Bartons Mill, Basingstoke

Situated a short drive from Junction 6 of the M3 near Old Basing this converted Mill has a great location in green space on the River Loddon. Fairly dark interior as others have mentioned But the pub has the benefit of a large external garden area and currently for Covid, the area close to the pub entrance is underneath a large tent structure providing more outside undercover space. We stopped here for a mid week lunch and sat in the garden where it’s table service and you pay at time of ordering. Took a while to get our drinks but think they were probably struggling for hands behind the bar at the moment. Fortunately that didn’t seem to be the case in the kitchen and we could not fault the speed our two mains appeared or the quality of what we had. It’s a Wadsworth House and two ales were on and the Horizon was a decent pint. All in all this was a very decent lunch stop with the benefit of a decent pint.

Only dropped in for a swift one as time was ticking on my train but I was quite impressed by the place on first viewing. The location is lovely and there was a decent range of Wadworth beers available; the two I was able to sample were both good but expensive. The expansive interior was quite dark aside from the bar area which might not suit everyone. The quiz machine wants to pay too. Overall, worth a visit for a slow beer on this showing.

Wide selection of traditional bitters, able to use card and they provide cash back and the food is very acceptable, not posh. Loved it. Forgot to take a picture !!