ms-havachat Eats Out in Hampshire - The Mill House, Hook

Saturday night dinner out. Tween was on a sleep over, and we met friends for dinner in Hook as it was half way for all of us (our friends drove from Winchester). Love meeting half way. Gives us an opportunity to discover somewhere new. MrsE suggested The Mill House in Hook, and I'm so glad she did! She was introduced to it by a friend-with-a-puppy, as they met here for walkies in the warmer months.

Think it's our new favourite setting for a pub! Maybe it's the Aussie in us, but we love a good outdoor setting (aka beer garden), family friendly atmosphere and good food. We didn't see it, but we did wonder if they might BBQ in summer!

What a delightful setting, even in the pitch black of winter. My photo's of the building lit up didn't turn out, so I've borrowed a few from Google Images to share with you (and obviously they are not night photos)

From the car park, you walk under this pretty canopy, along the
edge of the pond, thru the garden into the pub.

The back of the pub

The pond, with swans! This place would be glorious
in spring/summer.

As soon as you step inside The Mill House, you're stepping back intimate. This place has a fantastic history, stretching back to the 14th Century (don't you just love the UK for this kind of thing!) For those of you who enjoy history, it was mentioned in the Doomesday Book (one of 8 mills in Odiham). 

My quick photo of the ancient mill wheel and flowing water,
restored and set behind glass for all to enjoy.

Sections of the building date from the 17th century. Mr John Hooker is the first known miller to operate the mill in 1615, and it was last used as a corn mill in 1895 by Sydney Loader.

In the early 20th century it became a residential property (even today, you can image it as a grand private home, or a posh boutique hotel). It became the Mill House restaurant in 1990, and the mill wheel was restored in 1995. For more history, please click here. 

The building is magical at night. The Mill Barn was lit up like a fairy house for a wedding reception. We couldn't help but take a quick peek through the windows. The room was stunning. 

The barman greeted us as we walked in and we quickly had drinks. Then we were escorted to our table, upstairs. WOW! The room was a small, medieval banquet hall. Dark timber beams. High ceiling. HUGE bay windows. Ancient artwork. Fireplace. Chandelier. You can't help but smile!

Bar area

Lovely table for two upstairs, overlooking the downstairs area

One of several dining areas.

We had Korean chicken wings with kimchi, scallops with carrot puree and ham fritters (which were more potato than ham, and probably not needed with the delicious scallop) and spiced butternut and squash soup for starters (I was leaving room for dessert)

Our entrees.

Main courses were delicious, but I didn't take any photos! I had steak, G had venison sausages with mash and gravy, MrsE had cauliflower, chickpea, chilli and almond tangine (which looked as good as it smelled) and MrE had fish'n'chips. Very generous servings! 

Dessert, sticky toffee pudding, cheese board and ice cream. Coffee. 

nom nom nom

The service was friendly and professional (tho I hadn't finished my main course when the other 3 plates were being taken away which is always annoying, so I stopped eating and gave up my plate)

I can't wait to go back for a meal. We're looking forward to warmer weather and enjoying the outdoors dining experience by the pond with friends. I can imagine the family atmosphere on the weekends. 

It's also a nice place for mid-week lunch as it's close to Surrey and Hampshire. 

Check out their website for more details: http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/millhouse/homepage/

Tell them ms-havachat recommended you, even tho they don't know me, it's nice for them to hear my name :-)

'Til  next time, 

With friendship

x

ms-havachat Discovering Surrey: Dining at Marco Pierre White, Windsor

Our family LOVES Marco Pierre White. Our 12 year old daughter might be one of his biggest fans, even tho she probably wouldn't eat most of the food he cooks (she has a very selective palette, so maybe, she SHOULD meet him and he could influence a few more foods into her diet)

Marco appears regularly as a guest judge on Australia's Masterchef, and while he's a bit gruff, he's also full of affection for the contestants, and food. He expects nothing less than each person giving 100% of themselves, what ever that might be. We giggle every time he peers over the top of his glasses. He's one of the those people who, when silent, says a lot.

We smiled often at the YES MARCO he would shout to the contestants, and they'd repeat, a tad frazzled YES MARCO.

