Sopley

It is important to remember that for every bad review there are probably lots of satisfied customers. These reviews are the comments of individual visitors to Information Britain and have not been authenticated by us. They should not be taken as the views of Crawbar Ltd - publishers of this web site.

Reviews of Sopley Mill Restaurants & Bar, Sopley

Best rates for a Local Hotel

Review by V.Lightwood on 1st October, 2014

Add your review
As a local the Sopley Mill, when it was a restaurant, was without a doubt the very nicest most beautiful place to visit, either for morning coffee, lunch, or afternoon tea. Sadly, it is no more.it has now become a "wedding venue". The restaurant to the public has closed,what was once a charming, country location, with lovely goats, pigs, dogs several cats, numerous birds, swans , fowl which Caroline fed daily. Such an interesting & peaceful setting, enjoyed by so many locals, & visitors alike. Has now become a manicured, rather boring setting. What a shame, totally spoilt. A great loss !!

Date visited: Many dates

Review by Steve Ellson on 7th October, 2011

Add your review
My wife and I visited Sopley Mill on the last evening of our week long stay in Sopley. We certainly left the best until last and wished we had gone there much earlier. The menu is excellent and the meal was superb. I had calves liver and my wife the fishermans platter. The service was just right and I was surprised by the very reasonable bill. A good choice of wines is also available. Please do not confuse some of the other reviews here which refer to the Woolpack Inn. By all means try them both but I know which one you will return to!

Date visited: 23 September 2011

Review by Latykaty on 5th June, 2011

Add your review
Soply Mill is a homely place to eat. It was a gorgeous balmy evening and we took a few minutes on arrival to look at the goats and pigs. and the ducks. The outdoor eating area was a little unkempt but I didn't mind. The restaurant is after all in a mill so you don't expect an immaculately manicured type of place. Being so warm the door was open and every so often you could hear the ducks etc and the place had character, which makes a change. I had very nice soup,my main course was OK and the pudding and coffee were nice. I thought the bill was very reasonable for a three course meal with coffee.

Date visited: 4 June 2011

Review by indy on 17th April, 2011

Add your review
Most irritated by this visit, this was supposed to be a lovely relaxing afternoon tea for my dad's birthday and as I had been to sopley many years before and had a good meal I never thought to check out the reviews, this is not a mistake I shall be making again.There was a lack of attention to detail that I thought most diappointing, dirty cups, no teaspoons, dirty sugar bowl with the sugarcubes inside soggy, had to dig for a clean one, I felt that the cream tea was rather overpriced for what we got, indeed the piddly serving of cream that we got between the three of us was the same amount tht I had eaten two weeks before in a local tea rooms for roughly the same price, point being I had this all to myself not between 3!! Also be aware that that if you pay by card they are very pushy about you paying a gratuity, considering the service I got was somewhat abrupt and uninterested except for the boss(i believe) who was helpful in wiping a table for us, it really put me in an awkward position and although I said no somehow I ended up paying it anyway. Very disappointing and will not go back

Date visited: 16/4/11

Review by boatingtime79 on 15th July, 2010

Add your review
We were regular visitors to this pub up till last night. For a 30th birthday celebration we took 6 people here for a meal, having never had a bad meal here I thought this would be a safe bet. How wrong I was. The food took over 1hr to arrive and was frankly disgusting. The steaks were all over cooked and the quality of the trout was awful. All the meals were overcooked including a simple lasagna. We were left waiting for the veg for 20mins after the meal had been served. We were served by a young girl who was rude and clearly had little experience in serving food. All the staff that night were very young including the chef. Whilst this may not be a bad thing, they were all clearly out of their depth. I went to the bar to complain politely and asked to see the manager. After 10 mins (while my meal was getting even colder) a young lad appeared and tried to deal with my complaint. When I realized that he was not the manager, I asked again to see the owner/manager and waited for another 5mins to see him. He then told me they were very busy and can’t cope. I pointed out than we had spent nearly £100 that night and were very unhappy. I asked for refund which is within my rights. After a long discussion in front of everyone in the place he eventually agreed and asked us leave and never come back! Once he was safely behind the bar he then said to the young guy serving to “give them a refund and tell them to F*** off!” This was totally unnecessary and very rude. We had our 80+ year old grandparents with us and were very embarrassed at his use of foul language. I cannot stress enough the upset he caused when he could have resolved the matter very easily. Shame as this was a very good pub, but with the staff change, quality of food supply changes we will never go back to the woolpack again. This man, Chris Hankins the owner is very rude and really needs some customer service lessons, Be warned!

Date visited: 14-7-2010

Review by ALEX on 9th December, 2009

Add your review
A thoroughly enjoyable meal once again at Sopley Mill. They offer superb service and food at a very reasonable price. It is rare to find independently run family establishments which offer such a lovely relaxed atmosphere. We enjoyed the pate to start with Chefs own chutney which we were delighted to find out we could buy by the jar and take home! We followed this with Roast Beef - hand carved with ample gravy and finished off with a fabulous piece of cheesecake. We were well and truly stuffed when we left. Can't recommend it enough - we will certainly be returning again - just need to think up another excuse whey we need to go out for dinner again!

