When we had friends come to visit mid-September, we knew exactly where we wanted to go for dinner. The Goat in Timsbury (just outside Romsey) has been open since June/July 2019 after a full renovation. The result? A beautiful gourmet pub which offers a lovely garden area to watch the sun go down with a cold drink. Because we decided to take a group a friends to The Goat, I was lucky enough to try a whole host of dishes all in one go! It's just as well my friends love me and have the patience to let me snap photos of their food and have a little taste of their dish. The new decor is country chic which gives a relaxed vibe. There is a lovely fireplace with sofas where you can enjoy a drink in front of the fire with your loved ones. Starters and small bites We had a combination of dishes from the starters and small bites menu to kick off our meal. Charcoal grilled halloumi with salsa Verdi Listed as one of the 'small bites' it was a lovely way to st
Mid July we headed ‘up North’ to visit friends and family for the weekend. As we have a 3-month-old baby, we decided to break up the journey by stopping off at The Baraset Barn, Alveston. We picked The Baraset Barn because it was quick and easy to access from the M40 and meant we could be on the M6 nice and early ahead of the morning rush. There are just 16 rooms This was our first hotel stay with a baby so we were feeling a little nervous. From the website, the rooms looked large enough to accommodate a travel cot or a pram. The room did not disappoint, we had ample space for setting up little man. Sometimes hotels can make rooms look large on their website then you turn up to something tiny; this was not the case. If anything, it was actually the opposite as the room was much larger than I had anticipated. There is a small mini-fridge in the room that had bottled water and fresh milk for the coffee machine. The room also comes with two dressing gowns, an iron and ironing board. The
Last week I headed into Winchester (with my 11-week old baby) to try the Summer Garden Afternoon Tea. It was my mums birthday, so her partner and I arranged to surprise her. My mum is gluten intolerant, so I’ll show you what the ‘normal’ afternoon tea is like vs the gluten-free offering. Afternoon Tea at The Ivy, Winchester is served between 3-5pm. As we had baby G with us, we opted to eat at 3pm to ensure we were home in plenty of time for the bath routine (how things have changed!). The first course of sandwiches and scones was promptly bought to the table alongside our glass of champagne. Our savoury selection included: Truffled chicken brioche roll Marinated cucumber and dill finger sandwich on basil bread Smoked salmon on beetroot bread with cream cheese and chives I love that the cucumber and salmon sandwiches were served on flavoured bread. This made them seem a bit more special than your average afternoon tea and delivered a deeper complexity of flavour. I didn’t think I wa