This saying about dreams is something our daughter really liked.

My husband ate at MPW in Dublin and still, over 12 months later, still talks about it. Still not quite sure how we never ate there.

Thanks again, Google images.

Long story short, there's a MPW in Windsor at the Castle Hotel. We'd walked past a few times and commented how we should go one night .......... last week my husband did something he seldom does. HE made a reservation for dinner without consulting me and we had one of the loveliest date nights we've had in a long time. (Usually I'm the social director. Who's the social director at your place?)

The entrance to the restaurant is just to the right of the entrance to the Hotel and, if you know of Marco's personality (or at least the one he shows on television), it's VERY him. There's a definite presence about the place.

L: Walking thru entrance of Hotel.
R: Restaurant reception, with Marco peering down, watching.

After a warm welcome, we were escorted to our table. The restaurant was busy for a Monday night, with several tables of diners already seated, drinking and looking at menues. G had already looked online and knew what he was  having for dinner, so it was left to me to decide. Even tho it's a steakhouse, I opted for seafood and G had lobster followed by pork (which we don't cook at home).

Entree: Crispy Devilled Whitebait (Delicious)
 Marco's Lobster Macaroni (YUM!)

Mains: Seared YellowFin Tuna with Panzenella Salad (OMG YUM!)
and Pork Belly Marco Polo (SO GOOD!)

Sticky Toffee Pudding - the waiter poured the sauce for us.

We sat and chatted between courses.

We drank wine.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We are looking forward to going back soon.

There's a kids eat free offer which we'll do before MissM starts school in a few weeks as a celebration of the summer holidays.

If you're local to Windsor, and you dine here, I really hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

With friendship
x

ms-havachat discovering Surrey UK - Dining at Fox and Hound

We've been here nearly 5 months as a family, and have been out for dinner just the two of us a few times, and with friends/kids a couple of times.

We've hosted a couple of lunches at home, and had people over for afternoon tea.

Far from a hectic social life, but one we are content with.

Last Saturday night we headed out for dinner with two couples and had a really lovely night out. The conversation flowed. There were lots of different topics. Everyone joined in. We laughed.

Sometimes when you're an expat, hanging out with expats, all you have in common is expat life and kids. It's the sign a real friendship is developing when you can talk about other things even if you've only known each other 6 months or so. Add to that the husbands get along and VOILA! Happy times.

We ate at the Fox and Hounds for the first time and enjoyed it.

We were seated at a lovely old fashioned table with 6 comfy high back fabric chairs and given menus. The waitress explained we should place our orders quickly as a large group booking was about 20 minutes behind us and she didn't want our orders getting held up. Appreciative of the notice, we stopped chatting and ordered.

Entree: simple grilled scallops with pretty morsels of yumminess; baked camembert with a board laden with breads, and not-so salt'n'pepper squid served in a basket with lemon.

I absolutely love Monk fish. It's a white, thick meaty fish full of flavour and for the life of me, I simply can not cook it at home, regardless of the recipe I follow. So when ever it's on the menu, that's my main meal.

Monk fish scampi was a special. Yes please.

G saw triple cooked chips on the menu. Yes please.

Mains: MrW and MrsD enjoyed their Fish'n'chips; Monk Fish scampi  (I have never seen Monk fish deep fried before, so was rather surprised to see it presented this way. Mind you, I didn't ask how it was prepared, so my bad.) MrsW's green chicken curry and rice was tasty, and G and MrD's duck with Asian greens was delicious (thanks to a mouthful G offered me to taste)

Have to say my skinny fries reminded me of the oven baked McCain's we cook at home, and they were soft; the triple cooked fries weren't crispy either. Everyone happily ate their meals but we all agreed that if the fries were crispier we would have enjoyed it even more.

Sadly the yummiest part of the meal has the worst photos. DESERT was amazing! The home made apple crumble was delicious and the cinnamon ice cream was the perfect accompaniment. G and MrD had the chocolate fondant. It oozed gooey hot chocolate as soon as they put their spoon into it. The ice cream melted into the river of chocolate. YUMMY! MrsW's raspberry tart was very tasty but the photo didn't do it justice, so I didn't include it.

The service was friendly and efficient.

