The Best Restaurants in Colden Common, Hampshire, United Kingdom (2025)

Went here with wife and a couple of friends. Food was lovely as was the wine. Cocktails were also good. We did however have a 45 minute wait for a table that was booked weeks in advance and the service while waiting was pretty poor, which did take the edge off the overall experience. Did add a couple of photos of the food but I'd already started eating before taking photos because we were that hungry from the wait 😂

A fabulous hidden gem in central Winchester. The architecture has a wonderful ye olde England feel - lots of dark wood and leather, but at the same time light and airy spaces. The food was simply delicious. Top quality ingredients cooked to perfection. Well priced wines. Really pleasant staff who clearly want you to have a great experience. A top notch venue.

Well where do I begin with our wonderful dinner? Beautiful food, the most delicious bottle of wine we've ever enjoyed, gorgeous, cosy surroundings, and friendly service from welcoming, attentive, and knowledgeable staff. We were given a little anniversary surprise making our visit even more unforgettable. We shall be back.

Lovely restaurant with super friendly and helpful staff, food was delicious and all items were cooked perfectly, amazing table service and hospitality, drinks were beautifully presented and tasted amazing, 10/10 recommend

We have been 5 times now, since it re-opened in August and have never been let down. The food is amazing,, we have had various choices on the menu and all gorgeous (salmon, parmesan chicken, beast smash burger, fillet steak, the chef always turns out a gorgeous meal.Cant recommend this place highly enough. Lovely food and drinks, really nice wine, so much so, we are hoping to book a birthday gathering for 30 people if the availability allows. Well done to everyone at the Chalet. 👏

Decent quality food, tables too close to others and too bright for a luxury dining experience.

Fabulous food and service! So pleased we booked a table last minute. Thoroughly recommend!

Food was delicious and fairly priced. Pibs had a lovely warm and cosy atmosphere! Although we could have done with an extra light above our table 🙈👍🏻 Our waitress Holly was excellent!

Had a lovely meal at The Old Forge last night with family. Food was great all really well prepared and great flavours. We all a great time. Service was excellent from Rosie who was very kind and had a laugh with us. Starters was a 3 for £15 of small plates and a bread board. Beef croquettes wear super flavourful and the sweet potato hummus was amazing. Chicken burger in my picture was very juicy and the chili Jam and coleslaw inside tasted great. Trio of deserts was shared between three portions were bigger than we expected and was presented really well. It's on the more expensive side for a pub but food is definitely worth it.

I live local but had never heard of the old forge before. I came here for my Christmas work do and I loved it. Had such a festive vibe. The food was amazing along with the service. I have recommended to family and friends since then and today visited again. Again the food, service and atmosphere fabulous. They do not rush you between courses either like some places do. I recommend the scallops and the pork belly. I definitely will be coming again.

We live about 15 minutes away in Bramdean and found this little gem 💎 Due to lockdown we haven't explored our surroundings properly and so this beautiful pub will be added to our top 5 pubs to go out and dine. The location was great. Plenty of parking. The menu was great for choice and very local produce, from their garden too. The staff was lovely and attentive and knowledgeable which ALWAYS helps. The decor was nice and quirky for its name is reflected in the interior design. The actual food was beautifully presented, the portion sizes perfect and the taste of each dish was very well executed! So much so we are booked in again over the Mother's Day weekend 🙌 🤗 ☺️ Thank you The Ship Inn see you again soon 😊

I went with my friends to this place to enjoy the amazing weather we are having this weekend. I absolutely enjoyed the place. The garden outside is amazing and they are dog friendly. We didn’t have a booking but we called 20 min before to ensure they were still taking people for lunch. The service was quick and professional. The food was great and the price was affordable. I really enjoyed my burger and my friends liked their food. I am also lactose intolerant and they were very attentive ensuring my food met with that requirement. If you found this review helpful, please consider clicking the like button to show your support.

A lovely pub though if you’re tall, be warned it has a lot of low beams. The food was good, husband had pork roast & I had burger. roast was a good size & the Yorkshire puddings looked amazing (unfortunately he didn’t share with me 😞). The chicken burger was really tasty though didn’t really have much sauce on the bread until I put extra mayo on. However I would say it was on the smaller size. I’m not sure if we were given extra chips or someone on our table ordered it, but they definitely helped fill the hole. We shared baked cookie with icecream, which was good & sharing it was a plenty portion. Lovely garden for the kids in our group to play.

Stumbled in here caked in mud on a freezing cold day from the South Downs path. We were made to feel so welcome. We had a lovely coffee and tea perched by the fire. We were so comfortable we didn’t want to leave! Definitely the highlight of the South Downs path so far!

I was interested to visit as the pub has new owners, it looks good and service was excellent. Food was very good. I felt the beer was a little overpriced at £5,40 for 2 halves.

