My lovely sister and nephew came to stay on the weekend, it is the first time they have visited us since we moved to Hampshire in September. As a late Christmas present, my sister paid for us all to go out for lunch at the River Cottage Canteen in Winchester. There are a few other River Cottage restaurants dotted about the country, my sister had tried them all apart from this one in Winchester and she said we were certain to have a lovely meal. I was very excited to eat lots of yummy food and maybe try something new.

Winchester is a really beautiful city – Oli, Leo and I have only visited once before when we went to the Christmas Market in December. Our lunch was booked for 12.30, we got to Winchester about 11 so we had a lovely little stroll around the shops and took in some of the sights.

Winchester Cathedral

Jane Austen’s house – my sisters favourite author

Me and my lovely nephew.

Walking around the Cathedral grounds.

The River Cottage Canteen is situated in the lovely Abbey Mill Gardens, before we went in for lunch the kids played in the playground. Leo loved the slide as usual but there was lots of other play equipment to keep him busy. Unfortunately, our walk through town had worn Leo out and by the time we arrived at River Cottage Canteen he was in an awful mood.

River Cottage canteen.

When we arrived we were greeted by a lovely member of staff, she showed us to our seats and got Leo some crayons to keep him entertained. River Cottage Canteen is set out over two levels, it is very big but feels cosy at the same time. There are exposed beams on the ceilings, lights bulbs hang from ropes and none of the chairs match. We were sat on the lower level and we could see into the open plan kitchen where the chefs were all busy at work. As we sat browsing the menu, Leo decided to kick off..big time.

Oli drawing pictures to keep Leo happy.

I think a combination of hunger and being completely knackered were the cause to Leo’s horrendous tantrum. He screamed his head off for about half an hour, nothing was cheering him up. The lovely waitress came and brought us some bread so he didn’t have to wait for us to order but he wouldn’t eat it. The brilliant waiter made Leo a warm milkshake and let him play with the card pin machine but that didn’t work either. Amongst all the kicking and screaming we managed to place our food order.

Leo and his milkshake.

The menu at River Cottage Canteen is different from anything I have seen before. Oli and I rarely go out for fancy food, we barely even get the chance to go for a pub lunch these days. At first I wasn’t sure what to go for, there was nothing on there I would normally eat and I wasn’t sure what I would like. The menu changes frequently at River Cottage Canteen and the food is locally sourced, organic and all freshly prepared (here is a sample menu). I decided to go for the venison  salad with cinnamon apples, hazelnuts and cheese. I had never tried venison before so I wasn’t sure what I would think. My sister ordered the same and Oli ordered smoked mackerel. My nephew and Leo ordered flat bread, carrots and hummus to start from the children’s menu, kids get 3 courses and unlimited squash for only £7.

After we ordered, Leo’s tantrum escalated into hell like, never seen before territory and I was ready to just leave. If the staff had not been so amazing I think I would have just taken him outside and joined in with Leo and started crying. As it turns out though, the two people looking after our table were amazing. They didn’t give any grumpy looks or quietly ask us to remove the screaming demon child from their restaurant. They instead brought Leo some chocolates, gave us apologetic smiles and asked if we were ok and if there was anything they could do. It was the milkshake that saved us in the end. Oli managed to get Leo back into his highchair, he then snapped out of whatever angry feeling had consumed him for the past 30 minutes, said ‘sorry Mummy’ before drinking his milk and falling asleep in his highchair, right in the middle of a not exactly quiet restaurant. That is how he stayed for the rest of the meal! It was such a relief.

My very sleepy boy. Tantrums are exhausting.

So, back to the food. Our starters arrived and they were amazing. They were a perfect size and the venison was gorgeous. The hazelnuts and cinnamon apple slices worked really well with the meat and fresh leaves. I am so glad I tried something new and didn’t just go for the soup.

Yummy starter.

For our main course, Oli and I had the pulled pork bap and my sister ordered the plaice with roasted cauliflower and cauliflower puree – cauliflower is clearly easily sourced in Winchester! Oli loves pulled pork, I have never tried it but decided to put my trust in my husbands taste buds and give it a try. The pulled pork came in a yummy lightly toasted bap with pickled red cabbage, bacon mayonnaise and perfectly seasoned chips. I should listen to Oli more often, the pulled pork was so good, it was really tender and sweet. The bacon mayonnaise made a great dip for the chips but also tasted amazing spread inside the pulled pork bap. My sister really enjoyed her plaice and apparently cauliflower puree is awesome. My nephew enjoyed his fish and chips, it was a decent sized portion as well considering it was from the kids menu. The staff kept Leo’s main warm and said he could have it once he had woken from his highchair slumber.

Pulled pork, better than your average burger and chips.

We were feeling fit to burst at this point but when the waitress asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu, well, we thought it would be rude not too. My sister had the honey pannacotta with prunes and a spicy biscuit and I had dark chocolate orange cake with orange syrup and cardamom cream. I don’t like ice cream (I know, I’m strange) so it was nice to see the cake came with something else. I have never tried cardamom cream before but it was really nice. It wasn’t what I was expecting, it wasn’t sweet like regular cream and it wasn’t like clotted cream either. I can’t really describe it but I can tell you it worked so well with the cake and the orange syrup, the flavour combination was perfect. Oli declared himself full to the brim so he opted for a Gaelic coffee instead of dessert, who doesn’t like a little, hidden shot of whiskey on a Saturday afternoon? My nephew had his ice cream and honeycomb that was included in his £7 lunch meal.

Droool..

Oli’s coffee.

Pretty much as soon as we finished dessert Leo decided to wake up and, to everyone’s relief, he was in a much better mood. He asked for chips as soon as opened his little eyes and the waitress went and grabbed his food from the kitchen. It was still lovely and warm and had been put in a little box so we could take it with us. As the meal was a Christmas present I don’t know exactly how much the food came to. The starters were about £6 each and the mains varied in price but I would say the average was about £13. Considering the high quality of the food and the excellent service, I think the menu was very reasonably priced.

This is his ‘I’m sleepy and eating chips’ face,

Lovely sister and nephew,

Apart from Leo’s tantrum when we first arrived, we all had a really lovely time at River Cottage Canteen. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for somewhere a bit different to eat in Winchester. The food is amazing, you can really taste that it has been freshly made to order, and the price is not extortionate. There are also a selection of soft drinks made of locally sourced produce as well as a selection of ales and ciders. I was concerned it would be a bit too upmarket for a family meal but the staff were so, so lovely (I really can’t stress that enough) and the children’s menu had a few good options to choose from. I would definitely go again but maybe next time Oli and I will go on a date night, that way we are guaranteed a tantrum free meal!

Have you been to the River Cottage Canteen in Winchester? Did you have a nice meal? If not, would you consider eating at a River Cottage Canteen? It’s a nice place to go if you fancy something a little bit different.