La Parisienne — Restaurant in Test Valley

We booked this restaurant on the basis of the reviews & we will not be returning. First the positives, we could not fault the service and the bar area and restaurant are attractive and the food portions were good. The food, however, was somewhat unimaginative. The goats cheese starter would have benefited from a seasonal salad & a good dressing. The avocado & tuna was particularly unimaginative. The mains were substantial but what can go wrong with a pork chop and a chicken breast though the sauce for the latter was uninspiring. The desserts were fine. The set course menu had carried a premium price, as it was the weekend but Interestingly there were very few diners in the restaurant. When I came to add a service charge this was not possible using a card. Who carries cash nowadays? In any case the meal was quite expensive for what it was before the addition of any service charge. Perhaps we were spoilt as we had just returned from France and inevitably we were making comparisons with the meals we had there and sadly La Parissienne...

20 sept 24 We ate here tonight and I was sadly underwhelmed. A kir in a cheap wine glass that was nice but with no effort to make it special. We had the set menu and I started with warm goats cheese which was really nice, although I'm not a fan of bitter leaves but thats a preference thing. Then I had steak frites but the steak was over cooked and I could barely cut it as it had so much grissle. Really nice sauce and chips though, I then had lemon tart cold but nice enough. They charge for bread, I still find that odd, and it was a nice waitrose baguette so no complaints from me. Nice bottle of wine which went well with the meal. It was our anniversary meal and I can't say I felt special in any way, such a shame as I had really looked foreward to it. Other tables were getting a very attentive service so maybe they were really splashing out.

2022 Lovely food, great staff and a good location. The only French restaurant in Romsey but when it's as good as this you don't need...

Delightful venue with comfortable seating and ample table sizes. I managed to park in their small 6 spaces car park and met my friends sitting outside in a pleasant sunny outside seating area. Then we went in for lunch and service was brisk. Waiters seem to be emulating a Paris Restaurant in the Belle Epoque and were suitably abrupt but fast and efficient. All part of the atmosphere. Food came quickly. My French Onion Soup wasn't and after I spilt some on my pale blue shirt, I noticed it didn't stain. My wife's FOS (she's from Quebec) would have ruined the shirt. Virtually tasteless it was too. Then I had Plaice at £16. It came on the bone and was beautifully cooked but sad that at this price there was nothing with it. Having ordered from a specials board on the table, maybe I missed the extras but at that price I think it should have been made clear. My mates had different dishes but we're similarly underwhelmed. This is such a nice spot, I hope they up...