Lovely cosy pub. Had a delicious lunch of pizza with a side. Really well cooked and presented. Jake was very friendly and welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. We'll definitely be back as rest of menu looks delicious too.

Really welcoming nice atmosphere, background music not too loud you can't talk... friendly helpful staff. Good prices

Perfectly cooked food, perfect atmosphere.. We've been dining here for 30 years plus and it is our favourite venue to relax, unwind and enjoy..always great food.. We will continue our visits.. Thank you Steve and all the happy staff who personally showed compassion to me during my fight with cancer..much love and respect.. Greg and Carla xx

We had a breakfast today with my husband .Everything was lovely. Hannah was so friendly and welcomed us very warmly. Really impressed by the servise.

I stopped off here with little dog to break up the journey, extremely dog friendly, great selection of no alcohol beers including Guinness. Very quaint and old pub with lots of spaces and friendly staff. I was in between meals so only wanted a snack; the mini steak and ale pie was delicious and the mini cottage brochettes out of this world !!

We had a delicious Sunday meal here. Slow roast rib of beef and vegetables. Seasonal fruits crumble to follow. Unfortunately, we had eaten too much already. So we were allowed to take it away with us to enjoy later. The staff were very polite and friendly. And we are looking forward to a return visit very soon🤞. Thank you💐

I booked our table online approx a week in advance. Doing this was quick and easy. We had a late afternoon table booking and arrived approx 15mins early, so weren't expecting to be seated straight away, but we were. The weather was a little overcast and windy outside, so I was greatful to be sat inside in the conservatory with a lovely view out over the lake. Our food was excellent - perfect portion sizes, came out hot, and was served to us quickly after ordering. I hadn't been here in at least 9 years prior to my visit today, so it was lovely to visit again and have excellent service and food. We paid with cash - which I mention purely because since covid we've been to a few pubs expecting to be able to pay cash and not been able to. I tried looking on this pubs website but in the FAQs, there is no information about whether they are accepting cash or not. I then tried calling them twice but they must have been busy as no one answered the phone (and I didn't want to leave a voicemail) so we just risked it and took cash with us and it wasn't a problem, they accepted cash. I'm sure we will be back again in the future (this time sooner than 9 years!)...

I don't recall ever having a less-than-good experience of The Fisher's Pond (which in recent years became my local, though I've been coming year on and off for decades). I've probably written a review for it here or elsewhere before, but I feel compelled to write another. The food was nice and reasonable value, and these on their own would warrant a top-marks review, but what marked out our latest visit was the service. The service at the Fisher's Pond is always very good, but on this occasion it was exceptional. The booking experience and arrival/reception experience were excellent, but the in-meal experience was second-to-none. It was better than what you'd get at a restaurant costing more than 10x the price. The food arrived at a reasonable time (not slow but not too quick to be suspicious), and we were attended to throughout the meal by all the staff at just the right frequency. The main staff member dedicated to us was a gentleman called Nick, who was eloquent, thorough, professional, attentive and thoroughly entertaining. What a star. It's people like Nick to make an experience or even a whole day, and the World needs more of them. Thank you.

we had nick serve us, the man was a legend, such personality and talent, unlike anything i can recall. a true gentleman, funny and courteous. knew his wine, excellent recommendations. all the food was delicious and plentiful. the seating was spacious yet efficient, and the volume of others' conversation never got too loud. the view over the pond was delightful. the only regret is we couldn't find room for dessert, but we'll be back. i wish i could rate higher than 5 stars!

Quite a regular stop off over the years and have never been disappointed by the food or the service. The view is an obvious draw, no matter the time or day of the week. Parking is plentiful and free. There has never been an issue over being seated, even when busy. Just love this place.

We visited the hotel for the restaurant and it was an incredible meal. The atmosphere was relaxed, which is notable considering they had a wedding at the venue as well as other large parties in the restaurant. The food itself was fantastic. Think the best home made meal you’ve ever had, and then you’re on the right lines. We opted for a mushroom risotto and ham hock terrine for starters, both of which were amazing. We had the Chicken tarragon pie and bbq pulled pork for our mains and they were outstanding. We left incredibly happy, and very satisfied bellies!

Cracking meal. I had pretty low expectations but couldn’t have been more wrong. The salmon and squid ink pasta was fantastic. The chicken was lovely. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. They’re obviously trying which is great to see.

Food was OK, service good and surroundings pleasant, overall good value.

Loved the food, on the expensive side for a family of 5 when you buy drinks as well.

Beautiful pub with a modern interior in a very picturesque Hampshire village. Had seen it mentioned on James Martin's TV show. Had lunch for 2 for the first time today. Fantastic service and great food. We were glad we had a starter as the mains were a little on the small side but not overpriced so we were very happy indeed. It's on the list to return for sure.

A good local pub. I'd say, more of a drinkers pub than food, but I liked the way that there is a seperate "conservatory" area to eat in. Solid burger, nice ribs and gammon. V friendly staff.