Hart House Fleet

Fleet, roughly located somewhere between London and the south coast, is a small town in the Hart district of Hampshire.  It has been voted best place to live in the UK and is known for Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire.  In the high street you can find the Hart House Fleet.

They describe themselves as a pub with everything.  As you would expect they have a bar, restaurant and also a coffee shop.  The dining room is large and spacious, with no feeling of being cramped in whatsoever.  Tables are dressed minimal but elegant and you can see the chefs at work at the large open plan kitchen.

Our waitress Nicole was friendly and knew the menu inside out, giving recommendations of her favourite dishes on the menu and also from the specials board.  It does fill me with confidence when waiting staff are enthusiastic about the menu, which suggests they have actually tried the food, an important element for restaurants to be successful.

Starter

For a starter I went for the Chargrilled Broccoli which was served with a hollandaise, toasted almonds and topped with a poached egg.  A classic combination using seasonal veg.  Inke chose the Salt & Pepper Squid accompanied by a baby leaf salad and tartar sauce.  The squid had been coated in lightly spiced breadcrumb and deep-fried.  It was tender and it was a slight twist to serve it with tartar sauce too, as more often than not it comes with a sweet chilli sauce.

Main

Inke chose a main from the specials board – Suffolk Pork with apple, savoy cabbage, potato hash, poached egg and watercress.  It was different in appearance than expected, it was served like a stew, but was wholesome and good for a fresh spring day.

I opted for a dish recommended by Nicole from the main menu – South Coast Sea Bream Fillet -, with a clam and mussel linguine and a lemon butter sauce.  It was a large dish, a generous portion of linguine, and a beautifully grilled fillet of bream with crispy skin on top.  You need to tackle this dish feeling hungry.  It was again a classic pasta combination cooked well, but if you were looking for a light lunch dish, the sea bream maybe an ingredient too many.

Pudding Time

I wanted something light and the Poached English Rhubarb with pistachio biscotti and orange cream cheese sounded like it wouldn’t lay too heavy.  The rhubarb could have been poach a bit longer as some pieces were close to crunchy.  However, the flavour was good, definitely a dish were you must have a piece of everything on your spoon, as the sweetness came from the orange cream and the biscotti gave texture.

Inke again chose from the specials board.  This time a Chocolate Mousse with a cherry compote and blackberry sorbet.  Once again a classic combination of flavours.  However, the mousse was quite heavily set, it was more like a chocolate pudding and the sorbet had an unusual texture, as if something like xanthan gum had been added to the recipe.

Summary

We had a very enjoyable experience and would visit again.  Service you could not fault and it was good to see that the kitchen were not shy to experiment with their specials board, to accompany their main menu.  Hart House would be a perfect venue for ladies who lunch or couples wanting a relaxed meal.  They also served a wonderful array of cakes and savoury items in their coffee shop.

 

So if you want a cup of tea and slice of cake, while catching up with an old friend… or a glass of wine and a sausage roll with a new friend before you hit the shops, pop in and say hello; you will be made to feel very welcome indeed.

Hart House, 335-337 Fleet Road, Fleet GU51 3NT
Tel: 01252 377733
https://harthousefleet.com/

We dined as guests of Hart House Fleet.  However, all editorial content is my own.