Bold, unpretentious and one of the poshest restaurants in the New Forest. But can you handle the wallpaper?
Samphire is a cacophony of bold, floral wallpapers, Kia-Ora-orange chairs, sage banquettes, fuchsia scatter cushions and accent lamps. The interior designers of the newly renovated Stanwell House boutique hotel in Lymington, Hampshire, were very brave, and have come up with a sort of “eruption in a Cath Kidston outlet” vibe, which I rather loved, not least because I often bemoan restaurants that are decked out in risk-free shades of beige, tapioca and silt, as if the management were neither committing to a theme, nor confident of staying open for very long at all. There’s none of that meekness at Samphire, though. From the off, the place screams: “We are one of the poshest restaurants in the New Forest, but we’re not one of those aloof, Scandi, trial-by-dinner spots where you have to pretend that live ants and raw duck offal are delicious. No, we’re just doing fish and potatoes and the like. Aunty Bertha will be completely safe here.”
Stanwell House’s refurbishment has resulted in three different dining options. There’s also the Salt Bar and the Orangery, which don’t take themselves too seriously and were packed with guests on the Saturday I visited, all of them eating club sandwiches, brisket and bone-marrow burgers, meze-style sharing boards and plates of doughnuts with coffee espuma for dipping. Meanwhile, Samphire, the fancier offering, which serves red-deer carpaccio, Shetland scallops and Lymington picked crab, was deserted. Or at least it was until we arrived; later, another couple arrived on a date, every word of whose conversation I could hear from six tables away (Sir, you were “friend-zoned” weeks ago; it was as unmissable as Samphire’s bottle-green, mock-Vaudeville wall lamps – sorry).
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