The Chequers Inn — Restaurant in New Forest

What can I say, just incredible! One week ago I was sat in front of my computer looking at a map of public footpaths in Hampshire. I am a keen walker, photographer and wildlife fan. I stumbled across some footpaths around 100yards down the road from this inn. I also decided I wanted to walk from lymington, to keyhaven, a spot I occassionally go for a walk and the odd bit of bird watching. Today I set of along the Solent way from lymington, a first for me and I decided to take a detour off the main path that everyone uses, and instead I carried on down a branch off of the Solent way. This led me to the footpath and road I was looking at on my computer screen a week ago. This was pot luck & it was not intended. So I thought, what the heck lets wonder up to the pub and as its 2oclock I better have a bite to eat. As I approached the door the front was full of cars, laughter coming from the side garden and I thought to myself that this place must be popular. As you do in small country pubs/inns, you wonder if This would be the type of place that if you were not a local your not welcome! This couldn't be any more further from the truth. I was serverd a £3 large cold coke with no ice (at my request) from a chap who was possibly the manger/owner/chef (he had that presence). A young bar girl showed me to a free table, thankfully so, as I felt a little lost being what looked like the only walker dressed for the occasion in the pub, most people looked fairly well dressed, as if they were going to the pub early on to make a good old day of it. I also asked the girl for a menu and ordered one of my favourite meals, chilli con carne. At first I thought , this is a little steep for this particular choice, £9.50. However, I came out, paid £4 parking and had already been out for 3 hours. It's been a cheep day so an extra £10 makes my enjoyable day fairly reasonable. I sat in front of a warm fire, just what I needed after temperatures no higher that 3 degrees today (we started with a frosty morning), & I sat reading my magazine in a vibrant, warming and rather pleasant atmosphere. Everyone was talkng and laughing and saying hello, and it was very busy, to me, a sign of a popular outing for the locals & people afar. Clumsy me however, as I went to the toilets I tripped over a black dog, camouflaged with the floor and dim lighting. Lucky for me the dog was not hurt & owners were forgiving. (The dog on the other hand wasn't to fond of me from here on in) but this also shows that many friendly folk turn up and it's a dog friendly location. It was this unfortunate event that led me to notice the 5 other dogs wondering around. So for those who were wondering I'm assuming the answers YES, you can bring your dog. The food turned up and this is what topped off my amazement, to which has made me want to right this rather long review. (With many irrelevant points, but my day was made a million times better with the chequers inn, so I have to share it all). Anyway, the plate turned up with a large portion of chilli and white rice with some very green, but nice looking herbs on. This in itself would have been enough for two (& i am not a small guy so I can eat a fair bit of food) but along side this were also tortilla chips. The plate was loaded with food and before I even started eating I soon realised this was most deffinately worth every penny of £9.50. But the part of the menu I chose from, if I remember said 'the chequers inn traditional dishes'. I foolishly expected normal mince meat but being that this was traditional to the inn, as per the title, it had a kind of diced meatball for the mince and all I can say is it was incredible. By far the best chilli con carne I have eaten so far, & trust me I have had a few. The portion was so good for the money, the food was well cooked and presented, it was piping hot and not cold like some places i've been too, that it was just the icing on the cake, this pub, atmosphere, people, location and food just made my day that extra special and I would reccomend it to anyone. Shame I couldn't stay...

Unfortunately whilst on holiday we went to the Chequers Inn for a meal. The 2 waitresses we had were absolutely shocking and not in a good way!

Firstly we were shown to our table and i asked for a high chair for my 2 year old daughter. The response i got was they are over there and a point across the room. I am pregnant and would have appreciated her bringing it to the table.

The same waitress took our orders and we all (4 adults) wanted the same, a burger. She asked us if we wanted cheese so we asked does it not already come with cheese? Is it extra £ for cheese? And she replied saying "I am just asking if you want cheese!" The attitude in that response was alone quite shocking. We have never been to this pub and therefore didn't know what to expect.

She then went to take the A4 paper menus away. We asked if we could have one to let my daughter draw on the back (assuming she would throw them away due to covid). She confirmed she would be throwing them away and therefore left all 4 menus. We thought that was great!

Shortly after this, the 2nd waitress came across with 2 burgers saying "2 burgers?". I said yep we ordered 4 burgers and then her response was "Well i can only carry 2!". Again another shocking and rude response... I was double checking that she had the right table with her asking about only 2 burgers.

She then noticed that my daughter had been drawing on the menu's (as mentioned above!) She continued to belittle all of us by saying "Well thats naughty! They are the menus!". As we explained to that we asked to do this, she argued saying no this wrong... A third waitress then shouted her and basically pulled her away saying that she was wrong and to stop talking to us like that!

I think it is fair to say that as a customer, this experience was utterly disgusting!

The food wasn't great! They were homemade burgers which is great, but there was no sauce so i was thankful to have the cheese because it was very dry.

I think a course in customer service is sorely needed because i wouldn't recommend this pub at all!!

If you are looking for a family friendly meal, DO NOT...

We arrived after a long walk along the coast, the pub was clearly busy and we were shown to a table in the courtyard.

We ordered food, and we’re told that adding a tomatoe to the (very plain) burger was too much for the chef to do and that we wouldn’t get it.

We ate our starter (Nachos), which was very nice. To then be ushered off the table, as the table was “reserved” and we needed to sit in the garden, “now”. To our surprise, we all got up and went to the garden and there were no tables available.

We were left standing with all our belongings, drinks in hand, a dog, a toddler and a baby in our arms… we went to the bar and whilst explaining to the bar staff what the problem was, we were told to “calm down”, “calm down” by the gent behind the bar. We weren’t being rude in any way! They were very clearly flustered and realised they had done something wrong.

To top it off, our food was now being held behind us by the waitress. Which was cold by the time we were reseated. We asked for an additional plate and sauces, and were told “we’d have to wait” as the waitress had other things to do… neither arrived by the time we had finished.

No apology given by anyone for the inconvenience caused.

…

The pub was clearly busy and they were very overwhelmed. But, overall, the staff were rude, sharpe tonged and we were left feeling very unwelcome.

The food would be have been OK, if it was warm. And having the option of a salad in our burger would have been welcomed.

It’s a shame as this pub could be very up and coming. Set it a beautiful part of the world. Perhaps if we caught them on a quieter day, it would have been a different review.

Stay clear on bank holidays or book...