The Plough Inn

In beautiful countryside, just a few miles out of Winchester, this popular village pub has been a local winner for years. It was built about 200 years ago as a coach house to serve Sparsholt Manor opposite, but within 50 years it had become an alehouse. Inside, the main bar and dining areas blend harmoniously together, with judiciously placed farmhouse-style pine tables, wooden and upholstered seats, and miscellaneous agricultural implements, stone jars, wooden wine box end-panels and dried hops. Wadworth of Devizes supplies all the real ales, and there's a good wine selection. The dining tables to the left of the entrance look over open fields to wooded downland, and it's at this end of the pub you'll find a blackboard offering dishes such as salmon and crab fishcakes with saffron sauce; lamb's liver and bacon with mash and onion gravy; beef, ale and mushroom pie; and whole baked Camembert with garlic and rosemary. The menu board at the right-hand end of the bar offers the more substantial venison steak with celeriac mash and roasted beetroot; roast pork belly with bubble-and-squeak, five spice and sultana gravy; chicken breast filled with goat's cheese mousse; and fillet of sea bass with olive mash. Lunchtime regulars know that 'doorstep' is a most apt description for the great crab and mayonnaise, beef and horseradish and other sandwiches, plus good soups and chicken liver parfait. Puddings include sticky toffee pudding and crème brûlée. The Plough is very popular, so it's best to book for any meal. The delightful flower- and shrub-filled garden has plenty of room for children to run around and play in. There's a jazz night on the first Sunday in August and carol singing with Father Christmas on 23rd December.