MrsP1Fanatic

.....Are there any on here from these areas as I have just moved here and would be nice to see where is good to drink etc......

Bex.

Haxzer

I am from Reading, lots of good places!, where about are you and I will tell you the est places!.

Rgds

Matt

MrsP1Fanatic

We have just moved to Chineham, about 5 mins from Basingstoke!

Other half works in Reading so we have been to the Revolution Bar once but havent been out much as dont know anyone!

Bex

TopBanana

There are quite a few bars in The Oracle and up towards the train station in Reading. Don't bother going out in Basingstoke in the evenings.

The A33 can be good fun late at night, not enough overtaking spots though

pslewis

Not enough????? Theres about 5 miles Dual carraigeway from the M4 to Wellington Country Park!! Your car must be REALLY slow to take THAT long to get past!!

I am mid-way Basingstoke - Reading on A340!

Pete

[Edited by pslewis - 11/7/2003 11:37:42 PM]

Sprint Chief

Loads of places around Basingstoke, Reading and between!

Reading has loads of places in and around the town centre, loads of eating/drinking etc. on the riverside at the Oracle.

Basingstoke town centre was a bit dire, but has improved significantly with the new festival place, several decent eateries although the car park is a disgrace

And if you've got a quiet evening, break out the scoob head out to the local lanes between Reading and Basingstoke, there are some good local pubs around.

And there are a handful of good overtaking opportunities along the single carriageway between the country park roundabout and Basingstoke, it's just the traffic is so busy every time an opportunity appears you can't use it [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] you need a lorry in just the right place to make a gap ahead, trouble is by that time you are usually following a train of 500 cars behind a lorry yourself!!!

The A30 and A33 out of Basingstoke were a popular spot for the Basingstoke "mobile safety camera unit" although this particular revenue generator only appears in clear, sunny weather when there is good visibility and low traffic levels, if the weather is a bit dodgy plod (i.e. in conditions where it is actually dangerous to speed and he might be doing some use) sits up in his nice warm office counting his coffers Used to be a 60 limit a few years back but they weren't making enough cash so they dropped it to 50mph.

MrsP1Fanatic

So where do u locals drink?

TopBanana

If you're into country pubs, try The Leather Bottle in Mattingley. In the summer, the canalside Millstone in Old Basing is quite nice and not too far from you. The Fox at Ellisfield is the wrong side of Basingstoke to you, but it's just been taken over by new management and the food is excellent (again).

The Hook Tandoori is just up the road and is quite a good modern Indian restaurant. The Brit/French London Street Brasserie on the bridge at the Oracle is quite dependable for a nice meal. I really like Ken Hom's Yellow River Cafe outlet, also in the Oracle, especially for a quick lunch. Try the Bang Bang Chicken Salad for just £6 or so!


[Edited by jlanng - 11/8/2003 8:38:50 AM]

uksti

A340 Pete ? That explains it all ! How's Tadley these days ? Still proving the exception to the rule for the theory of evolution ?

Baz

Sprint Chief

Well, after my little rant in an earlier thread, I can announce that I just drove past little mr. plod in his safety van on the A33 at around 14:20 today at the mandatory 49.9mph

I'm going to give you a completely different list of pubs to try a few more people and you should have a couple of hundred pubs to try

I would recommend the Queen Inn at Dummer, a nice pub with good food (recently won the UK best pub food award) but it gets very, very busy particularly at lunchtimes, can be difficult to get a parking space.

I would also recommend the Millstone at Old Basing (for some reason I have always known it as Barton's Mill?), again a very popular pub from which you can go for a little wander around the ruins of Basing House (if that sort of historical thing grabs your fancy), and the Hook tandoori is good as well. Also in Old Basing the Bolton Arms is good for lunchtime food, nice beer garden as well for the summer.

In Basingstoke town centre itself, in the new section, the Tapas bar, Dexters Bar+Grill and Ciao Baby all get my recommendation. In Reading town centre, Sante Fe is probably my favourite but there is a lot of choice there and all of the ones I have tried have been pretty good (okay not McDonalds but you wouldn't go there anyway would you?)

A little further afield, Blubeckers in Odiham is very good although a little more expensive; the Mill at Sherfield on Loddon is not a bad place, although I'd kind of rank it around Harvester/Beefeater type price and quality; my personal favourites along the A33 are the Jekyll & Hyde (you can't miss this one!) and the New Inn at Stratfield Saye (partly because the guy who runs the pub used to own a scoob and frequent this board, partly because it is quite a nice pub ).

I live a little closer to Reading, and so know more places up this end; plenty of good food in Eversley, with the Toad and Stumps (has this changed its name??? I forget...), a little cold but good food, and the Golden Pot; the best restaurant I know of in the area is probably L'Ortolan but budget around £50-60 a head, although the London Street Brasserie in Reading is very good at nearer £25 a head for an evening meal.

I will update with maps later on today

TopBanana

Yep the Queen Inn at Dummer is very nice, couple of miles down the road from me!

The Millstone has a restaurant attached to it called Barton's Mill, which I've never tried.

Sprint Chief

Ah right that would be why I always called the place by the wrong name I have to admit I've not been to the restaurant bit either!

I'll have to try out the Leather Bottle at some point, this one is just up the road from me and I've never been there!

Fatman

Sprint Chief: the restaurant is called Barton's Mill, whilst the pub is the Millstone. They're entirely separate despite being in the same building! Most people get them confused, don't worry.

There's a decent Chinese restaurant in town called Hee's (just outside the covered area of town, near the library). There are plenty of decent pubs to eat at, but they're all a little out of town.