The Prince Consort

On Tuesday evening 5th June I went with three friends to the Prince Consort as we had heard things had changed there. I am pleased to tell you it has had a great refurb, it exudes a relaxing atmosphere and the staff are very friendly. What a find food wise, good size portions which both look and taste good, Chris the Chef certainly knows his stuff!

We started with three choices between four - Pan fried scallops & streaky bacon with leaves and a raspberry dressing £6.75 (left above). Field mushrooms stuffed with brie and bacon, topped with a herb crust £5.45 (mid above). Goat's cheese and caramelised red onion tart with puy lentils on rocket £5.75 (right above).

Our main courses - Roasted lamb rump held in a rosemary and garlic marinade, served with ratatouille and salsa verde £13.95 (left above). Pork fillet wrapped in Parma ham and sage, baked and presented on mash of the day with a creamy brandy apple jus £13.45 (mid above). Pan fried calves liver and bacon served on a grain mustard mash with rosemary jus £13.65 (right above). Lastly, Smoked salmon, farfalle pasta and asparagus bound in a creamy white wine sauce £9.95 (sorry no pic). All excellent and, although there is a note on the menu to say all food is home made and cooked to order so please respect the time taken in preparing the dishes, we certainly did not feel we were kept waiting.

Needless to say we were all very full but for the sake of research purposes we felt we had to have one pudding and 4 forks! Out of a very yummy selection we decided on pear and rhubarb crumble served with creamy vanilla custard £4.95 We all agreed it was heaven!!! We had coffees and two house wines . Pino £10.95 and Shiraz £10.50.

Having paid the bill and presented our card we met mine host Alistair who, having done his travelling, has returned to his roots in Southampton. Together with his Mother he is working hard to make the Prince Consort a big success and in my opinion is on target so far! When I made enquiries about vegetarian options he said that as a rule they usually have 2 options but if they don't appeal they are always happy to go off menu. He also told me they aim to change 30% of the menu content monthly in order to keep it interesting for their guests plus they augment this with around 3 fresh fish dishes every weekend.

I have awarded a Yummy factor of 8 1/2, it would have been 9 but, as our regulars know, we LWL do not like all the tonic poured in our G & T's, it drowns them and one should be given a choice, picky I know but important to us! I highly recommend The Prince Consort and will be back.