Test Valley
The Boot Inn

The Boot Inn

High St, SP9 7UF, Test Valley, United Kingdom

Steak • Mexican • Chinese • Belgian


"We met friends at The Boot Inn on a Friday night, it was about half full. We arrived early, and were given a warm welcome by a lovely member of staff, who also offered us a drink at the bar, before showing us to our table. Our friends arrived about 20 minutes after us. So we had time to chat and enjoy our drinks before they arrived. After our friends arrived, we were offered the menus. The menu has a good selection of food, Asian cuisine and Burgers seem to feature in a big way on the menu. I had the Hummus and Olives to start £8) and the Crispy Mongolian Lamb to follow £18) I was expecting a small bowl with a selection of different olives. What I got was a small bowl of black olives, the type you buy already pitted in a jar of brine from Tesco… it was really disappointing to be honest and they aren’t the best, fine for the top of a pizza or salad, but not to eat as part of a starter. The hummus and bread was very nice. The Crispy Mongolian Lamb was was very nice to start with, BUT, by half way through the meal I was feeling that it was rather too crispy and chewy and was staring to become a chore to eat and felt that it was quite overdone/burnt rather than crispy. The sauce was very nice. The noodles that I had with my lamb were very nice, the portion size was good too. Now, one issue I do have is that it’s very dark in the restaurant, with very dim lighting, which means that it was difficult to actually see what was on the plate. My food was very dark, and it was served on a dark plate and with the low lighting, I really couldn’t see properly what I had been served or what I was eating. My friends all had burgers and all seemed happy with the food that they ordered. Good Suff Lovely staff, warm welcome, clean toilets, good portion sizes, prompt service, free parking. Room for improvement If you’re gonna charge £8 for a small bowl olives, you need to up the game and serve better olives and not cheap black olives from a jar. Make it a bit brighter inside the restaurant, I’d really like to see what I’m eating, and I’m sure I can’t be the only one who wants to see what’s on their plate. Itemised billing would be good. We received a hand written bill, and as we were splitting the bill with friends, it would have been easier to see all the purchase broken down rather than “Food”, “Drink” etc. It’s a nice place, with nice friendly staff, and it has a pleasant atmosphere. It’s not the cheapest place in town, but really worth a visit. I hope that the wages they pay their staff are reflected in the prices they charge for their food. I had a Sunday roast here a while back, and couldn’t fault that meal at all. Give it a go…"

Pizza Express

Pizza Express

United Kingdom, SP10 1NX, Test Valley

Pizza • Pasta • Italian • Vegetarian


"A late lunch meal with my parents on a quiet sunday afternoon. To start I had the ‘Chilli king prawns’, which also came with 4 dough balls (see second picture). The prawn mixture also contained roasted tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and red onion. The dish was very tasty, not a whole lot of prawns but the ones that were there were cooked perfectly, and the mixture that was with them was with a good amount of garlic (which I loveee), however I would have liked more chilli. Dough balls were hot out of the oven and very fluffy and lovely to dip into the juices at the end. For main, I went for the ‘Dup Romana’ where I could choose half and half of the romana style pizzas, of which I went for the ‘La Cabana’ which is a new type of pizza, and ‘Pollo ad astra’. The pollo one is a classic Mills favourite, you can’t go wrong with the sweet yet spicy chicken, onion and pepper combo, as well as some garlic oil drizzled over lightly. The new cabana style one however was SO tasty. The flavours of the pulled pork, tomato and red onion salsa, coriander and lime fit perfectly and made it feel like I was eating a taco on a pizza. Really pleased I went for this combo, as they both had differing flavours but also were both packed full of flavour and really tasty. Would definitely have this as a regular of mine. No dessert as apparently we have some at home. Really good service, as it was very quiet in there, and price not too bad. Overall review: Date visited- 10th September 2023 Food- 9.5/10 Service- 8.5/10 Price- Recommend to a friend- Yes"