This tranquil retreat offers wonderful opportunities to relax, dine and escape the stresses of life. Fully licensed eatery, Kimbridge Restaurant, is a favourite both with locals and visitors from further afield (parking is ample), with welcoming staff who create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. The setting is idyllic, next to the flowing trout stream, and the food itself is wonderfully traditional, just like the building.

For an ideal morning pick-me-up, pop in for a hearty breakfast and steaming-hot coffee. Alternatively, drop by for a wholesome lunch. For starters, choose one of the delicious homemade soups, perhaps followed by the trout, which is a firm favourite with regulars. With the river only a stone’s throw away, and the Kimbridge Trout Fishery next door, you won’t find fish much fresher than this. Annie’s is also open for afternoon tea and in the evening for functions. Scheduled events are advertised in advance, but the premises can also be booked for private parties.

If you’re on the look-out for presents for friends and family (or a treat for yourself) make sure to head to the fantastic on-site shop, which stocks an excellent range of cards, gifts and local artists’ work. With comforting cuisine, superb produce and warm customer service, Kimbridge Restaurant provides a perfect escape-from-it-all experience.

Owtons at Kimbridge traditional butchers have traded in the Southampton area for 35 years and have now expanded to include Kimbridge Farm Shop. With its idyllic setting Kimbridge seems the perfect setting for Owtons vision of the perfect farm shop. With quality local produce at the forefront we aim to bring you the best of what Hampshire can provide.

We work with 20 local farmers providing us with the best Pork, Lamb and Beef from around the area, including Beef from our very own farm in West End, Southampton. Our knowledgeable onsite butcher is able to provide you provenance and advice on which cut to choose with cooking advice where necessary.

Farm Shop: 01794 341681

Email: shop.kimbridge@btconnect.com

The reason I am promoting this wonderful Aladdin’s cave of unbelievable  delights is that I went there last weekend and bought some neck of lamb and pork belly, both not expensive but produced the best meals I have had in ages.

Get down there and try it out, you will not be disappointed.

Other Local Food Producers.

Director Martin Roberts along with his much loved Ale about to be dispatched all over Hampshire.

I made an appointment to visit Bowman Ales having tried their Wallops Wood at The Kings Head, Hursley, and realised that this is how a bitter should taste.

The drive over was great, bright sunshine and the countryside beginning to shake off its winter slumber with daffodils along the roadside.

Bowman Ales is conveniently situated amongst some of Hampshire’s most productive farmland and whilst the malted barley they use is a Wiltshire product, Ray Page, Director (Brewer) is hoping to use Hampshire malted barley fairly soon.

The process is fairly straight forward, boiling water is passed over the malted barley in the Mash Tun, and this process is called spurging the malt, and the resulting syrupy-sweet malt tea, called wort, is transferred to another fermentation vessel where it is heated along with all the other ingredients that go to make the Ale.  Picture below is the fermentation vessel.

After fermentation has taken place, the 720 gallons are transferred to their final storage tanks, the whole process takes about 2 weeks.

Where to find Bowman Ales in Hampshire Pubs.

Check out Beer Festivals in Hampshire.

Perhaps this is not the time to say you should think about saving our wildlife species, probably saving our own species is more important. Well I believe we should do what we can in winter to feed our native garden birds; once they are gone it will be a sadder place.

Last year was particularly bad; the main photo was taken on December 2^{nd 2010} and we have had a pretty mild winter so far,  but that is not to say a cold snap will not arrive soon.

Get prepared with a wonderful supply of home grown wild bird seed and dispencers.

Welcome to our bird seed business !

The Really Wild Bird Food Co.

We are Richard and Lesley Smith and we run our own family farm in Hampshire, UK, where we grow a wide range of crops specifically for our bird food business. High on taste, high on quality, low on air-miles and low on carbon emissions, our local option is the best option for your garden birds – guaranteed !

In addition to our home produced wild bird seed mixes and straight seeds, we also sell a wide range of suet and fat products, mealworms, bird feeders, nest boxes, bird feeding accessories and much more !

