This weekend we headed to The New Forest for a night - going for a leisurely stroll during the day and picking up a new throw in Beaulieu before heading to The Pig in Brockenhurst where we watched Freaky Friday with a bottle of bubbles and then headed downstairs for cocktails and supper. 

We've been to The Pig once before and decided to return for our six year anniversary. The rooms are so beautiful and cosy and chic, the service is warm, relaxed and friendly and the hotel itself is perfection. 

Alas, the one downside was that the restaurant has sadly changed a bit since our last visit. We absolutely LOVED the food a couple of years ago. There was enormous attention to detail, the menu was exciting and the food was utterly delicious. Memorably so, desperate-to-back-so.

The atmosphere of the dining room was unchanged but to be brutally honest, we were disappointed with the food. It's gone more pub-grub (steak, ham hock, some incredibly unnecessary deep frying of supposedly "literally picked that day" greens) which is fine... if you know that's what you're getting. We had a table at 8pm but, after waiting to be served for quite a while (our waitress was very apologetic), my boyfriend's first and second menu choices had already sold out.
The Pig describes itself as 'a restaurant with rooms' and I think on our last visit, it really felt like it was. This time, it felt like the emphasis had shifted away from the food and the kitchen garden - even though the rest of the hotel remained just as perfect as we remembered.

Despite all this, we did still have such a brilliant stay and I'd absolutely go back in a heartbeat (but maybe have just the one course in the dining room and focus more on the cocktails). 

For our walk I wore: my boyfriend's Uniqlo down coat, Topshop Jamie Jeans and Hunter Wellington boots. 

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