The New Queen Inn — Restaurant in New Forest

Five of us pre-booked meals for a relaxed Saturday afternoon lunch in early December, three being our guests from the West Mids staying with us for the weekend to celebrate Christmas together. Four of us pre-ordered off the main Christmas menu and one off the Vegan menu.

The idea was to have time before our starters for a drink, and then time between courses so we could pace ourselves.

The New Queen was a GREAT choice for the occassion! Kieran (I think that's his name, apologies if I have that wrong) was EXTREMELY attentive and you coud see he very genuinely wanted us to enjoy our afternoon. His balance between utmost professionalism and informal friendliness is not an easy, but he achieved this admirably.

Food was great! Turkey was succulent (it certainly isn't always in all establishments!), vegetables properly cooked - still crispy and not watery (not easy when cooking for so many in the restaurant that day) and gravy was delish! Don't think it was really necessary to wash my plate it was so clean at the end (sure they did though!)

By the way, ALL serving staff were VERY good.

Service throughout was attentive without being overly-so.

The one glitch was our puddings arriving almost as soon as the main course had been finished. Frankly, everything had been so good it was difficult to be at all upset by this. What impressed us all though was Kieran (as I say, hope that's the correct name!) noticed this happen and it was clear to us that he was really unhappy about it - he clearly had a very genuine desire to make things perfect for us. As well as apologising, he offered us complimentary coffees by way of a 'sorry'. Being fair, it was a very busy afternoon (so lots of proverbial balls to juggle by both front and kitchen staff), it wasn't a massive issue, and the way it was managed was admirable.

This issue of 'Staff Attitude' I always argue is key - rather intangible, but all else can be built on this solid foundation when it's right. The New Queen has achieved this (I'm saying this from other experiences here too).

Beer is very tasty and well kept too :-)

A BIG 'Thumbs Up' from all of us - Thank you for a BRILL start to our Christmas...

We had reserved a table for my birthday lunch...it was filthy and sticky and hadn't been cleaned even though it had been reserved. There were only forks and no knives put out. The chairs were so low down that the table met you in the chin/chest so had to sit on cushions which then means you can't use the arm rests or back rest. Ridiculous solution to a silly ergonomic problem. One of the glasses had multiple greasy lipstick stains on. We were now nervous to order food (what is the kitchen like?) The meals were ok but not great. The extra chicken we ordered to add to a Vegetarian dish was gross, chewy, sinues running through so subsequently left those even though we had paid extra for them. Very bad cuts of chicken! The final insult was the dish water cold coffee that came well after the desserts despite asking for them at the same time. When my partner the tried to explain that the coffee needs a bit more added to the mix when given the reply "That's just how it comes out of the machine" he was met with 3 x pairs of gormless expressions from the bar and silence, so he walked off. The staff were friendly enough but all of them very young which is not a criticism only in the fact that there didn't seem to be any direction, it was bling leading the blind so perhaps more training is needed. Shame really as we heard it had been taken over by new people since we were there years ago and were eager to try it out....

We called and booked a table on Monday 8th July for the day they opened the 12th July. I booked it for 2pm.for a special 40th Birthday lunch. The member of staff who took the call was friendly and said they looked forward to seeing us. That week I recieved 2 text messages reminding me of the booking.

Unfortunately when we arrived at 1.55pm we were told to wait 10 mins as the table wasnt ready. I was a little confused as there were plenty of empty tables, anyway, after asking a further 2 times and waiting 15 minutes we were asked where we wanted to sit, we assumed a table had been made up for us. That wasnt the case. We sat with drinks and were given the menu. No children's menu and I had a 2 year old with me, which they were told when I made the booking. The adult menu was shocking. Hastily put together and extremely limited and very over priced. We had a vegetarian in the party and the only option was roasted vegetables with goats cheese for £13. I'm sure that would only cost about £1.50 to make. There were no sandwiches or light meals at all and we were told a steak was £25. No idea what was so special about it. After sitting for 10 minutes we drove up the road to the Fisherman's Haunt where we were warmly welcomed and had a great lunch. They made my daughter feel very special and gave her things to entertain her while we relaxed. I would definitely go back to the fisherman's but wont return to...