The ambience was pleasant. The restaurant was fully booked, and even with the larger party you didn't feel crowded and the noise level was fine.

For the 6 of us, including drinks (one bottle of wine, one glass of Prosecco and Coke's) was just under £250. With tip, it worked out at £90 per couple. If I convert that to Aussie dollars, it's $175 (or €115) which IMHO is expensive for what it was, which was a pub meal.

The Fox and Hound has a lovely outdoor area which we'll definitely come back and try, with a meal over the warmer months. Maybe a simple burger and fries will suffice.

MrsD said there's a gate into Great Windsor Park opposite the pub. Me thinks it might be fun to drive here, go for a walk then return for lunch.

All in all a very pleasant night out with friends, and stuff the expense.

ms-havachat discovering Surrey, UK: Dining at Brickmakers, Windlesham.

Thanks for the professional photo, Google Images.

When asking friends for recommendations on where to eat, more often than not they recommend a Gastro Pub - a restaurant in a pub (at least around here)

The term Gastro Pub was coined in 1991 at the Eagle Pub in Clerkenwell, London by the owners as a means to increase business they felt they were loosing to the increasing numbers of restaurants in the area.

Many pubs were experiencing a downturn as people would pop in for a drink, then leave to eat somewhere else.

In 1980, there were 69,000 pubs in the UK, today that number has dropped to around 48,000 according to statistics. In order to keep their business going, many pub owners have converted the 'pub' into a restaurant/pub to capture the custom of 'everyone'

Traditional English pub food, fish'n'chip, steak'n'ale pies, bangers'n'mash and the Sunday roast were given facelift and a new genre, Pub Grub.

Soon, pubs were recruiting 'named' Chefs as opposed to cooks, waiting staff were more experienced and a new style of dining emerged.

We're very used to gastro pubs as they have taken Sydney and many other parts of Australia by storm. In fact, it's rather hard to find an ol' fashioned, drinking-mans-pub these days. They've all be taken over by consortiums, or Chefs and produce fantastic food.

10 Gastropubs in the UK attract the attention of Michelin. Click here for the list. You might need to book months ahead for dinner, so get cracking.

MissM and I had dinner with friends when we first arrived in Surrey and enjoyed it. The kids had burgers, chicken etc, while MrsD and I had fish'n'chips. It was a fun, fast paced meal and we didn't have to worry about shopping, preparing, cooking or cleaning up. Perfect!

G and I went for our first 'date night' since arriving in UK just before Christmas and it was enjoyable. Nothing fancy, but good food at good prices.

G's meat platter was a bit more green than he would have liked, but
he enjoyed it.
My buffalo tomato was delicious, stuffed with baked courgettes.

nom nom nom
LOVE a great steak.
Appreciate the mushroom sauce being served on the side in the little pot
so I could control the amount of sauce needed.

G's Platter of pork comprised of pork tenderloin, ribs,
pork cheek pie and veggies.

The service was friendly and attentive. You could tell the regular diners, as staff were chatting with them about their Christmas break, and commenting on the New Year. 

The restaurant was full, and the tables are close together but you don't feel squashed. 

The pub section (aka, drinkers) was buzzing. 

We're looking forward to going back in spring/summer and making use of the garden - BBQ, hamburgers - be a fun Saturday night out with friends and the kids. 

Click here for to go to Brickmasters website. 

ENJOY!

What Can I Tell You About Winchester?????????

Bec's email got me thinking ....... what CAN I tell new arrivals about Winchester? After all, this is one of ms-havachat's reasons for existence, to share pearls of wisdom about being an expat and part of that experience is what you discover about where you live.

So, what have I learnt about living in Winchester that would be helpful knowing before you got here?

Winchester is full of history. Did you know it was once the capital of England? Artifacts dating back to Roman times have been found here, and Winchester Cathedral was built in 1069 and Winchester College dates back t the 14th Century (and is still a very popular and well regarded school).

