The Captain’s Table — Restaurant in New Forest

Would not recommend... I would say today was a quiet autumn day. We arrived for lunch at approx 1.45pm and there were perhaps 4 other tables already eating. We ordered 3 paninis from the "Christmas menu" (turkey, bacon, mozzarella and cranberry) and a portion of chips to share as well as drinks. Total was something like £40.77 which was paid cash, it took two cashiers/waitresses to work out the 77p we had given was correct (a 50p coin, 4 5p coins, 3 2p coins and 1 1p coin) and even then we had to coach them through that - this I can forgive, we all have off days. We sit down and after about 5--10 minutes one of the cashier's came over and apologised stating the kitchen only has enough turkey to make one panini and could we please choose 2 different sandwiches - of course if there's a price difference we would be refunded or they would cover the additional cost (mind you the turkey panini was the most expensive) We decided and I went to tell her our change: one of the turkey still, one brie bacon and cranberry and one chicken BBQ cheese. I repeated this a number of times as she asked while she told the kitchen and then fiddled on the till. She then asked me to present my card to refund me, I stated we'd paid cash and it would be easier refunding this in cash. She then asked a male (presumably the manager?) to open the till to access the cash and then she hands me £17.98 in cash then she fiddles on the till and goes "right that'll be £17.50" and presented the card machine, bewildered I just handed the cash back minus the 48p which was the difference. The male mutters under his breath to the girl "why did you even refund?", I politely informed him that although it is only 48p, out of principle I wanted it back given we'd already been waiting 5-10 minutes before being told they didn't have everything (reminder the café was quiet!) with that done we sat down again and after another 10 minutes the chicken panini and the brie and bacon panini came out, the waitress said enjoy and scurried away before she could ask if we wanted anything else etc so we assume she's popped off to get the turkey panini and bowl of chips. A few minutes go by with nothing having been said by her or the other waitress and both disappeared into the kitchen so we approach the (potential?) manager man again and ask where the turkey panini and chips are. He states he wasn't sure and got one of the waitress again who stated "they're just making it". We start eating what we have and the paninis come with a side salad and coleslaw garnish - we were provided no cutlery or even napkins so I went and found these which were possibly half behind the counter but no one seemed to care that we got them (but it also wasn't sign posted you needed to get them yourself etc). Another 5 or more minutes pass and finally the turkey panini and bowl of chips arrive. Waitress hardly puts the plates down before she's walked away - no asking if we wanted or needed anything else and barley and apology in sight. Food was average and by no means explained the long wait nor the reason for items to trickle out of the kitchen. Probably ended up wasting an hour or more here for below average food - wish we'd try to get some money back for the car parking or something but there would have been no hope. A smile and apology cost nothing and would have at least made the experience somewhat better.Do not recommend and...

Dreadful. The adult portions weren't much bigger than the kids. The food took an age to come. My fish finger bap was a cheap, dry, floured burger bun, 4 of the cheapest, fish fingers (grey/brown fish mash in breadcrumbs) & some rocket. The one packet of tartar sauce did nothing. So I added the literal dessert spoon of coleslaw I was served and that really didn't make any difference. The scampi and chips only had 9 pieces of scampi rather than the advertised 10 (I wouldn't have said anything normally but why state 10? Especially with all the other issues). All of the deep fried food was close to burning; ironic it was so over done considering how long we had to wait. So it was very dry. Dry fish fingers in a dry bun; yum! The chicken goujons were rock hard. My 6 year old refused to eat the fish fingers they were so bad; her favourite dinner! I paid £12 for the adult food & £8 for the kids. I wouldn't have minded so much if I'd paid less but for that price I expected something half decent. I actually would have given feedback there if I'd been asked but the kids were starving. The other eateries were described as fine dining so we didn't go down to them. It wasn't; they were pub style and I would have done down there I'd rather than this place in retrospect; I expect it would have been even more extortionate. Staff were very nice but no one came to see if the food was ok and they were on the go all the time. They clearly need more staff. Massive wasp problem, which was difficult when kids trying to run away all lunch time. Both inside & outside. Inside all the doors were thrown open which gave very very easy access to the wasps as the non wasp proofed bins were right outside. Outside it was actually better. You can't help wasps in rural areas but you can do things to help. Like a few wasp traps. Proofing the bins. Also the major issue was the piles of dirty plates with food on left for hours. When we came back through 2 hours later our plates were still there plus a lot from other tables where people were clearing their tables themselves outside. Every table had plates on it and two were being used heavily by customers to clear. When there I saw a table of quite fabulous older ladies in a day out being served toasted panini's. Two of them turned them over to see they were black underneath. Don't go here. Bring a picnic. This wasn't the treat that I was expecting & couldn't really afford. I don't think they care as it's mostly tourists and they don't need to rely on...

AVOID. Ordered a kids lunch box, tuna melt baguette and a cheese burger and chips. The food took well over 45 minutes to arrive, a simple order and it wasn’t even busy. The food was below average. Burger and chips were cold, small bowl of skinny fries. Kids lunch box the sandwich didn’t have any butter in and just a sprinkle of grated cheese (took them 45 mins to get this out the kitchen). Had to chase our order twice, asked for the kids box first as my 3 year old needed lunch. They scrambled together the box with Chrisp’s ect and put it on our table and then said we will bring the sandwich out shortly… later we brought an ice cream and a twister lolly, the lolly was caked in ice like it had been in the freezer since last summer and the ice cream cone was stale and ice and ‘green bits’ in the ice cream. Had to take it back and ask for a refund. Staff couldn’t work the till properly. If visiting the area I would advise bringing your own pic nic, save your money. For £37 was a total waste of money and a...