Pebble Beach - Hampshire, New Milton

Looking to leave London with your loved one for a weekend? The New Forest is only a ninety minute drive away and offers some of the country's most idyllic coasts and forests. We were lucky enough to stumble across Pebble Beach on a recent foray into the countryside, a restaurant with rooms which is nationally regarded and boasts one of the most breathtaking penthouse suites in southern England.

Spearheaded by Mike Caddy who has a rich history of involvement with restaurants in California and the United Kingdom, as well as head chef Pierre Chevillard who is an alumni of the nearby Chewton Glen (just up the road), which was awarded a Michelin star under his supervision, the Pebble Beach dining room offers French-led Mediterranean cuisine that would win rave reviews in London. Sharpen your appetite with an aperitif at the oyster bar, and then repair to the modernist main room or onto the al fresco dining terrace for the main meal.

The seafood, as one would expect from a location such as this, is freshly caught and superbly prepared. This ranges from the classic to the experimental, with Breton style fish soup on one end of the spectrum and lobster and crab cake bound with chorizo and red pepper on the other. The restaurant excels at big, rich plates of crouton-encrusted turbot fillet or cod Thermidor.

Pebble Beach is perched atop a vertiginous cliff on the eastern edge of Christchurch Bay and offers spectacular vistas over the Solent, the western end of the Isle of Wight, the 'Needles', Hurst Castle, Christchurch and Hengistbury Head. The best vantage to enjoy it is from within the penthouse, where one can enjoy private dining, an exclusive decked balcony and luxuriously appointed furnishings.

Share this venue