The Foresters Arms — Restaurant in New Forest

A dozen of us booked in here for a Christmas lunch and most of us were disappointed especially with the the main courses and the standard of service. We eat out a lot in New Forest pubs and were certainly not told we could not bring our dogs!! All the pubs in the forest and we've been to twenty or so have no problem with dogs, so when we arrived to be told we could not have the dogs where they had reserved a table for us was unsatisfactory to say the least. They even tried saying they always tell people when they book about their dog policy - that is plain lie, of course they didn't because we would NOT have booked with them. After all this is a country pub that serves pub food NOT a restaurant and they'd do well to remember this! So some of us had starters which were generally ok although the prawn cocktails had a lack of prawns (two or three in mine). The soup (pear & parsnip) got a big thumbs down - it tasted disgusting. The Caramelised Onion & Goats Cheese Tartlet got a thumbs up though.The biggest let down however was the Christmas Bacon Wrapped Turkey with Cranberry & Chestnut Stuffing - where was the turkey!?! There was the most minuscule parcel of turkey with stuffing that was a real let down. We all expected, as you would, some nice slices of roast turkey but this was a not the case - not even a small slice worth of turkey wrapped around a disproportionately larger amount of wet sticky stuffing. Three people had the Homemade Vegetable Wellington - which was overly spicy! The desserts were mostly ok - but then ice cream & cheeseboards were standard fare. Three people ordered Coconut & Tangerine Panna Cotta - two of which were hard and had too much gelatine with the other being fine but no replacements were available for the two sent back!! The service was slow and plates were cleared away quick at a slow pace. The staff were a mixed bunch - some quite pleasant but others a tad surly as I see others have previously remarked. I did complain about the turkey and got the very unprofessional response that nobody else had complained - not good seeing that six of us had the turkey and we had all said it was poor due to the lack of turkey meat. I suggested the chef might want to come out & explain why this quite expensive meal was well below a reasonable standard. The chef did not show up nor were we offered any reduction to the bill - we left feeling...

Went for dinner this evening around 5pm usual Saturday evening and expected it to be busy but it was dead and now I see why. Was greeted by a young girl who was off the bat very smiley and gave me hope which diminished quickly. As we where taken to our table we where informed that half the ( not huge menu) was unavailable. I understand this is not the waitresses fault but not a great first impression. After picking from the small items we could have we were informed once again they had run out of that as well. My partner ( who doesn’t eat much) asked for a meal off the children’s menu. Understandably as half of what she would have eaten we couldn’t have. We where met with quiet a rude response and she was asked how old she was which was quiet humiliating really as she’s is obviously not a child. After this we stayed polite and said we didn’t mind paying full price if it was an issue and finished ordering. We then had another member of staff reiterate we “ have to expect full price even with a small portion” which felt rude and uneeded. Food was fairly quick to come out and wasn’t something to rave about if I’m honest. We were checked on not even two minutes after receiving our food and what felt like every two minutes after this. I appreciate the effort but felt intrusive and overdone. Once we where coming to the end of our meal the one child we did have with us obviously was taking a little longer to finish and the staff seemed annoyed and pushy for us to finish up so in the end just left with her plate half finished. Not a hugely welcoming experience and won’t be returning asspesily after receiving the bill which included a service charge of 10% ( which definitely wasn’t earnt) and paying £19 for a childs portion. Dissatisfied to...

With great regret, I wasn’t very impressed with the establishment unfortunately.

It is very quaint and reminiscent of an old, homely countryside pub, oozing with character. Unfortunately, the manager did not have any kind of warmth or friendliness, in fact, I felt a little like we were a hindrance. It is advertised as “dog friendly”, hence why we booked it as we are dog lovers, but that was not the impression we received and neither did the other table close by. Whenever a dog barked, there were eye rolls and attitude which made us feel very uncomfortable.

Secondly, the place did not cater for those with milk intolerances. In this day and age, it is almost a given that all places need to have at least Oat milk, soya, coconut or almond. I was disappointed that this was not the case here. As I could not have coffee or a milk tea, I opted to have a green tea. It seems there was only one green tea bag available as when I wanted a second tea brewed, there was not another green tea bag available.

Thirdly, I ordered the Anti-pasti board and read the description, there was no mention of any meats… yet the board was full of meats. As a vegetarian, it was not ideal especially as it was my main dinner. Meats need to be included in the description as it is otherwise misleading.

I would recommend more smiles, more...