England, Restaurants

Breakfast at the Buttery, Brockenhurst

No Comments

On one of our recent stays in the New Forest, our bed & breakfast did not offer proper breakfast, just muesli and yogurt, so we ventured into nearby Brockenhurst to the Buttery, a cheap and cheerful English café in the very centre of town, and one of the few places around that serve breakfast from 9am on weekends. After short deliberation we decided to order 2x Full English for me (£6.85 each, all those recent outdoor activities stirred my appetite enormously), scrambled eggs with fried mushrooms for Ms B (£4.95), two large cappuccinos (£3.00 each), orange juice (£2.60 each) and two sparkling waters (£2.50 each). The waiter arrived quickly to pick up the order, but told us that the waiting time might be significant. We asked what significant meant and he said roughly 15 to 20 minutes. We agreed to stay. After 25 minutes our dishes finally arrived (the coffee […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, Fun, Water sports

Kayaking with ‘New Forest Activities’ – Fair bit of exercise, fabulous fun, and you get to see jellyfish!

7 Comments

Last summer Ms B & I decided to venture to the New Forest again as it was the start of the pannage season when local farmers have permission for two months to let their pigs roam free around the woodlands. The idea is that the pigs eat all the acorns that are harmful for other animals like the free-roaming ponies, horses, and donkeys (in principle the acorns are harmful to pigs too, but these smart badasses simply spit out those bits). Anyhoooo.. didn’t see a single pig, so resorted to other activities. Besides horseback riding (post here), the most fun activity was our 3h kayaking trip with New Forest Activities (£39.90 per person). The starting point is at the beautiful Buckler’s Hard Maritime Museum (open air, admission included) on the banks of the Beaulieu river.     At the start of the 18th century a highly ambitious and (following his […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, London, Water sports

Riding Horses and Jetskis – A weekend trip to the New Forest & Poole

31 Comments

Ms B & I love the New Forest and usually try to visit at least once every two years. This post is about our stay last summer. Sometimes it takes us forever to finish a post. But rest assured, the New Forest hasn’t changed a bit since we first visited 8 years ago. We do double-check each venue and activity provider to make sure they’re still rated the same and up and running. In this case, for example, we are happy to report that The Terrace has hired a new, Michelin-starred head chef, since our visit (links below). Our apologies that the photos are not aligned with the headlines of this post. This is because we wanted to spread the photos evenly and chronologically, while there are simply way too many animal photos to squeeze in. The weather forecast for the weekend wasn’t great, which is funny, because during most […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, Restaurants

Deep Fall from a Michelin Star: The Terrace, Montagu Arms, New Forest

1 Comment

We usually do not write about bad experiences, but when we read a couple of weeks ago that the new head chef Matthew Whitfield had just replaced his friend and former mentor, Roux scholar Matthew Tomkinson, at The Terrace at the Montagu Arms, we decided to make an exception. When we visited last summer, we were aware that the restaurant had lost its Michelin star and that no one expected them to gain it back anytime soon. The ratings were still pretty decent and fine dining options in the New Forest are limited. Immediately upon arrival, staff advised us that because of major construction works inside the building, the work in the kitchen was slightly impaired and the menu reduced. During the first half of our stay, we were alone in the large, stuffy, ancient dining hall, during the second half three other couples joined, all well into their late […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, Restaurants

Dinner at The Pig in Brockenhurst – Loved the Atmosphere!

No Comments

A few weeks ago, Ms B & I visited The Pig in Brockenhurst. We had heard good things about the venue and were staying nearby for the weekend. From the moment we arrived, the friendly staff made us feel very welcome and we were taken in by the partially rustic but at the same time elegant atmosphere of the stately country home.   After short deliberation we decided to go for hot smoked trout and garden shiso and spiced coley skewers for starters (£3.95 each), and Lymington dressed crab with fries (£19) and whole Cornish bream with spinach and smoked chilli butter (£22) for mains. The starters arrived very quickly and we loved the flavours. Especially the trout rolls were very delicious. We also enjoyed our mains. The sea bream could perhaps have been seasoned a bit stronger and both dishes could have used more side dishes, but no complaints […]

Continue Reading

You may also like