The Bat and Ball is well known enough to have its own wikipedia page, it is famous for its part in the history of cricket rather than it's food though! Across the road is Broadhalfpenny Down, the original home of the Hambledon Cricket Club, once one the greatest teams in England, and the place where the rules of the modern game were first codified. Nowadays it is a picturesque location and more of a backwater in the game! The pub, which had a couple of famous Hambledon Cricket Captains as it's landlords in the 1700's, has walls filled with cricketing memorabilia. There is even a Melbourne connection, with this article from the Herald Sun on the wall of the gents toilet! The deserts and specials were on the chalk board, with plenty more options on the main menu. The special wild sea bass fillet on herb crushed potato looked great, but the fish was a little dry and the coulis just too sweet. The London Pride battered sustainable
Typical British country pub. Set within the beautiful Hampshire countryside. The pub itself has a really comfortable feel to it.
The food menu has good choices, I can personally recommend the pork chop it was delicious, followed by white chocolate cheesecake.
A good choice of ales,lagers, and wine. The service was second to none, friendly and enthusiastic. If you are out for drive in the country, I suggest you seek out this pub. Highly recommended.
A pub worth the drive to get to! The views alone from the beer garden are reason enough to visit, it's like sitting in the countryside. The service was excellent and efficient, and the waitress even brought a dog bowl and water to our outdoor picnic table for us! There's a wide range of food, lots of local ales and of course lots of cricket memorabilia as you'd expect from a pub that is home of 'the cradle of cricket'. The beer garden is small and has pebbles rather than grass, but it's a small price to pay for the views!
Great place to come. Food was really good. Above most pubs. Staff very friendly and cant do enough for you. The views are also stunning.
They had a buttermilk fried rabbit burger on the specials board when I visited and it was perfect. Rabbit burgers should be a more common thing, in my opinion. You can't really tell from the photo, but it was much thicker than your average beef burger. Add the views from the garden and this pub is perfect. Lovely pint of Frontier on tap too. 10/10 for this place.
A large and pleasant pub that serves excellent food. Beer and cider is well kept, there are large gardens and stunning views. Dog friendly throughout.
The belly pork was excellent, as was the trout salad, fish and chips and beef and ale pie. The dark chocolate torte was also superb as well as the posset and buffalo ice cream.
Went after visiting a friend with my daughter. I had duck leg with a bean, sausage and bacon stew and kale. OMG, it was amazing, a huge portion, gave me plastic take out box, meal enough for brunch the next day. Delicious. My daughter had gnocchi with a blue cheese and garlic sauce, also delicious. Then buffalo ice-cream and chocolate brownie. Wanted the buffalo pudding...hence the 'doggy bag'
Been going to this pub/restaurant for decades, literally, since the late 60s. Consistently good, always a good ambiance, should go more often.
This is a place with wonderful history and being a cricket fan, it was absolutely wonderful to be here.
Nice selection of drinks and food, and it’s open till late
Interesting very historic pub to visit, home of a 1700s famous cricket club. Had a nice fire going, stopped by for a cozy drink. They're food menu looked good but we didn't eat there.
Great friendly pub off the beaten track in the middle of the countryside. As soon as we walked in we were greated with a friendly welcome. Plenty of drinks to choose from and the prices were very good. Lots of seating inside and ample seating outside with views over the countryside. Will definitely visit again and try the food. My only slight grumble is the car park could be a little bigger. But apart from that, excellent pub.
Shared a delightful birthday early evening meal here with my wife and two children recently.
My compliments to the staff who really applied themselves to make our visit so lovely. The food was fantastic too. Thank you.
(It has been a while since our previous visit to you, but we will be back :-) )
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