King Alfred stands proudly overlooking the High Street

High Street, Winchester

Further down the High Street

Winchester College

The houses in Winchester are beautiful, some aren't, but some are just like little Hobbit houses. The thatched roofs, and tiny windows are delightful. The villages are just out of story books, while the suburbs look like they could be anywhere. The really nice thing is that there are very few modern buildings and no high rise. With so many families opting out of London and moving here, prices are constantly increasing (both sale and rentals) and from what we know from friends, there's usually very little on the market at any one time. Most sales are down very quietly, especially in villages. When we arrived from Japan, there were 3 rental properties on the market. THREE!

The surrounding countryside is beautiful. Having distinct seasons showcases the changing colors. Spring and autumn are my most favorite times of the year as the colors are incredible. Even a drive to a friends place for coffee means a 'country drive' for me. You can often see pheasants scurrying across the road, or rabbits hopping out of harms way. I've even seen two deer in the field alongside the road leading up to MissM's school.

Yellow rapeseed (aka canola) fields

Itchen River, with Winchester City Mill behind

Swans and ducks on the Itchen  River - a beautiful walk

 National Trust, or English Heritage or The Royal Horticultural Society give you entree into all manner of castle, abbey, cathedral, ruin, mansion house, stately home, gardens and more. We've really enjoyed our annual membership and would recommend anyone moving here invest in one, even if it's just for 12 months. It's a great way to ensure you get out'n'about on weekends and explore your local area (and beyond).

The New Forest is beautiful all year round. The landscape changes with each season. The New Forest ponies are delightful, the villages dotted through out the area make for a great day out, and there are so many great places to eat! In the summer months, there is a hop on hop off bus service, with audio guide which is very enjoyable, especially on a sunny day. MissM and I did the bus trip with MrsA and her son and we all enjoyed sitting on the top of the bus watching the world go by.

 

There are guided walking tours of Winchester, run by Winchester Information Centre that, like in any city are a wonderful way to explore. It's a small city and very easy to get around.

The Cathedral also run seminars and free lunch time tours which are worthwhile doing. We have done several guided tours and each one sheds light on a bit more of the buildings history.

Winchester is a mere 20-30 minute drive to Southampton; it's about an hour and a half drive into London, it's 40 minutes from Stonehenge, and you can do places like Oxford, Salisbury for day trips (real quick day trips, focusing on one thing but I've done it)

Weekends can be very busy with kids sports, or swimming, tennis, horse riding lessons; and there's always something to explore with National Trust, English Heritage, ruins to climb, lunches to be had in pubs.

The supermarkets in the UK are super sized. The one thing I still find curious is that Tesco and Sainsbury are on HUGE pieces of land with huge parking lots (don't expect to find any high rise buildings. Multi level car parks, or under cover car parks are rare too) they don't offer much else.

What I mean is, you'd think that with the supermarket there'd be a post office, or dry cleaner, a bank - other service businesses. There is usually a Starbucks or Costco, so that's OK.

The bread section alone is incredible! Or maybe it just feels that way after living in Yokohama!

There's so much pre weighted, packaged meat, fish, poultry and vegetables. The fish monger, butcher and deli are usually OK, tho try to find a specialist if you want a larger variety. Better still, buy from the weekly markets.

The other lovely places to shop for food is in local villages. They tend to have small independently owned shops offering local produce and interesting imports. 

You need a car. Public transport is available but it doesn't allow you to really explore.  I was having coffee with a friend this morning who reads ms-havachat and she agrees with me, that you absolutely have to have a car here (she also agrees that Winchester isn't a city as most people think a city should be which she said was interesting because until she read that in my previous post she hadn't thought about it too much)

You will need to master driving very fast on the motor ways, and very slowly on narrow country roads. Oh, and watch those monster trucks and camper vans on the motor ways! Drivers are very courteous and the truck drivers in particular are cautious and safe to be around, tho they do whizz by you sometimes.

There are lots of great restaurants in and around Winchester.  You will need to make a reservation at most of them weeks in advance to ensure you dine on the date/time you want. It's incredible how quickly they ALL seem to be booked out. 

Pub dining is alive and well in Winchester and surrounding areas. We've not had one bad meal! In fact, we've several favorite places to eat. The Bugle Inn, Kyoto Kitchen, The Plough Inn, Fisher's Pond, Ginger Two, The Corner House, Loch Fyne, Caracoli (Arelsford, not the High Street). Our local pub, Cart'n Horse is fun too.

