Hinton Arms, Alresford

An attractive roadside pub and restaurant, well described below. We found one of the staff rather irritating and intrusive, though the landlady was welcoming and pleasant. The food was OK, but it was overpriced - gastro prices for school dinner quality. Portions were large, though, and doggy-bags were allowed. The beer selection has improved since Quinno's review, below, and there were 4 ales on offer, 3 of which were not from Bowman. I had Flack's Double Drop and Ichen's Hampshire Rose, both in very good condition. The thing that most puts me off is the prices, and in future I'd go the extra mile (literally) to the Flowerpots, just around the corner.

A come-hither roadside pub, what with all the hanging baskets and flowers outside. The promise of (albeit rebadged) Bowmans ales was the lure and what a crashing disappointment. Four were available and not cheap either. All three I tried were poor, one was vinegary and murky, another tasted of damp cardboard and the final one was just flat. I did try taking a couple back but the response from behind the bar was (abridged) “I have no idea, we’re too busy serving food, go away”. In between taking my beers back, I noted that the interior was pleasantly decorated (if a little bland) with portable wooden dividers to break up space between diners (drinkers are marginalised). Oddly, there was a TV broadcasting to no-one in particular. The rear outside decking adorned with flowers was a pleasant enough space to attempt to drink the beer. Maybe I caught this on a low ebb but it was a dismal experience and I would actively recommend you avoid drinking here. Though given the value of some of the cars parked outside the pub, I doubt they'd miss you.

This roadside pub is certainly very striking on approach thanks to numerous hanging baskets and well tended flower beds, all in full bloom on our early July visit. In comparison, the inside is a bit underwhelming with a country-pub-by-numbers feel; dark wood beams, photos of rural scenes (mostly horse related), hops hanging above the bar, deer heads mounted on the walls and so on. It's location on the relatively busy A272 means that it gets its fair share of passing trade and so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise to find a food-led set up, with almost all of the tables taken up by eager diners. There is essentially one large L-shaped room (with a small alcove sticking out at the front of the pub) with a large stone fireplace and some unusual movable wooden screens which reminded me a bit of the room dividers you see in some restaurants. A TV screen was showing Wimbledon coverage, but with no real place for us to enjoy our drinks without being surrounded by diners, we took our drinks outside. There were four beers available - Hinton's Own, Hinton's Crest, Sportsman and Hedgerow - all rebadged beers from the nearby Bowman’s brewery. I tried a pint of the Hedgerow (Bowman’s Elderado) which was in fairly decent shape, although others in our party experienced problems with the quality of their choices. A yard of ale glass hung from above the bar counter but none of us were brave or foolish enough to make an attempt at it. This is a nice enough place for a meal out and I can certainly see why the place has decided to focus on food, but it didn't strike me as the sort of place you would go to just for the beer (I've definitely had better pints of Bowman’s before). Personally, if I found myself passing by in the future, I would be more inclined to navigate my way through the nearby country lanes and stop at the Flowerpots instead.