The Balmoral, Nursling, (From Daily Echo)

The Balmoral, Nursling,

2:12pm Wednesday 4th August 2010 in Restaurant Reviews By Lorelei Reddin, Entertainments Editor

I’VE BEEN a regular here for some 30 years – and have never been disappointed.

Having grown up just yards from the pub/ restaurant, it has been the obvious place to enjoy a host of family occasions over the years. It’s also a favourite with staff at the nearby Echo offices and we treated our curtain call reviewers to a Christmas get together here last year.

Of course, the eatery is part of the gigantic Beefeater chain but staff at The Balmoral – particularly our regular server Hannah – are so friendly and welcoming that it feels like any other local the country over.

The menu, which includes incredibly good value set meals starting at £5.99, has always been good traditional pub food which does exactly what it says on the tin.

But, on my last visit, I was hugely impressed with the improvements that have been made to the menu, which now offers a brilliant chargrilled selection with the emphasis now very much on fine cuts of steak from the Beefeater grill.

My parents and I spent an evening trying out the highlights of the new fare and loved every mouth-watering bite.

The pick of the starters were juicy chargrilled paprika chicken and red pepper skewers with a tasty honey glaze (£4.75) and – my personal favourite – a simple yet incredible baked Camembert served with bread and marmalade (£5.25).

In terms of mains, we devoured a shared rib eye on the bone (£19.25), served that way for exceptional flavour, a gigantic meaty rack of smoky maple pork ribs served with tangy mojito sauce (£12.25) and a seafood lover’s delight – the fisherman’s chargrilled selection (£13.25), consisting of giant prawn, a sea bass and pepper skewer and shelled scallop drizzled in garlic butter.

Despite being ready to burst, I just had room for the exceptional clotted cream cheesecake served with strawberry and balsamic compote (£4.75).

The wine list would be the envy of many restaurants – including a variety of my favourite white wine New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (£17.99) and red wine, an Argentinian Malbec (£12.99).

We had a wonderful evening sampling some wonderful and unexpected delights from the grill.

The Balmoral, Romsey Road, Nursling, Southampton, SO16 0XJ 023 8073 2262 beefeater.co.uk