The Hinton Arms Hinton Ampner 27th October 2016
This was our first visit to the Hinton Arms so we set off from Bishops Waltham in taxi's full of anticipation.
On arrival we found the pub to be very busy, which we should have expected due to it's proximity to the National Trust property at Hinton Ampner (well worth a visit). So we fought our way to the bar to be confronted with a good selection of 4 real Ales.
We had to choose from Hintons Own from Bowman -3.8%(we suspect this was Swift One), Hampshire Rose from from Ichen Valley - 4.2%, Old Dick from Southwick Brewery - 3.8% and Sportsman from Bowman - 4%(which could have been Wallops Wood). Over the lunchtime, between us, we managed to try all the beers on offer which were all in good condition. Unfortunately, our Guinness drinking member found that it was not to his liking so had to change to lager.
So after a couple of pints we had built up an appetite and were ready for the pies. There were two on offer, a steak and kidney and steak and stilton in suet pastry!
When the pies arrived they were huge!
Both pies had plenty of filling with very tender beef. The steak and kidney pie had a traditional shortcrust pastry and the steak and stilton had a crumbly suet pastry. Both came with with a selection of veg and new potatoes and chips.
To follow there were a good selection of desserts on offer, but only those of us who do not have watch their waistlines were able to indulge!
Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall).
- Pastry 4.34
- Filling 4.47
- Beer 3.85
- Ambience 4.27
- Value 4.03
- Overall 20.96
Our thanks to everyone at the Hinton Arms for an excellent lunchtime visit.
