The White Horse, Ampfield

As well as planning our wedding, Ian has also been working on IBM's annual Blue Fusion event, which runs during National Science Week and offers 64 schools the opportunity to play 8 activities/games designed and made by IBMers.  The event finished on Thursday, so after tidying up on Friday morning, some of the team took the chance for a well earned rest, in The White Horse in Ampfield.  Ian and I both choose the Fish Platter on their fish specials board, 4 different types of fish, scallops and prawns, all in a creamy white wine sauce.  Ian chose the chips and vegetables, I chose the saute potatoes and wilted spinach.  I cannot fault the food at all, the fish was all good, and there was plenty of it.  I'd probably have liked more than one scallop but it was a really tasty scallop, and they kept on the orange part that most restaurants discard.  The rest of our party seemed to enjoy their food also, there were two meat pies, which were well received as they were 'proper' pies (entirely encased in pastry instead of just a pie top).  There was also sausage and mash ordered, the mash being mountain high accompanied by plenty of gravy (and sausages of course!) 

We decided going back to work was a bad idea, so we also ordered some desserts, Ian opting for the profiteroles, and my choice was the pavlova.  I must say, it was the weirdest pavlova I've ever eaten - it had meringue (key ingredient really) but on top of that was chocolate and then some sort of jam/coulis with some strawberry cream on top, with some fresh strawberries stuck into it, all served with a few fresh raspberries and a jug of double cream.  I'd eat it again, it was nice and there was plenty of it, but I'm not a big fan of chocolate and fruit (unless it's something like a fondue or chocolate fountain).  Ian's profiteroles disappeared in seconds and he had a healthy smearing of chocolate round his mouth, so I'll wager he enjoyed them. 

We've eaten here before but I never got as far as reviewing it, but I think the general conclusion was that the food was good, although a tad on the expensive side.  I'd say this time, the mains we ordered were quite well priced for the amount of fish we received and as I made Ian buy the desserts, I'd say they were great value for money!