Hot topics of conversation are the weather, schools and/or education, housing (renting, buying and selling), what to do with kids over school holidays and where to go for holidays. Someone said to me they are all very safe subjects, and not too personal which I thought was an interesting observation.

You're GP will be assigned to you based purely on your address. Depending on where you live, you might have a choice of surgeries, but once you decide where you will take your health care, you register.

Winchester has a lot of terrific community events. HAT FAIR has nothing to do with hats and everything to do with street performers. Let's hope the weather is kinder this year than last as it's supposed to be amazing and the in laws are here. GRANGE PARK OPERA is an annual extravaganza we've not participated in but friends have and said it's amazing. We've been to The Grange, but not the Opera.

Marwell Zoo is a lovely day out and the annual pass is great value for families who live locally; Marwell Activity Barn is also a fun visit.  in fact, Christmas as Marwell Zoo is a must-do. We did it last year and it was great way to kick off Christmas.

The Christmas Markets in the Cathedral Close are stunning. In fact, they are ranked up there with the ones in Europe. The ice skating rink is very popular too. The annual Lantern Parade has to be seen to be believed! Thousands of people lining the High Street watching home made lanterns snake their way from the Guild Hall (and there are many places you and the kids can go to make your lanterns as part of  the community spirit)

Christmas Market Chalets

Ice Rink

Guy Fawke's Night is great fun too, and there are fireworks going off everywhere!

The Winchester Theatre Royal, The Mayflower Theatre (Southampton) an G Live (Guildford) are all great live performance theatres; and The Discovery Centre also offers a range of live entertainment. It's worthwhile subscribing to all of these online, or on FB to keep up with events.

The ferry to Ireland and Europe leaves from Southampton and other nearby ports.

Southampton Airport is 25 minutes away, and links with lots of great European destinations.

The Eurostar gets you to Europe in a matter of hours from London (Winchester to Waterloo station is about 50 minutes, + time to get to St Pancras ..... quicker than driving to Heathrow and needing to be there two hours early for international flights)

A few other very handy websites to subscribe to are:

Local Government

Visit Winchester 

Winchester Cathedral

Family Cultural Pass

Restaurant reviews 


So there's LOTS of great reasons to consider Winchester for your new home. There's probably lots more, but for now, that's about it for what I can tell you about living in Winchester.

Please add your suggestions in the comments box, as there's much more to this place than we've uncovered.

With friendship
x

So, what can you tell me about Winchester?

Winchester Cathedral

In my expatforum mailbox today was an email from Bec:

'Hi, we're moving from Brisbane to Winchester with our two boys, 7 and 3, and I'm wondering what you can tell me about Winchester? We're trying to work out where's best to live, and schools for our boys. Where should we live? What ever you can tell me about Winchester would be appreciated. It's nice to know there are expats there.  Thanks Bec'


This is what I wanted to reply but thought better of it. I did however, send her a very abridged version, afterall, we don't know each other and I didn't want to scare her.

If a total stranger asked you for this kind of information, how would you have responded?



Hi Bec,

Gosh, where to begin?

Firstly WELCOME to Winchester.

Ok you won't be able to get your boys into a state (Aussie public school) without an address; and there's no point renting/buying a house unless you know there's space in your sons year ...... it's a complicated situation when arriving here, tho no different to Australia as state/public schools work on catchment areas.

Our daughter is in an independent (Aussie private school or fee paying) simply because we didn't have an address for quite a while. It wasn't our first choice, but we had to bite the bullet and place her somewhere. We also needed her to stay in year 2 and not be put into year 3 as prescribed by the UK system as we came out of the international system in Japan. Not sure what year your boys will go into as it depends on their birthdays, and of course how much pull you have. Suffice to say, in a state school they will be placed in the year according to their birthday, but in an independant school you might have some room to negotiate. From what we've learned, we were very lucky.

Most people refer to OFSTED reports for schools. It's debatable how much clout to to give them, depending on whom you talk to but at least it's a guide.

WHERE TO LIVE? The better question to ask is 'what properties are on the market' . When we arrived there were 3 rental properties that fitted our criteria.