Date visited: DECEMBER 2009

Review by Mrs Breerton on 16th August, 2009

Add your review
We have twice been to the Sopley Mill and have found that on both occasions the lady that seems to be in charge was quite abrupt and rude, this July two of our party were told to hurry up and sit down also when one of our party advised her that she was wheat intolerant could she still have the prawn cocktail without the bread was told that the kitchen was very busy and could not do anything different for dietary requirements. The food on the first visit was superb, which despite her abruptness the first time encouraged us to come back, we know the lamb shank at the Sopley Mill is superb and My father who was 80 that day wanted the lamb shank, she told us that it was not available, although we saw lamb shanks being served in another room, kindness would have been to allow my father on his special day to have the lamb shank even if the rest of the party were not able to have it.

Date visited: July 2009

Review by Mr & Mrs Richards on 23rd February, 2009

Add your review
We visited for lunch with my wife's parents and our 6 year old son. The whole dining experience was an absolute delight. Having had incredibly poor service at The Woolpack in Sopley village this was such a refreshing change. The service and food were exceptional. We ordered crayfish tails, soup and mushrooms for starters, with pork chops, lamb shank and Scotch pies adorning our plates for the main course. Every single dish was delicious and the service was superb. The desserts did not disappoint, genuinely HOMEMADE, please take note another local hostelry who only offer bought in, over priced sub-standard desserts, you know who you are! With a splendid raspberry cheesecake, cheese platter and bakewell tarts, we were quite replete. The wine list is varied and well priced. Overall, we feel that we have discovered a real gem, and can't wait to return in the summer, when, if possible, it must be even more beautiful, the grounds and setting are gorgeous. Well done and thank you to the team at Sopley Mill!!!

Date visited: 19 February 2009

Review by Jessica Bean on 30th January, 2009

Add your review
What the person below has written doesn't take into account what the Bride & Groom wanted for their day. If they had known them they would have understood that the menu that was served was what they had specifically chosen not what Sopley Mill normally provides. The Bride & Groom didn't want a formal do and decided to just have a casual buffet in the evening room. It wasn't supposed to be a meal!As with all buffets you leave it to chance as to what you get when you get there. If you want to ensure that everyone gets a fair share then you are better off having a sitdown meal. As for the tables - most venues have collapsible tables. Sopley Mill is a unique venue with animals a plenty - which is what makes it popular as a country wedding venue. With animals there are smells - thats what its like in the country. I certainly have never had a problem with the staff - they are always on hand to sort out anthing that arises and are friendly, polite and courteous. I spoke to the bride and groom after the event and they had a fabulous day - which after all is what it is all about !

Date visited: december 2008

Review by Claire on 23rd December, 2008

Add your review
We recently attended a wedding ceremony & reception at Sopley Mill and I can honestly say it was a total disappointment. The wedding ceremony itself was nice - the room was fairly well decorated and well lit. However, the staff seemed to struggle with the music as it stopped and started abruptly throughout the ceremony. The reception was appalling. The food was pretty basic, including cocktail sausages, pizza slices and curry pasta - non of which looked remotely appetizing. They had not catered for all the guests there - I ended up with 3 cocktail sausages & a few pieces of bread for my main meal - there was simply nothing left & the staff had no more food to go around. To make matters worse, there were 11 of us sat around a pasting table - I kid you not - it was a pasting table!Everytime someone tried to move or sit back down, drinks would end up everywhere & the table even collapsed on two occasions. The staff were less than friendly & did not seem at all concerned about the fact that many guests were left to go hungry. We had to make do with crisps bought from the bar. There were two dogs resident at the Mill and whilst they were very well behaved, the smell of wet dog echoed throughout the building. All in all, a bit of a disaster!! I'll certainly never go back there and I wouldn't recommend the venue to anyone.

Date visited: December 2008

Review by Sarah and Ben Berryman on 11th July, 2006

Add your review
We had our wedding ceremony, reception and evening disco at Sopley Mill on Friday 7th July 2006 and it was absolutely wonderful. Caroline, Helen and the team were amazing right from our first enquiry a year ago, to the day after the wedding when we popped back to see them. Every detail was taken care of, and they were amazingly flexible on everything. We were stunned at how inexpensive the hire of the rooms and food (which is freshly prepared in the mill restaurant) were, and the service and venue were amazing. Throughout the day Caroline was there to make sure everything was going smoothly - like having our very own wedding coordinator. We had the recommended 'in house' DJ, who was very reasonably priced, and kept people on the dance floor througout the evening! Definitely recommended! Sopley Mill is so beautiful, and we had so many compliments on our choice of venue. The animals also fascinated our guests, and were a great talking point during the drinks reception! I cannot recommend Sopley Mill highly enough as a wedding and reception venue. Our day was absolutely perfect, and I can't put into words how glad we are to have chosen to get married there. Our wedding was definitely the best day of our lives, and we couldn't have done it without the amazing team at Sopley Mill, who were there every step of the way.

Date visited: 7th July 2006

Review by Graham Morgan on 18th April, 2006

Add your review
After returning to the New Forest area to live after an absence of 5 years, my wife and I were despairing of finding a decent place to dine. Until that is we rediscovered the Sopley Mill. In the past two months we have had two excellent meals and several very pleasant afternoon teas there. The current owners provide a menu full of lovely food, topped off with a warm, friendly atmosphere and excellent service. Thoroughly recommended for any and all occasions.

Date visited: 16/04/2006

- Write a Review

Brit Quote:
To succeed with the opposite sex, tell her you're impotent. She can't wait to disprove it. - Cary Grant
More Quotes

On this day:
Battle of Towton - 1461, Battle of Alresford - 1644, Albert Hall Opens - 1871, Captain Scott dies - 1912, First London Marathon - 1981
More dates from British history

click here to view all the British counties

County Pages