The Hare and Hounds, Sway

The Hare and Hounds is one of those rare English pubs: the ones that serve food all day rather than between restrictive hours, strictly enforced. This is a good thing, as I rarely eat lunch at "lunchtime" on weekends.

I have visited the Hare and Hounds on a number of occassions, now. Its food is great, the service is pleasant and jovial, and there are plenty of tables. If you amble in on a busy day, without booking, you will nevertheless find a table in the spacious beer garden, where dogs and children bound about.


The menu is mostly standard (but good!) pub fare, with decent vegetarian choices and a varied specials list, where they usually have very good fish. I have a wee obsession with chips in England, and tend to order whatever meal will best get me a serve of chips. This means I often end up with the fish and chips, or the burger and chips. I also have a weakness for pies, and they often have a special 'home made pie of the day'. My most recent visit, I curiously ordered Moroccan lamb with rice, bypassing pie, and chips as a side. My co-diners ordered the panache of fish (with chips!) and the cheesy fish pie.

My meal was quite nice - rice well done, lamb tender, but as I was eating it, I was wondering why I did not order something that gave me chips, particularly as I was craving a pub meal. I dipped into my co-diner's fish pie, which was great, but left my other co-diner's chips alone, as she was equally, if not more, enamoured of them than me.

We will, undoubtedly, visit again and take our visitors there too.

*****
Hare & Hounds
Durnstown
Sway
Hampshire
SO41 6AL

Get Directions

This address seems rather imprecise to me, so here is a google.maps link.

Tel: 01590 682404

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Montagu Arms Hotel

We have taken up cycling, and the New Forest is a wonderful place to cycle in: mostly flat, with some hills to keep the cycle interesting, small roads and lots of cycling paths with no cars at all. Cycling has enabled us to not only travel further, but also enables eating to my greedy belly's delight.

Last weekend, we cycled from Brockenhurst train station to Beaulieu, a cute little town with abbey and motor museum, which clearly derives from the French for 'Beautiful Place' but is pronounced Bewley, with no French accenting, and is definitely not pronounced Bo-lee-ew (one gets corrected vociferously if one tries). Bypassing all the tourist attractions, we headed straight for the Montagu Arms (or more affectionately, The Monty, if you're a local) as it was lunch time and we have a knack of arriving at pubs minutes after they stop serving.

At the door, we found a sign directing us either to the Bistro or the Bar. We were dressed in cycling gear and hiking boots, had a wee bit of mud on the bottom of our trousers, and were perhaps a bit bedraggled from the ride. Nevertheless, I walked into the bistro and asked to see a menu, saying I wasn't sure whether we belonged in the bar or bistro. The staff were very helpful, giving me both menus and making us feel welcome, irrespective of our attire.

The bistro menu looked fantastic, so we found a seat (not very difficult, as the entire place was empty!) beside a window. Sadly, the window looks out onto the carpark. The inside of the bistro, however, was lovely: still with its Christmas decorations, and with dark wooden floors. Service was friendly, and not at all stuffy, even though the decor made us concerned it would be.

We decided to eat extravagantly, so my fellow diner and cyclist ordered crayfish and parsley risotto, for starters, and sea bass for mains. I had wanted the same things, but knew that I could try his, so ordered the soup of the day (cream of butternut squash) and Weiner schnitzel for main.

My partner's meals were excellent. The crayfish and parsley risotto was lovely, sweet and tangy, with the rice creamily perfect. His sea bass was also great: nicely cooked with the meat soft, but firm. My soup was also lovely. But the schnitzel was a bit of a disappointment: it was perfectly edible, but just a bit bland. Our accompanying vegetables were perfectly done; my brussel sprouts, in particular, were the best I had eaten out in a long time: not overcooked, al dente and wonderfully peppery.

I highly recommend the Montagu Arms - whether your cycling, walking or visiting the motor museum (we didn't!).


*****

The Montagu Arms Hotel

Beaulieu

New Forest

Hampshire

SO42 7ZL



Tel: 01590 612324

http://www.montaguarmshotel.co.uk/home.asp

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