The Oak Inn, Lyndhurst

Set just off the main A35 through the New Forest, the Oak Inn still enjoys a quiet and secluded rural location. As we pulled onto the small car park at the front of the pub, a few of the Forest's wild ponies were happily grazing on the grass next to the cars. Inside was a little disappointing. There were apparently no other customers on our mid-afternoon and midweek visit. The barmaid was sat with two other people, who I assumed to be the kitchen staff. Real ales are dispensed from what looked like wooden casks at the rear of the bar, with London Pride being the regular beer and Orbiter being the guest beer. The ale range appears to have diminished since the pub was last in the Good Beer Guide in 2014. This seems a strange place to find a Fuller's pub. Although I guess it was originally a Gale's pub. Nevertheless, it enjoys a lovely location.

Official site of The Oak Inn - www.oakinnlyndhurst.co.uk

Official site of The Oak Inn - www.oakinnlyndhurst.co.uk

The Oak is beautifully set in the small village of Bank in the middle of the New Forest and is popular with walkers, cyclists and families. Inside is all wood, floors, bar, furniture and open fires. It feels very traditional but has been refurbished within the last decade or so. There's a small but practical garden with a covered area for smokers and lawned area covered in tables. We didn't eat but the menu looks good with the focus being a specials board which has an interesting selection of dishes using local produce. Beer is dispensed straight from the barrels behind the bar and the selection was good with Gales Seafarers and HSB, Pride and Butcombe Best on. Both the Gales beers were excellent and it left me wondering why, in such a relative real ale desert such as the New Forest, this wasn't in the Good Beer Guide. The following day bought the new 2011 Guide and it is now in and deservedly so. A lovely pub in a delightful setting serving some of the best ale in the area. I'll definitely return.

A very pleasant country pub a mile or so south of Lyndhurst. It's attractive both inside and out, with a traditional low ceiling, wooden floor and a large fire-place. Staff seemed pleasant enough, and there is a good sized garden, much of it covered either with umbrellas or a large straw roof. There was an extensive food menu and a specials board, although it struck me as a bit on the pricey side. That's probably par for the course around these parts when all your customers are either tourists or well healed local's but £19 for a couple of rounds of sandwiches and two pints does seem a bit steep even if it was very nice, and as others have said a bit unusual. Beers were all served straight from barrels racked up behind the bar and were Gales Seafarer and HSB, Fuller's London Pride and Butcombe. The solitary cider was Aspall's Suffolk.