Two Nights Running At Milford-on-Sea.

Having eaten at The Smugglers Inn in Milford-on-Sea 9 days ago and thoroughly enjoyed their Burns Night menu, we returned for their Chinese New Year spread yesterday evening.

We arrived early enough for me to photograph inside without invading anyone’s privacy.

“The High Street pub – dating back to the 1700s – served as a customs and excise office before being converted into a tiny bar called The Crown – only changing its name approximately 30 years ago.

The original bar, which included a barbers, was extended 60 years ago using old ship timbers, which along with dimmed lighting, wooden tables, cupboards and plush brown sofas, gives this pub a cosy rustic atmosphere.” https://visitmilfordonsea.co.uk/food_and_drink/the-smugglers-inn/

After a plate of prawn crackers with spicy plum sauce more plates and bowls kept coming so that we couldn’t quite finish it all.

Three chefs who had not cooked Chinese food before did so well that when the head man came into the bar for a drink at the end of his stint he was giving a resounding clap by all the customers.

Service was friendly, efficient, and attentive.

I spent the afternoon on ‘The Brontës’.

This evening we dined at The Britannia Thai in Milford-on-Sea with Becky and Ian. Our daughter and son-in-law had been held up in a traffic incident on the M27 and could not say when they would arrive. We had booked for 6.30. Even though they were otherwise fully booked they offered to keep our table until we arrived, as long as it would be before 9.00 because they closed at 10.00.

In fact we arrived not long after 7.00 and enjoyed a pleasant evening’s conversation with excellent food and friendly, efficient, service.

We shared starters of pink prawn crackers, duck spring rolls, and vegetable tempura; my main choice was sea bass Pad Cha; Jackie and Ian both chose tamarind duck; and Becky, special fried rice. Ian and I drank Singha Beer, while the ladies drank Diet Coke.

58 comments

  1. The British pubs are unique, I wish we could reproduce the history, the atmosphere, the architecture, some have tried with more or less success

  2. It looks like such a cozy place. That is quite something to go from Burns to Chinese New Year–and to do both well while being so accommodating to their customers.

  3. My goodness, this is like waiting for buses! 😂 Three delightful evenings out.
    Due to the long, drawn-out illness, I’ve only been out once since October. I have images from last weekend’s birthday meal and will eventually write about it.

  4. This is a wonderful photo of Jackie presenting the menu, and the rest of the images show a great spread. This is the kind of place one can see in Boston, and my son sometimes takes us for drinks when we visit.

Leave a Reply