We hope you enjoy shopping with us.

As a way of saying thank you for liking Agent Smart and encouraging more followers to ‘Like’ us, we are offering a fantastic way to enjoy Christmas with a chance to win one of the 4 Box Selections shown below from the award winning organic farm of Laverstoke Park Farm, Overton, Hampshire.

Get us up to 250 followers on our Facebook page and one lucky winner will be chosen at random, their name will be posted on our facebook wall to claim their prize. Delivery included.

Choice 1

Dinner for 2

Our NEW Dinner for Two box brings you a trouble-free 3-course dinner menu in one box – ideal for spending the night in with your special person. Perfect for the man wanting to cook up an impressive meal, or for the busy lady wanting a hassle-free evening.

Box includes: -

Starter РA choice of pat̩ (100g) plus award-winning Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese(1x 5x25g balls)
Entr̩e РTwo award-winning buffalo fillet steaks (pack weight 340g)
Pudding- Sticky Toffee pudding (700g) & buffalo milk custard (450ml)
After Dinner Treats – Buffalo milk fudge (125g) and chocolate (46g) to compliment your after dinner coffee

Choice 2

Buffalo Meat Taster Box

Designed to give you a broad introduction to the unique foods we produce here on the farm, this box contains some of our most popular and most unusual products. There’s enough to make up to 16 gourmet meals, all with the amazing Laverstoke flavour.

Your box includes:

*Organic Ribeye Steak 400g
*Organic pork loin Chops 450g
*Organic Lamb Cutlets x360g
*Organic Dry-cured Back Bacon 184g
*Buffalo & Smoked Bacon Sausages 400g
*Naturally-reared Buffalo Burgers x 5
*2x Buffalo Mozzarella 125g

Pieces per-pack : 8
Min Pack Weight : 2.8kg

Choice 3

Bangers, Burgers and Beer

A fine selection of meats for the BBQ and bottles of each of our organic real ale and organic real lager to wash them down.

This box contains: -

1x pack Organic Beef Minute Rump Steaks – 500g
1x BBQ cut Jointed Organic Chicken – 1.4kg
1 pack Traditional Boerewors Sausage – 400g
5x 6oz Buffalo Burgers
1x pack Organic Pork Belly Slices – 500g
1x Organic BBQ Marinade – 280ml
2x Organic Real Ale – 500ml
4x Organic Real Lager – 330ml

Choice 4

The Dairy Box

The dairy box brings you a selection of our award-winning dairy products including a selection from our award-winning ice creams, buffalo cheeses and smooth creamy buffalo milk.

This box contains: -

Buffalo Milk – 2x 750ml cartons
Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese – 2x 125g pots
Buffalo Ricotta Cheese – 1x 300g pot
Buffalo Burrata – 1x 150g ball
Buffalo Milk Custard – 1 x 450ml
Buffalo Milk Ice Cream – 4x 450ml pots
(choose from 15 flavours flavours above).

Our smooth, lusciously creamy buffalo milk ice cream is also enhanced with Jersey cream. (Unsuitable for those with lactose intolerence).

Our buffalo mozzarella is like the fresh mozzarella you find in Italy and has beaten Italian mozzarella in many blind taste tests (note for vegetarians – animal rennet is used in this product).

See more from Laverstoke Park Farm

I tried some of the strawberries shown in the photograph, and truly they should be eaten straight from a days picking with the sun on them, so I can see why they are only for sale ready picked! How many disappear without getting to the check-out, tooooo many!!