Winchester is semi-rural (i think that's a good term to use). There's lots of open farm land, and forests. Small picture book villages, with centuries old homes with thatched roofs can be found hidden amongst the fields. We're not in a village, tho friends are and from what they tell me,  it depends on the village as to how welcomed an 'outsider' can be. It took one school friend nearly 5 years to be invited to a village dinner party (they moved down from London). Another friend rented in one part of town until she could get into the village she wanted, and as there were several families from her children's school there, she made a huge effort to befriend them before moving in. Once accepted tho, village life is (apparently) fabulous.

Thatched roof tops - they look like Hobbit Houses. 

Lots of terraces, between 3-5 levels

Free standing homes

Country homes can be found on the outskirs of Winchester
on acreage, some with horses and chickens!

There's also lots of suburbia in Winchester. Like most cities (Oh, I might add here, Winchester is a city cos it has a cathedral and for no other reason), there are the posh areas and the not so posh. If you do live in a village you will need a car! In fact, I'm not sure you could live here without one, tho I'm sure people do.

The difficulty in Winchester and indeed Hampshire is that real estate whether buying or renting is scarce and expensive. The migration from London to the area is on the up, as people are swapping small expensive properties for large family homes on acreage and great schools.

When we arrived there were 3 houses available to lease, and none were really amazing.

So in terms of 'where to live' it's more about what type of environment do you want to live in - semi rural, village, suburbia and then troll the real estate agents pages.

• Will you be getting relocation assistance?
• Where will your husband be based for work?
• Does he need to get to Winchester train station to commute? If so, this might limit where you live in terms of car/public transport.
• Will you have a car? Or will the boys need to be walked or bused to school - another consideration in terms of schools and home location. My daughters school runs a fleet of buses for example and while they go far and wide, they don't go that far or that wide to suit everyone.
• Will you be working or are you, like me an at home expat mum?

Expats in Winchester - mmmmmmmmmm
While it's hard to find a born'n'bred Wintonian, there are some but most people come from some where else. You'd think that would create a warm, welcoming, supportive, helpful community but I have to say, sadly, in our experience that's not really how it is.

There's also not that many, if any 'expats' in the true sense of the word here. For an expat experience i would think Oxford, or Windsor, Cobham would offer much more - at least there's the Uni crowd to hang out with and visiting professors, and the International School is at Cobham.

London is just that bit too far away and it's expensive (cheapest mid week ticket round trip is £36) to pop in and out of weekly to do things with the International Women's Club or Australian Women's Clubs. I thought I'd be up'n'down often, but I'm not.

Most households are double income, so there aren't that many people to hang out with during school hours; might be an idea to start thinking of what sort of things you enjoy doing to fill in your days - tennis, golf, walking, gym, courses etc.

Lessons Learned:
Your GP will be dictated to you based on where you live; you may have a choice of a few surgeries to choose from or there may only be one. You'll have to prove you live in the area with a utility bill, and apply to register there, then be assigned a GP.

The High Street is one shopping mall; Southampton offers the closest thing to a shopping centre; the closest Westfield is in Shepherds Bush in London.

You'll shop between Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks and Spencers and Waitross for groceries. Somehow choosing one over the other is easier and shopping on line the best. You'll sign up to all of them for their loyalty cards and earn points (it's a pretty good scheme)

The biggest and best Marks and Spencers is at Hedge End. It's kinda like a small DJ's or Myers.

Winchester has amazing restaurants, tho they are all hidden. Subscribe to Ladies Who Lunch Hampshire for the low down on where to eat. You will need to book as they pretty much get booked out on Friday/Saturday nights.

The closest cinemas are in Southampton or Eastleigh; Ikea, Costco are both in Southampton.

Join the National Trust and English Heritage.

Legoland is at Windsor.

The best car wash is at Sainsbury Olivers Battery.

You'll need to learn to drive very fast on motorways and very carefully on narrow country roads.

Supercamps will be your best friend over school holidays.

Buy a family rail card for discounts - but you have to travel with at least one child to benefit.

Book tickets to the Pantomine as soon as they become available as they sell out really quickly.

Christmas at Mawell is a must!

I hope this has been helpful,

If you've any more questions, please ask and I'll do my best

With friendship

x