We ate from the fixed price menu - 2 courses for £16.50. Last year (when the price was cheaper) we also ate from this menu and thoroughly enjoyed the food which was served in adequate amounts.
This year the amounts are miserly. The parsnip soup was very nice but was served luke warm with one small slice of bread and was not a generous bowlfull.
The main course (beef cheeks with dumplings) was again very nice but the portions were miniscule; 2 tiny dumplings, no mashed potato a tiny dribble of gravy and some kale.
Come on Wykeham Arms you can do better than this!!

Lovely welcoming atmosphere, sat down with our friends to order. Drinks and food order was taken by a nice young lady who was looking after our table. Food was excellent although a tad overpriced. Finished up with equally lovely deserts.

And here it starts...
One of our guests realised that she had not been given her desert whilst everyone else had finished theirs. Service is now getting harder to get and it appeared that there was just one girl running around trying to service the bar and restaurant. Eventually after several attempts going to the bar to find someone 45 minutes later the missing desert turned up. Then finally have to chase the bill for ages so that some of our guests to get back to their children and babysitters. I complained to the so called manager who just played the nonchalant yes sir, no sir, sorry sir. Very disappointing end to what could have been a fantastic evening. Yes as I said the food was great but come on you need to sort your service out.

My second visit for lunch five years on from the first visit and such a disappointment. The service was lack lustre, slow and indifferent. The food was very ordinary and a bit over-priced.

A £14 ploughmans came without bread. Then we noticed it had no cheese! How can the kitchen allow this to be served?

The game terrine was minute and half of it was gristle. When this was pointed out to the waitress she didn't seem to care.

The "warm" white wine came poured in a very dirty glass and was sent back.

This place seems to be living off its former reputation and closeness to the Cathedral. However, when we visited - getting to the venue through the year long road works and with limited parking - it was a bit of a nightmare.

There must be plenty of much better venues for lunch with a warm welcome, efficient service and better food and wine (in clean glasses).

We will not be returning.

We stayed here for 2 nights .
My mum - single room .
Friends - standard double room .
Us - four poster room .

This place has so much character and charm .
It's so close to cathedral, and for strolls with such peaceful picturesque surroundings

We arrived early - and all our rooms were ready . With free parking on site

We had an evening meal - which was like eating pose restaurant food . With a service to match .

We booked a room for snacks for when we came back after the wedding - this was great, our own little space for the prams and kids , it was a hot day so we could also use the outside via our own door .

Breakfast was very good - a light breakfast of pastries, yogurt, fruits , or cooked breakfast- all presented like their evening meals .

We have stayed in Winchester many times and for what the Wykeham Arms offers , location , parking , character , pricing - I think it's a great place with charm and very romantic.

We booked this restaurant for our anniversary because of two factors - firstly because of the reviews and secondly because new customers who signed up to their e-mails received a free drink.

The issues began before we even got there. As we were going to the theatre we pre booked. When asking for one of the meals on the menu found online my girlfriend was told that she had an old menu and that that food was not on offer. Rather than apologising and offering the other option they made my girlfriend feel like it was her fault - even though she ordered off the menu on their own website.

When we got there we sat down and the food was with us almost immediately- exactly what we were after as we didn't have long. When the main courses came the food was completely delicious however sadly my girlfriends fish was not hot and the portion sizes were not large as they did not include vegetables. We were frustrated that when we ordered on the phone they did not ask us if we wanted vegetables with our mains. When we mentioned the lack of vegetables to the waitress her responses was that "because they were a proper restaurant we shouldn't have expected them".

Because of the speed of the mains we were luckily able to order a desert to fill us up. Again it was delicious but again it was not hot through. Also the waitress removed our forks and only gave us a spoon to eat with and we had to ask to get the forks back - not sure a proper restaurant would expect you to eat your pudding with a spoon only.

One of the reasons we went to the restaurant was because of the free drinks but frustratingly the website was not working. When we mentioned this to the waitress we were told there was nothing she could do and therefore we were not entitled to our free drink.

Having very grumpily paid the huge bill I mentioned our disappointment to the manager who actually seemed to want to look into it and get back to us however, having taken our e-mail address, we have heard nothing. I have even delayed writing this review to give him a chance.

Very disappointing as the food was delicious and the meal should have been perfect. This experience really put a dampner on our anniversary - we don't usually spend this much money on a meal out but, as it was a special occasion, we thought we would try the best.

This would have been 2 stars if it wasn't for the taste of the food which was excellent.