The Sir Walter Tyrrell — Restaurant in New Forest

We visited this evening as a table of 4 adults and 4 children. We ate in the garden, which has a great play area for the kids, and ordered ‘starters’ and mains. After ordering and paying (which was quite pricey for a basic pub garden menu) we were told “everything will probably come out at once”. We spoke to who I presume was the manager and said we obviously don’t want our starters to come out at the same time as our mains. We were quite abruptly told they weren’t starters they were “light bites” (soup and pate?) and that they don’t do starters in the garden as it is hard to “police”. Whilst the menu heading was indeed “light bites”, we missed that detail and assumed the soup and pate listed at the top of the menu were available as starters. We said that had we realised they weren’t, we just wouldn’t have ordered them. We were told they would speak to the kitchen.

Our food then proceeded to all arrive at once - meaning some of us had soup or pate at the same time as fish and chips. We went back in to ask for a refund on the starters as we were unable to eat them at the same time as our mains. This is when the customer service became really awful.

We were spoken to rudely by a very passive aggressive member of staff. He spoke to us as if we were stupid for thinking soup and pate were usually served as starters and refused to accept that soup at the same time as fish and chips was an unusual combination, instead insisting lots of people like it coming together (??!) and why couldn’t we just eat it all at once. Instead of simply apologising for the misunderstanding and offering a refund, he continued to argue that we were in the wrong. We pointed out that them not doing separate starters in the garden should have been explained to us before they let us order and take our money. Instead of resolving the matter in a quick, professional way he continued to argue with us and belittle us in front of other guests.

We were then spoken to very rudely by a table of other guests (who clearly were friendly with the staff) who insinuated we were ruining their meal by complaining about our bad experience. We completely agree that the environment was becoming unpleasant, however we pointed out that was the fault of the customer service, not us, and if our complaint had been dealt with professionally in the first place, we wouldn’t have had to stand for 10 minutes asking for a refund. Instead of diffusing the situation, or taking us away from other guests to continue our conversation, your staff member instead just stood seemingly encouraging and smirking at their comments. It all felt very aggressive and I actually had to leave to go and cry outside.

We were finally given a refund on the starters, but by this point our evening had been completely ruined and I left in tears.

Whilst we were there another table complained about the “shocking” customer service they had experienced and we also heard another family in the garden leave before ordering food due to poor customer service they had received inside. We also heard some younger members of staff being spoken to very rudely by managers / more senior staff, making for a thoroughly unpleasant experience overall.

I want to stress that I never, ever complain. I am not a confrontational person, and having arrived home a while ago I’m still really upset about the way I was spoken to by staff and other guests. I’ve never left a venue in tears before and am honestly so shocked and disgusted at the service we received. Between the two families we spent over £200 on food and drinks and were not treated like paying guests, instead an inconvenience.

Hopefully these comments can be taken on board so future guests are never spoken to so rudely again. It’s such a shame as the park is great for the children, and it would have been somewhere we’d have visited regularly over the summer, but we’ll sadly never be...

Having had a lovely drive around the New Forest with mum, we decided it was time to quench our thirst. Of course, being a Sunday, we knew most places were busy to the point we couldn't get through the front door and other places we wanted to avoid due to poor past experiences.

We spotted the sign for The Sir Walter Tyrell pub whilst driving through Brook (near Lyndhurst) and decided to chance it.

On arrival we could see it was busy in the beer garden with families but thankfully there was a space in the large carpark. We walked in and found an empty table near the door and were greeted by the landlady (wish I had asked her name). She moved us to a bigger table away from the front door and said there were just the two of us she said it wasn't a problem taking up a larger table. I had a sample of an ale I hadn't heard of before, not to my liking I opted for The Green King IPA. Asked if they had a jug and they did. Easier for me to hold. Mum opted for the Mojito, she was very happy with her decision. As we were staying inside we got proper glassware and were able to start a tab. Those outside were given a £2 refundable rigid plastic drinking container. Food and drink had to be ordered at the bar and unsure if running up a tab was available.

We were given menus and I was pleasently surprised there were other food options beside the roasts (I'm not a roast lover). I got up to go to the bar to order and was told they would come to the table instead which was nice espicially being rushed of their feet.

To start I had the boar pate and it was plentiful and very tasty followed by the seabass. Beautifully presented and extremely delicious. Mum started with the crispy spring rolls that she said were excellent followed by breaded whitebait with homemade tartar sauce served with fries. She looked at mine and wish she had chosen what I had. She said her whitebait was lovely but would've been better as a smaller starter portion.

Sadly no room for desert.

Will definately be coming back and 100% recommend this pub. A really lovely landlady and great...

I never do things like this but i was absolutely gutted after going to this pub when on hoilday today. After frequenting this pub for over 30 years, today will be the last time. We went as a large group to enjoy the lovely large garden and play area for the children. We called up to say we were a large group and could we reserve tables outside. They said they couldnt do that as they had a band on till 6pm. But we could come and see if we could get tables. Which was fine and we did. When we went up to order, we were told we should have booked for big group. We said we had tried, and we're then told "oh yeah you hung up on us so we thought you weren't coming" (thuis was not the case at all). The way we were spoken to was rude, we had called ahead, and we had done what they had asked. And to be honest they didn't have to take the order they could of said they couldn't accommodate us and we would of had a drink and then gone somewhere else. But they were quite happy to take 22 people's money. Then when the food came out there were more rude comments made by the staff. Customer service clearly isnt a priority, Just being civil was too much . Then I went inside to ask for a little spoon for one of the children and found four of there staff complaining loudly about us. Even for where we sat in the garden because they had to walk along way to bring the food. So I said sorry are you complaining about us? At which three female and one male member of staff started having ago at me. I spoke to the manager who said he would talk to his staff but no body should be treated like this and im not sure he really cared at all. Feels like an end of an era after all these years, not to ever go again and what a shame in such a lovely location. Please spend you money somewhere else where you can be treated in a nice manner and enjoy your free time. The food was fine, but over priced and very small portions for the money. Think hungry horse quality, but...