The Alma Inn — Restaurant in Winchester

2 years later, we give it another try...

We visited on a fine, warm, and sunny Saturday evening around 8 pm, and the place was almost empty, just one other couple who arrived after we had collected our meals.

Different staff, this time, we had a very sullen bunch who all gave the impression that they were embarrassed to be working here. Including the manager who lurked around where we sat doing busy work, but not once did he speak to us or ask how our food was.

The carvery...

The food, well, It's best to watch and listen to the video clips to understand. Everything was overcooked and dry. Some dishes were even beyond recognition due to the length of time they had been on the hot plate, baking under the lights. I am glad that we had chosen to go for a standard carvery. One look at those sausages was enough to put anyone off.

There were a couple of items that were okay, the beef and the yorkshire pudding. The rest was simply awful, dry, and crunching, something you don't really expect, especially in a slice of turkey and well beyond the point of being saved by gravy.

We deliberately ordered another drink just to see what would happen when they arrived at the table. The server saw our half full plates pushed to one side and asked if we were done. Then, without asking how the food was, whisked the plates away. They knew what was being served here, and he looked rather chargrined as he walked away with those cremated offerings.

Unfortunately, with this being a revisit and given that the place has gone even further downhill, we have dropped it from 2 stars to the lowest possible rating of 1.

Arrived a bit early for the carvery, which was the plan. Greeted by pleasant and friendly staff who told us to sit where we like and order at the bar, which gave us plenty of choice of where to sit, as the place was empty.

Ordered from the menu, and we both went for the Bacon and cheese burger with chips, one no bbq sauce the other with no lettuce, tomato, or onions.

We had a short wait in comfortable and rustic settings while the meals were prepared.

When the plates arrived, the food looked so good and exactly as ordered, but when will I learn not to take the top off the burger.....

Let me start by saying the chips were awesome, one may say cooked to perfection 😉

Now to the burgers.....

One look at the photo, and you can see they were suffering terribly with anaemia. Along with the bacon. Honestly, they had the look,taste, and texture of a cheap frozen burger that had been defrosted and heated in a microwave, not pleasant at all.... and went uneaten. Even the thought of taking them home for the dog seemed like a form of animal cruelty.

It would have been great to have had a chat with a member of staff about them but as soon as they had served them to the table they disappeared and never returned, it was almost like they knew they had messed up...

But, did I mention how good the chips were, and thats what earned them 2 of the 5 stars available.

Price range £10 to £20 per head, with plenty of free...

The meat was really good, other then the turkey, the turkey was really dry and I mean bone dry, kind of put a downer on the whole thing.... but that isn't the biggest issue, the mash had been sitting so long it was hard, the veg was either under cooked or over cooked and the potato's where really salty. They ran out of pings in blankets for me, but they brought them to me about 10 minutes after I was eating but over all the food tasted okay.

I personally didn't get my monies worth and was very disappointed as it was a meal for mothers day.

This is where the whole thing should have finished but sadly the problems for much, much more problematic...

My mother and sister are both celiac, so we told them, they was extremely good with this and offered to make the the veg fresh to stop any gluten contamination... the issue is, after they weighted about 15 minutes, my mum asked them for an update... the response was the chefs didn't know what veg they wanted after we spoke about this before ordering and the lady took all the details down...

The problems got worse, they ended up waiting 45 minutes just to be told that they didn't have any turkey left and needed to wait another 15 minutes for the cooking process to finish.... My sister ended up going for a different meal, gammon, egg and chips and my mum ended up with just the beef and veg.

She enjoyed the Meat and veg, must have been because it was wasn't sitting out for too long and made fresh, but the roast potatoes where again extremely salty. I don't know why so much salt had to be used.

I have to say, it was so bad we will not be coming back. Sad really as the table was booked and we made sure they knew everything they needed before hand and while we was there!

I would recommend if you do go here you do it on a busy day, maybe they will have fresh food up and less hard, dry and over cooked food! Every...

Would not recommend. Been here a few times and seems to have gone down hill more and more. First of all £3.99 for chicken poppers and you get 3 small chicken pieces more than a £1 a piece which is ridiculous. When we came before there was loads for this price but when questioned was informed a new menu had come into place 2-3 weeks before but was not made aware. Food was ordered and was nearly a hour until two starters came! Then for the main meal, well what a shambles! Brothers food came 30 mins after his starter although he had ordered 50 minutes before rest of party as had to leave early yet wasn't able to due to the shocking service. Then 3 more main meals came 40 mins later although there should have been 4 and the other three ordered before us. Then nearly a hour after those came it was questioned where the rest was and was informed 'not sure order seems to have been lost'! No one had bothered to check if the meals were okay and if they did do this they would have realised we was still 3 main meals short! Manager asked to come over which she did and she explained she was unsure as to what had happened which fair enough was not her fault clearly not good communication within the kitchen. Would have been a bit more understanding if the pub was busy but it was not! We came for my 21st birthday meal as a family of 8 all hoping to have a pudding too. Yet after the long waits for the starters and then the mains it was pointless to wait probably a hour or more for the puddings. Manager agreed to refund us all for the food as a good gesture. The pub definitely lost out with us being refunded yet if the chefs had got the orders correct and on time then more money would have been spent on more food and drink. Unfortunately will not...