Shoal — Restaurant in Winchester

We've been here a few times over the past year - it's our little treat. The first time was really good (maybe because it was new to us). Can't really fault the food and the ability to ask for more chips when you need them is a good idea. The chips come out fresh and hot, cooked to order. You sometimes need this, as the amount of chips served up when food arrives is not consistent - sometimes more, sometimes less.

The service can be a bit hit and miss. On a recent visit I had a pie, which came with plenty of chips to keep me going. My wife's fish came with literally a small scattering. I'm not expecting a full plate to gorge on but at least a 'portion' would be acceptable. With half her fish left she asked for more chips. Until this point nobody has come back to ask if everything was ok, so this was the first opportunity to get someone's attention.

Sadly, the additional chips took ages to arrive. The fish was almost finished when the chips finally arrived, which was kind of pointless. Had our server returned sooner to check all was good, this could have been resolved satisfactorily. We weren't the only table to comment on this on that evening. Despite this though, the food was still really nice.

Our latest visit was a week or so ago. We were seen to our table and we're waiting for one other guest to arrive. We were asked if we were ready to order but we were not. After that, our server didn't come back to ask again. We weren't asked if we wanted any drinks. After a while of no service, we got their attention. Order placed, no drinks order taken.

The order took over half an hour to arrive. The table next to us, who were seated after we had ordered, got their food first, which was odd.

Staff felt generally distant and unavailable. They always look busy but I don't get the feel of them being as attentive as maybe they could be.

I tried to get someone's attention to get a drink but was unsuccessful. By the time our food arrived I had lost interest in having a drink. Never mind... From our previous chip disaster our server said they'd place an order for some extra, at the time our main order went in. They never arrived and we had to endure further delay for some extras because our server never came back to us.

On a positive, the ice-cream and sundaes are gooood. I love the cherry sundae, which makes up for everything that goes before it.

We'll definitely be returning and would recommend this place for a nice meal. It can be a little frustrating though, when it comes to a service that is sometimes quite...

Look the food was pretty nice. fish was crunchy and good gently greesy chips with the tasty standard sauces and the staff were also nice and polite. Only issue was they did have this "unlimted chips" thing on the menu and I know it seems petty but if they are going to advertise that I expect a troublingly large amount of chips and to be bombarded with more chips till I have to pray for salvation from the wave of chips. Alas no. they game me a tiny handful with my fish which meant I immediatly had to ask for more and then I had to badger them endlessly to get it. In the end I got two moderate sized exta bowls for me and my other half which meant we had a normal chip shop portion each. but it took 20 minutes after asking for them to bring the first one, the last bowl came out in resonable time (manged to snag them when they were trying to clear up) but that was the last one I coudl get as they closed the kitchen without warning us . Then to add insult to injury they tried to charge me for extra chips. Look I don't mind not having unlimited chips if that's not what you want to offer, fine, take it off the menu. honestly I don't really want unlimted chips, I am fat enough as I am. but if you do promise it then I expect them to appear. For further reference look up homers visit to the...

Nice local fish and chip place. The batter on the fish was very light and super crunchy, top notch. The hake was just a little overdone/dry even on the thick end, though but by no means inedible or bad. The price seems a little high but once you add in the unlimited chips, sparkling water, free sauces etc and the comfort of a sit down meal it’s pretty reasonable.

We also had the scampi - while the flavour was good I found the crumb coating very thick and cloying against the little pieces so I wasn’t a big fan. Chips are classic style, the malt vinegar on the table was really good and the tartar was not overly sweet like some cheaper ones.

The gelato was very creamy, and all the flavours are very strong. The Lemon Meringue was a bit more artificial, like a fizzy candy lemon that was still tasty - though not what I expected. The Biscoff & Ginger was an absolute winner, and the Pear Almond was unfortunately just too strong on almond flavour (and that’s coming from a marzipan lover).

Overall their gelato is top notch and the portion was massive (3 scoops is too many for one person 😂)

The staff were attentive and friendly, restaurant ambience was nice and service was quick. Would definitely...