The Mayflower — Restaurant in New Forest

So, the wife and I had a weekend away at The Mayflower. The pub/hotel itself was very clean, and was greeted by friendly enough staff.

We got shown to our room, where we dropped off our bags and had a quick snoop around, as you do. Room was very nice and clean, amenities etc all very nice.

Noticed there was no coffee in the room, we asked the staff for this, was told that it will be in our room once we are back from our walk and dinner. This never happened, so had to pop down and ask again. No real biggie, but attention to detail. The bar wasn't that busy at the time of asking, so it would of only taken a couple of minutes.

We had an early dinner on the Sunday where both the wife and I both ordered the roast dinners. All very nice bar the potatoes, they tasted and looked like they had been pre cooked for about a week, would normally complain that you don't get enough spuds, but this time we were thankful.

Back up to the room to watch some TV and have a chill. the TV is connected to a Sky box and the only remote is the Sky remote. This was great, especially as most TV watched now is on non terrestrial channels. Couldn't turn the TV over, the box was situated behind the TV so you couldn't turn the channels over until I strategically balanced the box on top of the TV. A small tidy shelf would have been perfect for this to sit on.

It then began to get dark and the lighting in the room became apparent. The emergency lighting bulkhead situated over the door with the prismatic diffuser and green indicator lit the room up like it was a runway at an airport!!! To try to sleep with this on, was quite difficult, even with trying to put a pillow over our heads to block it out.

Spoke to the staff the next day and they said they had had complaints prior about the same thing, all because apparently there was an accident a while ago and that the person injured was looking into suing them,.

The fact what we paid for the room (over £150 a night inc breakfast) and for the staff to know about the issue, you would think that they would provide an eye mask or even change the lighting to something that isn't such an eye sore (literally!!).

Happy to propose new lighting, as this is what I do!!

The final day we went down to breakfast, it was very quiet, besides the staff member and cleaner moaning about working conditions etc. etc. There is a time and a place for stuff like that and the fact it was in front of guests, wasn't the time, or the place.

All in all, Lymington was a lovely place to visit, the pub/hotel was very nice, bar the few bits I have mentioned. Would I recommend it to friends, or others, probably not; and when we visit the lovely area again, will probably look at...

We took a very short break here to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The venue was quiet but this is clearly due to the government's response to Covid and not because of the venue itself.

Our room was perfect, bay window, bath in the room, coffee machine, party sized bed, absolutely spotless, likewise the en-suite. Everything kept to a very high standard. Nice selection of teas and coffees in the room with a real treat - fresh milk. Plenty of cupboard and wardrobe space.

The usual facilities were found in room, iron (and ironing board), fan and heater. Our room was single glazed and a little cool, unsurprising due to the time of year and frankly double glazing would spoil the room. I would also have preferred slightly more supportive pillows but that's a minor niggle.

Considering how quiet the venue was because of the government restrictions we were surprised at the wide choice for evening meal. I had a lovely piece of venison and my wife took the haddock. Wine was a little expensive and my garnish was a little under seasoned but neither spoiled the meal which was really first class. The bill included a discretionary service charge - which we paid but I don't like these, I'd much prefer to tip.

There was a good choice for breakfast and the food was very well presented but this time our beans were a little cool. Taken as a whole though breakfast was great.

Which leaves me to mention the staff. Excellent all round, attentive, courteous, friendly and helpful. From the evening staff when we checked in to the lovely lady who served us at breakfast. We even got a hello from the chef. First class.

Will we be going back? Yes and we'll be staying for longer...

We ate at the restaurant for one evening, and were very pleased with our meal. There was a sense of skilled use of quality ingredients - there is clearly a creative and confident cook in the kitchen. I shared pork rillettes on sourdough with a remoulade of apple and celeriac and gherkins; and roasted heritage beetroot with whipped feta, candied walnuts and blackberry vinaigrette to start. The rillettes were very well made with just the right level of fattiness. The sourdough was deliciously fried and the remoulade a perfectly balanced and seasoned side dish which cut through the fattiness of the rillettes. The heritage beetroot was exceptionally good. The candied walnuts showed real skill and were incredibly moreish. The accompanying watercress garnish was very tired and should not have been sent out, but it was the only slightly dud note. I had a confit chicken leg on a bean cassoulet for my main course and was pleased to find it expertly part-boned. Googling reassured me it was from a free-range bird, always good to see. All five of us enjoyed our meals, not least my vegetarian son who was pleased to find some choices beyond the inevitable mushroom and/or butternut squash risotto. My pudding was an outrageously indulgent warm chocolate chip biscuit with pumpkin ice cream, salted caramel sauce and candied pecans (whoever is doing the candying needs huge bonus points). Ludicrously sweet but I hoovered it up. The wine menu was interesting and well priced - we enjoyed our Picpoul. The service was perfect and the meal very reasonably priced. If I'm ever in the area again, this is where...