The Three Lions Restaurant

My wife and I are from London, we were on holiday in the New Forest and it was our wedding anniversary, so we wanted to go to a fine dining restaurant to celebrate. The Three Lions came with a sterling reputation, numerous awards and high critical acclaim. Let me start by saying that the setting is lovely, the staff were pleasant and the service was accomplished (albeit by waiting staff wearing mini skirts) but unfortunately that is where the positives end. The main problem is the price. I have no problem paying high prices for an incredible dining experience but this fell way short of that. This restaurant is more expensive than some of the most prestigious and cutting edge restaurants in London but really fails to deliver. The whole place is like stepping into a time warp. The decor is SO bad it beggars belief. I do not expect to be eating a £25 main course on a cheap pine table , with a green place mat on a glass scallop shell shaped plate with fake plants, a hideous pub carpet and flying geese ceramics hung up on the wall. It was like something out of a bad B&B from hell. The owners defend it as homely but with respect, they need to get out more and see what restaurants in the same price bracket serve up in terms of decor and ambiance as an alternative. Now we could have at least accepted the above if the food blew us away but unfortunately it was as outdated as the decor. The same seasonal vegetables served up on two completely different main courses smacked of culinary laziness and there was no coherence. Why would you serve currified cauliflower with lobster? Also the Sea Bream was served with grey soggy skin. To try and over compensate for the lack of precision and taste they defaulted to quantity over quality, compounding things yet more. The chef is supposedly Michelin Starred and you can tell that he may have had some skills in his day but the good times are surely long gone – he has lost touch with what constitutes modern fine dining and how it should be priced. On the flip side, maybe they don't want to change the food or the decor and that is fine but don't charge like you are The Ivy. This restaurant fails the ‘coming back again test’ spectacularly but probably trades off the back of the fact it is located in a tourist hot-spot where repeat business isn't so critical. For that reason I felt compelled to write this review. My wife and I felt like we had been mugged as we left.