The PYO has opened with PYO Gooseberries, Redcurrants, Broad Beans & a few Ready Picked Strawberries. This year we will NOT being doing PYO Strawberries at all, the only ones available will be ready picked, so supplies will be limited to what we produce each day & cannot be guarenteed. The rest of the PYO WILL continue as normal.Raspberries & Blackcurrants have also just started, but will be very limited in number until the next batch of warm weather helps to get them ripe! New Potatoes will start on Sat June 11th. In the meantime we are running Carboot sales in the PYO carpark every second Sunday-the next one will be on Sunday 12th June. Sellers will be admitted from 8am onwards, and Buyers from 9am. Costs for the Sellers are £5 per car, £6 per Van, & £1 extra for a trailer. Admission for Buyers is FREE. Refreshments & Toilets are available. The first three sales went very well with around 50-60 sellers so we do recommend you come and see us.(no need to book). WARNING – Due to the funeral of Mrs Valerie Marshall the PYO will be totally closed on FRIDAY 10th June.

On a sadder note Ganger Farm has to announce the death of Mrs Valerie Marshall after a short illness. She was one of the founders of the PYO and will be sadly missed.

Broad Beans and Gooseberries    £1.95 per Kg

Redcurrants                                          £2.45 per Kg

Blackcurrants                                       £2.95 per Kg

Raspberries                                           £5.50 per Kg

Visit Ganger farm website

See more Hampshire food and drink producers

I’ve been meaning to take a trip to Viviers (UK), Portsmouth fish merchants for some time, and certainly glad I made the effort. If you have ever taken the ferry to the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth, you were literally 100 yards from Viviers.

We take fresh fish, well in the case of supermarkets it is probably far from fresh, but this luxury has only been possible since refrigeration and rapid transport systems were introduced. Previously fresh fish was a luxury only available to those that lived near a fishing port, or fish was salted or smoked to allow for transport to inland towns.

Today one of the best known fish merchants in Portsmouth, and also nationally and internationally, is Viviers (UK) ltd.  Founded by Eric McLeod in 1985 as a shellfish merchant, and a year later as a fish merchant selling direct to the public, the business now employs over 20 staff and is the largest buyer of wild oysters (Ostrea Edulis) in Europe.

I bought a couple of wild bream and had them professionally filleted by one of the friendly staff, and along with a bag of shell on prawns, bon appétit.

Visit their website See location See other Hampshire Food Producers

I first tried Madhuban curry sauces some years ago and because they are not readily available forgot all about them. Well Agent Smart found them and would you believe in Hampshire. I ordered on-line and true to their word the four wonderful pots of Curry sauce arrived the next day. Seriously, I love cooking but why waste loads of time preparing authentic sauces when you can have them delivered to your doorstep. I fully recommend them, don’t hesitate and order now.

A bit about Madhuban sauces from their website.

At Madhuban we pride ourselves on our truly authentic restaurant-style sauces. They don’t just taste like the real thing…..they are the real thing. No pale imitations these – they come straight from the curry house kitchens. We think they’re perfect. With the help of the recipes on our site, so will you.

Range of Curry Sauces.

These are the most popular restaurant Curries:

Korma Sauce, Tikka Masale sauce, Hot Madras Sauce, Jalfrezi sauce, Medium Bhoona sauce, Balti sauce, Thai Red Curry sauce, Thai Green curry Sauce, Mint Raita sauce.

Sauces are ideal for vegetarians and are Gluten FREE

In March 2010, Country Food and Dining Company acquired The Good Life Farm Shop and has significantly developed the business, improving and extending the range of departments to include Farm Produce, Garden Centre, Butchery, Delicatessen, Smoked fish from The River Test Smokery, Wine cellar, Gift Room and a welcoming Café  serving wonderful homemade food and delicious beverages.

With our fresh produce we take great care in making sure is of the highest quality and we also stock seasonal products when available. We have a great range of interesting cheeses and antipastos in our delicatessen along with a huge range of preserves, chutneys and cooking sauces to keep your store cupboards full. We also have all your daily essentials like fresh bread, milk, and homemade cakes (we all know that fresh cakes are definitely a daily essential!)

All of the staff at The Good Life would love to meet you, so what are you waiting for? Come along and enjoy it as much as we do!
We aim to make sure all our customers get to try the best food available at the right price. We also make it our mission to stock as much local produce as possible using some of Hampshire’s finest producers.

Special Deal on Tuesdays, 10% off at the Cafe