What is it like to eat at Hotel du Vin, Winchester? Actually, you won’t believe our Restaurant Review #beatboxwaiter – VIDEO

The Hotel du Vin Winchester is a well established favourite, I have been a number of times and this visit made it worthy of review.

My co-eaters were 7 well oiled ‘guys’ on a stag and following a competitive Go Karting session we felt lunch at Hotel du Vin Winchester’s Bistro would be more appropriate, than dinner – you’ll see why below.

The building is a rabbit warren of rooms and corridors, the decor is intentionally distressed, like an old smokey gentleman’s club, with large sash windows of the period.

Heading to the bar, a bright and more modern room, we were met with the first of a series of incredibly helpful staff, upon requesting a Monkey Shoulder Whisky Sour, I was greeted with a happy knowing smile, followed by a superbly made ‘man cocktail’.

Lunch was a rather obvious affair, for which I don’t apologise, steak galore – choice of rib-eye, Chateaubriand, Fillet, Porterhouse and Onglet Steak (Hanger Steak). Some had starters and others opted for dessert, I went for the former. Asparagus soldiers and a runny duck egg with Brown crab mayonnaise – super healthy and great fun to eat – nice combo.

We ordered a mix of rib, Hanger and two went for it, Chateaubriand – all came with fries, I swapped out for Haricot verts a la Nicoise and then we shared various sides.

The steaks were cooked very well, mine inside was rare and hot, but it could have been cooked on a far hotter grill, it was lacking the char-grilled colour and therefore flavour. The Haricot verts a la Nicoise was bonkers good, I’ll make that and add to the site – stunning.

The others’ held a lot more colour, beautiful and perfectly cooked and the sides were each like a mini dish in its own right, rather than a side for sides sake – big enough to share between two of you if you have one each.

I skipped dessert, those that didn’t all ordered Creme Brulee – arrived in a large shallow dish rather than a ramekin and all were happy.

I’ve touched on it already, but it has to be said, the front of house at Hotel du Vin Winchester is exceptional. Service for large tables can often be challenging, they nailed it and everything in between.

Sunny weather in southern England took us to the hotel’s spacious courtyard garden, adorned with comfortable furniture and a small coy carp pond for a couple more drinks, when a most extraordinary thing happened.

As our waiter took payment, this happened:

This guy was awesome – thank you to the #beatboxwaiter and for that Hotel du Vin, Winchester gets a rating of:

National Dish Rating:

Price: £ £ £

Website: www.hotelduvin.com/locations/winchester

Telephone: 01962 896329

A bit about Winchester

Winchester is a stunning and perfectly small city, once capital of England and previous winner of ‘The Sunday Times Best Places to Live’.

Located in Hampshire, which in itself is famous for Watercress, dining out in Winchester is a quality affair, with many small artisan restaurants and bars dotted throughout the city centre, all within walking distance.

You won’t find a rowdy nightlife, despite what you may have seen in our video, but it’s only a short train journey to Southampton or less than hour to London, if you need to take your evening to the next level.

Living in Winchester can be reassuringly expensive, but then it was declared as a capital city by King Alfred the Great – a statue of the Viking stopping monarch can be found loud and proud in the city.