Harden's says

Wiltshire pub with rooms run by Ben Maschler, son of restaurant critic Fay.

survey result

Summary

£60
  £££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“A very comfortable old pub” (thatched and from the 14th century) that’s owned by Ben Maschler (son of restaurant critic Fay and formerly in charge of operations at Soho House); and which is consistently well-praised in reports for its standards. (The FT’s Tim Hayward visited in May 2024, and also pronounced himself a fan.)

Summary

£58
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

This “lovely old pub” with rooms – a thatched survivor from the 14th century – wins solid ratings for its “friendly service”, “great atmosphere and interesting food”, which ranges from standard pub burgers to Turkish eggs and Goan pork vindaloo. Owner Ben Maschler, son of restaurant critic Fay, ran Soho House’s food operations before heading to rural Dorset.

Summary

£58
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Always worth the journey (although it can be impossible to find a space in the car park!)” – this characterful thatched pub (with four bedrooms, a self-catering cottage and beer garden) is owned by fooderati royalty (Fay Maschler’s son, Ben Maschler). The menu divides between ‘Pub’ (burger, fish ’n’ chips) and much more interesting and hardly more costly ‘Mains’, of a more bistro-style variety.

Summary

£44
    £
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Taken over by restaurant critic Fay Maschler’s son Ben in 2017, this “attractive pub deep in the Wiltshire countryside” partly occupies fourteenth-century buildings, and “now there is outside dining under elegant cover with fantastic views”, too. The cooking is “clearly home- made and very good”: classic pub grub items often come with a bit of a twist. But “it’s becoming too popular – parking can be a challenge!”

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Have you eaten at The Compasses Inn?

Lower Chicksgrove, SP3 6NB

Restaurant details

No dress code

The Compasses Inn Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of The Compasses Inn Restaurant in SP3, Lower Chicksgrove by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of The Compasses Inn restaurant.
D A
First time to this pub which you would not ...
Reviewed 3 months, 7 days ago

"First time to this pub which you would not know about unless you lived in the area. So thanks Hardens for listing it"

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Igor A
Very comfortable old pub, but quite a limit...
Reviewed 8 months, 23 days ago

"Very comfortable old pub, but quite a limited choice menu that doesn't change very much from day to day."

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What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Sunday Times

Rural-sceptic Tim Hayward – “I regard the countryside as a soft-play area for terminal romantics” – was all but converted to the joys of pastoral life by this Hobbit-sized pub in the Nadder Valley, owned by fellow critic Faye Maschler’s son Ben.

Chef Dave Winter’s “massively comforting menu” showed real talent, most notably in a seafood stew with orzo. “This felt like a talented chef improvising rather than some overwrought ‘signature’ dish. It wasn’t in any idiom — let’s face it, Mediterranean seafood classics have no place in The Shire, but it felt like he’d stood there, tasting his broth and thinking, yep, you know what this needs? Some saffron and some chilli. It’s not a bouillabaisse, it’s pure Nadder Valley, sui generis and bloody beautiful.”

Tim kipped contentedly upstairs in a “smart hayloft”, and hit the road next morning after “the sort of fried breakfast they write Norse poetry about”.

Tim Hayward - 2024-05-19

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£10.00 £21.50 £0.00 £8.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £30.00
Filter Coffee £0.00
Extras  
Bread £0.00
Service 10.00%
Lower Chicksgrove, SP3 6NB
Opening hours
Monday12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm
Thursday12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm
Friday12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm
Saturday12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑8 pm
Sunday12 pm‑8 pm

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