £4.90 for the cheapest glass to £25 a bottle.

There is plenty of parking outside and lots of beautiful wood chairs and benches. The lighting at night outside is cozy. It seems a safe place for children to seat or move around away from the main fast road. Inside they have a real fireplace and restroom.

I definitely recommend it if you have a full pocket or want to impress...