The Four Horseshoes — Restaurant in Test Valley

Just wanted to share our recent experience of the Four Horseshoes pub. We've been going ever since the renovation and always found out great when Louis and Fergus were in charge and then when Sara and Mike took over but on Saturday it was a very different story. I booked our Christmas meal back in early November to be sure to get a table, and got a confirmation reply... rocked up on Saturday to find they hadn't got us booked and then told we couldn't have the Christmas menu has we hadn't prebooked, which I showed them we had but it was basically tough luck, so we proceeded to choose from the main menu, our starter being prawns. We ate and left as we weren't feeling very Christmassy after that. Then, literally a couple of hours later, myself and my husband were violently ill, shaking, vomiting etc etc. We were due to go to chessington on the Sunday with all the family including our kids who had to miss out, we had to call family in to help with our 2 year old as we were incapacitated. Horrendous! I emailed the pub on Sunday morning and finally got a reply on Monday evening apologising for the mix up and denying that it could have been the prawns as they get their seafood in daily, well that may well be so, but that doesn't mean they weren't left out or stored incorrectly, I am 100% convinced it was food poisoning (although I can't prove it) so beware. In the first email back we were offered a voucher so we could still enjoy our Christmas meal, I thought, fair enough, I'll just avoid the prawns 😬 and as we'd managed to get a refund from chessington (although we all missed out on the day with the family) I thought we'd try and salvage a bit of the Christmas build up, but then got told we could get a voucher for £20, in total!! Our meal that we didn't want and made us ill was nearly £90. I'm pretty insulted and now knowing the level of customer service to local, loyal customers, I will never set foot in the Four...

We booked a table here for food and drinks with our family, however it was not made clear upon booking that the garden at the front only operates on a reduced menu. When we realised this we asked to be moved to the rear garden, however we were told by the manager that the rear garden was fully booked and that the only table a available was in the patio area which didn't allow dogs. Because of this we had to nip home to take the dogs back before sitting down in the patio area. It then took three hours for us to complete a two course meal because of the slow service, however what was more infuriating was that during the three hour we were there, there was only two if the seven tables in the rear garden in use. When we questioned the manager on why we had been told that the tables were fully booked, he told us that they had three no shows to which I explained that the three no shows plus the two tables that were occupied would have still left two tables available meaning we could have sat there with the dogs. The manager then admitted that he had initially lied to us about being fully booked and that it was actually an issue with capacity. Again this didn't make sense as if it were 'capacity' then what would be there difference between having us on the patio and having us in the garden? The main issue here was about him blatantly lying to us about the situation! Had he been honest, it wouldn't have...

As local residents we were not aware of the invite prior to the official opening back in July, so last night was our first ‘official’ visit. We had been down to look around after the work had been completed and were impressed with what had been achieved. Last night we were impressed with the ambience and the friendly staff. We ate in the bar as we had a four-legged friend with us and the staff made a fuss of him. They even brought a water bowl for him. The food was a bit disappointing, although the three starters we had were tasty. All four of us had the burger as the bar menu was very limited. Unfortunately, we were all disappointed with the burger. It arrived on a wooden serving tray (not sure of the official term) and was simply a burger in a bun with a bowl of chips. When questioned as to where was the salad, the response was ‘it is in the bun’. Half a lettuce leaf and two slices of tomato doesn’t constitute a side of salad. Also prices are a bit on the high side for bar food. I have given the review 3 out 5 because it is a nice pub, but the prices and the content of food served in the bar was very disappointing. So much so that I feel there is better value for money at the Horns which is close by, but appreciate there is a big difference in the internal decoration between...