THE ROYAL OAK - 19 Langstone High street, Langstone

Today we undertook an adventure in to the heart of Langstone, somewhere between Havant and Hayling island. We had been there once before on a Summer's day, and I had good memories of it. For some reason I think of it as a Hobbit pub. I can imagine Frodo and his mates sitting round a roaring fire and drinking from tiny mugs.

Today wasn't a glorious Summer's day so we were to have our first experience of indoor eating at The Royal Oak. It is by no means a big pub, and there are more tables inside than seems possible. When we arrived there was plenty of space so we grabbed a table in the corner and hunkered down to weigh up the menu's. There were several menu options including specials, standard and value. The value menu, which I believe was available from Monday to Friday, offered such things as fish and chips and curry for £5 to £6ish, you can't argue with that. Even the specials and standard menu were sensibly priced between £8 and £10. There was also a bit more imagination on show than we have witnessed in recent menus elsewhere. Having said that, I fancied a burger and Dad had sausage and mash.

I had a particularly good feeling about the chipps in this pub. The menu mentioned triple cooked chips and rosemary and salt chips, the latter were served with my burger, as well as coleslaw. Dad's sausage and mash was a good price, but we did find out upon ordering that it was literally sausage and mash, and if you wanted vegetables you had to order them separately. Never the less, on delivery we found it all to be good. Dad said it was right up there with any sausage and mash he'd had, with particular reference to the quality of sausages. My burger was very good, homemade coleslaw and excellent chips. Regular readers may know I have a thing about chips. How they are often a waist of space on your plate, but can also be one of the best things in the world. These were good chips, just what a potato would long to become. We may have to start awarding a separate chip title to worthy pubs. My point is made by the amount of pubs I would give such an award to. Just three off the top of my head. The Royal Oak (Langstone), The Farmer Inn (Catherington) and The White Lion (Soberton).

All in all it was a wonderful lunch in a lovely little pub. I always think it is a very hidden away pub, unknown to most, but it was actually one of the busiest pubs we've been to in a while. It did get a bit loud towards the end. No fault of the pub of course, we just happened to get a very loud man sitting near us, TALKING VERY LOUDLY!

When looking to eat in the Langstone area, you are actually spoilt for choice. I would however suggest that you give The Royal Oak a go. It's a lovely pub selling good food at good prices, and just to top it off the sea is about twenty feet away.

Atmosphere          8

Service                 9

Food                    8

Value                   9      

Verdict                 4*