The East End Arms

Many months ago our Australian friends decided to pay us a visit, my wife and I thought we would like to take them to the East End Arms in Lymington simply because it is owned by the base guitarist from Dire Straits, John illsley and we have both been life long fans. Two or three weeks before we were due to go I had a quick look at Trip advisor just to be sure nothing had changed, and to my surprise the write ups were clearly showing something was wrong. I almost cancelled our booking immediately. After giving it a little thought I decided to call the East End Arms and ask what the problems were as up until that point the reviews had been outstanding. I had a quick conversation with a staff member , Lilly , who was so friendly and helpful that we decided to ignore what we had read and continue with our trip. A few hours later I received a telephone call from the manager of the East End Arms, Lian who was very helpful , she assured me that all would be fine , they had a really good chef appointed and they would take good care of us . Well she was true to her word, we arrived to a busy bar full of locals having a pint on the way home from work, what a wonderful warm atmosphere, they were all so welcoming. We were shown to our rooms which were fresh clean and well presented. We rested briefly and then went back down to the restaurant for dinner. Bearing in mind that this is predominantly a local country pub , the food on offer Is simply outstanding , big flavours well balanced and served professionally by friendly helpful staff,nothing is too much trouble. We are so pleased that we accepted the reassurance given by Lian, this was such a wonderful experience that would have been a shame to have missed. On our second night we had booked a table in the restaurant as it was my wife’s birthday , again they were so accommodating, arranging for red roses to be delivered to our table along with champagne and a special birthday sweet presentation,my wife was so happy and our Australian guests were also very impressed with professional but friendly service. Unbelievably just as we were finishing our meal the door opened and the great man himself , John Illsley and his lovely wife came in , my turn to be overwhelmed , he was so kind and friendly, we shook hands and he agreed to photographs, what a memorable evening. Bearing in mind that this is a country pub , it has a wonderful restaurant , and just for good measure a very comfortable set of roomsto relax after an exceptionally pampered evening. You really should try it , but don’t tell anyone, let it be our secret.