REVIEW: The Gamekeepers, Mapledurwell (From Basingstoke Gazette)

REVIEW: The Gamekeepers, Mapledurwell

1:00am Monday 14th November 2011 in Taste and Tell

QUALITY local produce was the order of the day at this north Hampshire pub.

My partner and I went to The Gamekeepers in Mapledurwell with high expectations, buoyed by recommendations from friends who loved its food and location.

This 19th century public house certainly looked inviting from the outside - its well-lit interior guiding us in from a murky autumn night.

Once inside, we were shown to our table before being given a thorough run-down of the pub's menu, which was written in chalk on slate boards above an impressive-looking fireplace.

To start, we chose to share the ovenbaked Tunworth cheese at £15.95, which was topped with a honey and thyme glaze, and serve with slices of French bread and an apple, plum and rosemary chutney.

The cheese, made at a nearby farm, was very much like camembert, and we took no time in devouring it all, including the rind.

For my main course, I chose the Roast Hants lamb at £22.95, reared in Mapledurwell itself.

This consisted of two tender lamb cutlets, a square of dauphinoise potatoes, French beans and some carrots. Thrown in for good measure was a mini shepherd's pie, which, although tasty, left me full to the brim.

My partner plumped for the chargrilled fillet of beef at £24.95, which was topped with blue cheese and pink peppercorn butter and came with wilted baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and shineji mushrooms and a red wine jus.

We finished with an apple and pear crumble at £6.95, with a decent serving of homemade custard.

It was hard to fault the food at The Gamekeepers - it was well-cooked and tasty - and the service was just as good, with the manager Philip advising us of the table numbers nearest the fire should we return this winter.

I had two gripes; the inclusion on the bill of a £10.53 service charge, which was much more than the usual 10 per cent, and the constant playing of a Jason Mraz album, which became irritating.

But we both agreed it wouldn't put us off returning here for a special occasion.