5:37pm Wednesday 17th June 2009
By Simon Carr
ONE Hampshire publican believes the way to a punter’s heart is through their stomach and has put on a range of dishes to draw them in including a specialist menu with 15 burgers that was launched only this month.
Among these are the gourmet burger with bacon, mushrooms, onion rings and covered in blue cheese and a Reggae Reggae chicken burger using the barbecue sauce made famous in TV’s Dragon’s Den.
Also on offer is an experimental surf and turf which brings, unlikely bedfellows, beef and scampi together in a bun and a build your own burger option for the DIY foodie.
In addition to this beefy selection the King Rufus, Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford, has just launched a new menu that includes everything from fine dining to pub favourites including a Sunday carvery.
Linked to the Greene King brewery the pub also has a constantly changing list of specials and serves food throughout the day.
To make mouths water even more they are running a special offer of two meals for a tenner.
Manager Gavin Lockley, who took over the pub 18 months ago, said: “Food is a really big part of what we do here and we want to give people fantastic food at a good price and the chance to try something new.
“That’s what the new burger menu is about and the people who come here seem to like it, I suppose it’s a bit like a country pub atmosphere.
“We have tried to make the menu a bit cheaper to make it easier for people to enjoy a night out even with everything that’s going on at the moment.”
The 140-seat dining room and bar is on a sprawling patch of greenery which includes a huge beer garden and a patio.
Locals, families, business travellers and visitors make up the business’ bustling clientele and all praised the food.
The historic pub is named after King William – who was nicknamed Rufus because he had a shock of red hair.
Legend has it the monarch once stayed there and his body was later brought to the premises on the way to Winchester.
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