THE PIG - in the New Forest

About THE PIG - in the New Forest

THE PIG - in the New Forest opened in 2011 on Beaulieu Road outside Brockenhurst and was the first of the group, so the format everyone else has since copied started here. The house is a former royal hunting lodge in its own grounds, and the whole operation is built around the walled kitchen garden rather than around the building. It describes itself as a restaurant with rooms, and that is a fair summary of the priorities.

Accommodation runs to about 31 rooms, spread between the main house, the courtyard stables and a set of garden wagons and huts in the grounds. The look is deliberately unpolished: reclaimed furniture, roll-top baths, monsoon showers, larders stocked with local snacks instead of minibars. The smaller house rooms are compact, while the stable and garden rooms give more space and more privacy. Dogs are genuinely welcome rather than merely tolerated.

The greenhouse restaurant is the heart of the place. Menus change constantly according to what the kitchen garden team and the forager bring in, and anything not grown on site is meant to come from within 25 miles. Expect vegetables treated as seriously as meat, local fish from the Solent coast, and forest game in season. The Lobster Shed serves outside in warmer months, and there is a smoked and cured bar for lighter eating. Booking a table is essential even for residents, and non-residents book well ahead.

It suits couples and small groups who care about food and want a base for walking rather than a full-service resort. There is no spa and no pool, which keeps the focus where the owners intend it. Brockenhurst station is a short drive or a long walk, the forest tracks begin close to the grounds, and Lyndhurst, Beaulieu and Lymington are all within fifteen minutes by car.