The Cricketers Inn — Restaurant in Winchester

Sadly a very poor review from me.

We travelled 1 hour and 10 minutes and pre-booked our table. You would expect the restaurant to be ready for you, and also cook enough food to cover your group booking. Sadly not.

On arrival we walked though a group of ppl watching football this felt awkward as we walked in front of the television. The atmosphere was flat - sadly. The crowd of locals in felt promising though.

We were not seated and stood patiently waiting for acknowledgement. We made ourselves known to the team , and explained we had a booking. The team member pointed round the corner and said “there should be a table around there for you”. We went and sat at the available table that was not set for dinner.

Our friends arrived and we went to order food. The pub had 3 chalk boards promoting, Sunday lunch. With three courses advertised at £29.99! Deal….. except that was not the case when ordering at the bar we were told , “we can’t do the Sunday lunch offer because it won’t go through on the till and the landlord is on holiday”. Surely just take your boards down then. Why put yourself in a position where customers will challenge your advertising. We would have been none the wiser !!

We decided to order starters anyway. We ordered 2 prawn cocktails, soup of the day , 4 adult roasts and a child’s roast. To then be told “sorry no Yorkshire puddings left, only 1 chicken roast left and only 1 gammon left” . With roasts being the only available item, We shuffled bits and made it work.

After around 30 minutes a roast appeared at the table. The waitress looked and said “oh you have not had your starters” and proceeded to tell us the kitchen had not listened to her instructions. The meal was taken back. 15 minutes later two prawn cocktails and a soup arrived. As the prawn cocktails arrived, apologies were issued for the “red- hot” plates. Prawn cocktail starters on “red hot” plates (inserts confused emoji)

We accepted and ate. 15 minutes after we finished our starters the roasts came……back ! They were clearly the original roasts that had been reheated or kept warm. They came with no Yorkshire’s as promised !

The childs chicken meal , came as an adults. Wow it was huge. Chicken breast and a chicken leg. Much larger than the two adult beef dinners that came. The third beef dinner was minuscule. And we quickly realised that they had mixed the orders up. I tried to explain but was greeted with confusion. The young waiter proceeded to take the child’s meal off him. That he was already eating. I asked him not too, as he was already eating and just to rectify the meal that was wrong (very willing to pay the difference even though it was not our mistake) the waiter said he would be back. Time passed and no-one came to rectify our issues. I approached the bar and asked if anyone was coming to rectify our problems and I was greeted with bad manners, and made to feel the problem was mine. I explained that this was very poor service and that I would go back to eat the incorrect cold meal, as I it was just wasteful. whilst they worked how they would rectify this for me.

We were approached and handed a £20 note for the one wrong meal. No discussions about the missing Yorkshires and limited options despite us making reservations, poor service or the fact that all of the meals on our table were cold, and potatoes so bad that the insides had disintegrated. Some plates had parsnips some didn’t, some had cauliflower cheese , some didn’t. Three plates were left with almost all of the food on, again not acknowledged.

Overall , very poor food. Disappointing service. We left the table, and then went to another local...

We stopped off for drinks in the massive garden that's so well catered for and is great for families with young children. There is plenty of parking too. Lovely and cozy inside.

We went for a meal for the first time on a very quiet night on a Monday in December.

We checked the menu out prior to coming and saw it was priced on the higher side for a local pub/restaurant, so we were expecting great things. Unfortunately, there were a few things that let it down for us, and I hope this feedback is taken with good intentions.

The starters were ok and reasonably priced.

The mains were not so

Lamb shank Beef Cheeks Pan fried seabase

All costing between £24 and £25

The beef and lamb were with mash and gravy, and the fish with couscous and a white wine saffron sauce.

No side vegetables accompanied the meat dishes, so it was very heavy on the mash and gravy, nothing green or seasonal to balance it out.

The one very small fillet of seabase was ok but served as a child's portion on a very large plate and about three spoonfuls of vegetable couscous and scrapping of sauce.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of this dish.

At those prices, you would expect the trimmings for the heavy meat and mash that was tasty and cooked well, by the way.

The fish dish at £24.95 was not an adult portion. My partner had eaten it in a few mouthfuls.

We were the only people dining in there and were also charged 12% service charge on top as a bit much and should be optional at those food prices.

We don't mind paying those prices and have done many times and more, but unfortunately, the offerings do not match the prices, we pay less for more in town which is the competition and for us personally felt cheated out of the very simplest of things like some seasonal vegetables and at least two small fillets of seabase and maybe a few more spoonfuls of couscous for the money.

It's a shame because overall, the food was nice and tasty, but the price is way over top and if the prices are kept that high and nothing is added to justify it or to make it special then it simply won't sustain in the long run in my humble opinion.

£119.36 was the bill total with no vegetables added...

Unfortunately this was not a very good meal and I very rarely would do something like this. However, I do like to write honest views.

The floor and general tidyness of the restaurant wasn't great.

There was quite alot of customers in the bar area and only a few people behind the bar. One waitress trying desperately to clear tables.

We were told when we sat down. On Sundays there is only the Sunday menu which was 2 starters, roast and 2 desserts. Which wasn't a problem. However, we were told they were no more Yorkshire puddings left, then only one chicken and one gammon left. We presumed it must be good if they have run out of food (for record we arrived at 2pm)

We ordered at the bar a two course meal that was advertised in a deal. But we're told the landlord is on holiday and they haven't put the new prices on the till so it will be put through individually at higher prices. Not the deal price which was advertised all over the restaurant.

Our mains came out before our starters. Which wasn't great as we then had it in our heads that it will be cold 🙈 or put in a microwave to warm up. Ate our starters which werent bad.

Then our roasts came out 20 mins after our starters. The potatoes were rock hard with no potato in it. The children's meal had a full chicken breast and a leg, full vegetables, 6 potatoes. This was the same size as the adults but for less money. One of our mail meals looked like a kids meal and when questioned no one came to investgate, we had to go up to the bar for clarification because no one came back to see us. The food was inconsistent with what was there. Some of us had 4 potatoes 5 6 just all over the shop. A refund for the 'adult' meal that look like a child's was given.

Personally wouldnt recommend to go here on a Sunday. And I would ring up and ask if the landlord is there first because you will be spending more money otherwise.

Its a shame as we travel and hour to meet up with friends in different locations and this has definitely been our least favourite I'm...