Sway Restaurant Guide

This two-year-old restaurant in a “boutique hotel on the main street of Lymington” specialises in “simply prepared and beautifully presented fish, straight from the local boats”. Experienced chef Matthew Tomkinson, previously of The Hambrough on the Isle of Wight, took over the kitchen in early 2024.

“Still amazing after all these years” – “Andrew & Marjolaine Du Bourg are excellent hosts” and continue to win high esteem at this quaint fine-dining venue, in a pretty street near the harbour. “A real foodie restaurant”: choose from four-, five-, or seven-course menus where “every course is a surprise and you don’t get the actual menu until the end”: “inventive, delicious food and wine throughout”.

The “idyllic New Forest location” is the big draw at the original Pig, where Robin & Judy Hutson set the template for their shabby-chic country-house hotel group that had grown to 11 branches by the time they stepped back into retirement at the end of 2024. The “food is perhaps not quite as adventurous as it used to be”, but its basic premise of “fresh local produce, cooked perfectly” still passes muster for most reporters. Black marks, though, for some “poorly trained staff” and “seriously overpriced wines”.

“Fresh local fish” is the star turn at this beachside restaurant – in “an excellent location with wonderful coastal views on a good day”. Chef Andy Waters worked under the great French chef Paul Bocuse early in his career. Top Tip – “they also serve an exceptional breakfast”.

“Such a fun place that coped so well with a mixed-age group of ten people” – the ‘dressed down’ option at this famous country-house hotel occupies a contemporary, pitched-roof space overlooking the kitchen gardens and complete with outside terrace and cookery school. The brasserie menu includes burgers, pizza, steak and other grills, plus a good selection of other options; and reports say “it’s just really good food backed up by friendly, informal but efficient service in a convivial environment”. Not cheap perhaps, but “well worth the price”.

“I might have walked past if I hadn‘t been looking for it” – David Wykes opened his small contemporary fish bistro supplied from a “small, one-man open kitchen” in 2010. Despite its modest size, it’s nowadays one of the top-100 most commented-on venues in our annual diners’ poll thanks to its “exceptional fish dishes, presented with flair and imagination”. “You choose the number of courses you want, and say if there is anything you don’t like and then the most amazing fish just keeps coming” to create a “unique and outstanding food experience”. “Chef is keen to emphasise at any opportunity, everything is made in house with lots of interesting spices and flavourings, many made from his own foraging expeditions”. “It’s quite simple in décor and unpretentiously welcoming” (but while “the space is comfortable, when a large group arrives it can become near deafening”). Many reports suggest that “all fish lovers need to experience Verveine at least once”… “I live a couple of hours away, but I’ll certainly be back again soon!”

“An absolute gem of an Indian” that’s “always busy with a great atmosphere” and “well worth a visit” for its “fantastic food” and “superb staff who really know their menu” (no wonder it has snaffled the Asian Curry Awards’ ‘Best Asian Restaurant on the South Coast of England’ title for five years running).

2023 Review: “Amazing food, speedy and accurate service, with no frills”: this family-run Thai (with a second branch in Brockenhurst) is “exactly what you’d want from a mid-week outing” – “even our Thai friends think it’s exceptional”. Top Tip – “the fish dishes are fabulous”.