The Cleveland Bay — Restaurant in Test Valley

A group of us girls (5) met up here for the Christmas menu 3 of the girls ordered the turkey and two of us ordered the roast beef.. with my starter being the prawn cocktail… firstly the stater was wet and flavourless due to frozen prawn being added to a thin and tasteless rose Marie sauce ..I didn’t bother to complain…then the turkey plates came with a slavering of gravy over the sliced meat which 3 of the girls said was lovely two main course came out with a thickish slice of meat….with mushrooms and onions spread over the meat….now both of us are fully aware how to cook good food…and we knew the minute we saw it that is was one of two things either it was the cheapest cut of beef slowly cooked in a onion sauce etc or it was as we think was braised beef… it was over cooked (roast beef should be pink (for me) this was definitely not what I was expecting to have on my plate I sent it back to the kitchen and was told the beef was cooked since this morning to allow for tenderness and taste That failed twice !!would be another but my replacement would be another 15 minutes …now if that was apiece of roast beef then all the chef needed to do was carve me a couple of thin slices and give me the proper gravy that goes with roast beef ( there were no Yorkshire puds either ) the cabbage was tough due to not being cooked properly and the Brussels (my favourite veg)were awful .. I told the waitress I would just eat the beef on my plate…which she returned to me..the roast potatoes were very enjoyable as was the extra gravy given…..two of the girls ordered Xmas pud and custard and both left it after a couple of mouthfuls saying it tasted nothing like Xmas pud that they had ever had before when the bill came and seeing as I was the only one who made a complaint my bill was reduced …. We all agreed that we would never want to revisit...

Visited this pub today for lunch and a catch up with my friend and our two children. Overall the food was lovely and extra points too for providing gluten free fish and chips BUT the service was horrendous! My friend pre-booked a table but we waited at the bar for 10 minutes. The three young members of staff kept walking past us avoiding eye contact, serving other people and at one point they all left the bar to do something else!!! It wasn't until I said 'excuse me' I finally got someone's attention but if I hasn't they would of continued ignoring us. Also when my friend booked the table she specifically said there would be two babies, please make sure there's high chairs but there wasn't any available. The young ginger lad walked around aimlessly but alas could find one but there was one on a reserved table which remained vacant throughout the duration of our lunch!! So our children had no choice to eat their food in their buggies. Not impressed and the food wasn't cheap so I really did expect more since I travelled afar! My review started at 3 but after reading that back, one star is most...

I was down in Chandlers Ford to visit family and I suggested popping it for a drink. The Cleveland Bay was the local and it also served Wandsworth 6X. I have loved this beer for about 45 years so it was a straightforward decision. What started out as a quick drink ended up as a visit lasting several hours quite simply because this is such a great venue, time and pints of 6X simply flew past. We also decided to stay for dinner and I ate a huge plateful of the best Nachos I have ever eaten. The place has recently been refurbished and the managing couple, John and Jade make every effort to welcome their guests. They came and joined us, together with their two children and dog, stopping to chat and making sure we were enjoying our visit. The pub caters for both sports fans and families with both having the benefit of multiple screens for sports fans and a couple of great play areas for the kids. I will be back for more 6X when I am next in the area and I am only sorry that it won’t be in time to help celebrate John and Jade’s anniversary of their 10 year tenure on the...