O’Connor’s Secret Garden

O’Connor’s Secret Garden steak

There are two excellent places to eat in Alton, the little Italian coffee shop in the town and O’Connor’s Secret Garden.

Last I was in Alton, said hello to Peter O’Connor, but was tired and did not stay to eat.

Afterwards, I thought, it would have made sense to eat as I had not eaten all day.

Today, I had a what was little more than a mediocre prawn sandwich at the Italian coffee, followed by a not very good cake and a pot of tea. The chefs had gone home. I was disappointed as that was my reason for a visit to Alton.

I was sat in the garden where I met a group of people who had been to a wedding.

As they were leaving, I offered as I was walking through Alton, then through the water meadows, I would be quite happy to show them the water meadows.

We came back via St Lawrence church, then as we passed by O’Connor’s Secret Garden, me on the way to the station, they to their hotel, I suggested we popped in for a drink as I was thirsty and I thought they would like the place.

We went through and sat in the garden. I do not know who suggested it, maybe it was the smell of the food, but by mutual consent we agreed we were hungry and it would be a good idea to stay and eat.

Peter came out and said there would be a wait as we were not booked and he had a party of ten booked.

No problem, we were happy to wait, but would relocate inside as starting to get cold.

I ordered a beer and a rib-eye steak with all the trimmings. One had haddock. I cannot recall what everyone else had, except one dish was served on a long narrow plate, with steam rising, to represent the steam trains which run from Alton, which I thought was a neat touch. Everything was served with watercress.

Watercress is grown locally. The water meadows we had walked through earlier, the source of the River Wey, were originally watercress beds, now lying derelict.

My beer was excellent, as was my steak.

The beer from Triple fff Brewery, a small local brewery, had an interesting red colour and was excellent tasting. I think it was called Wallop Wood, but cannot be sure.

Note: The beer, if it was wallops Wood is from Bowman Ales not Triple fff Brewery.

The steak, medium rare, was one of the best I have had. The only time close was at Jamie’s Italian in Guildford. I would usually have with chips, but I let the girl serving decide and it came with colcannon potatoes (an Irish dish and a speciality of O’Connor’s Secret Garden). Plus half a tomato, mushrooms and watercress. The mushrooms were delicious, cooked to perfection.

The food freshly prepared from fresh ingredients, not white chiller van hotted up.

Everyone enjoyed their meal. Apart from one dissenting voice, a chef, who quibbled the way her fish was cooked. I did suggest she went and talk to Peter, as if something was wrong, he would wish to know, but she declined.

A very charming, and stunningly attractive, girl with lovely personalty served us. An asset to O’Connor’s Secret Garden and complimented the food. She was also knowledgeable about the food.

O’Connor’s Secret Garden is the oldest residential building in Alton.

On entering O’Connor’s Secret Garden you pass through a passageway. Either side little parlours which can be used for private dining or overflow. The passageway enters the main restaurant. Through the restaurant into a lovely little garden out the back. The garden used to have tomatoes, runner beans and herbs growing, but I saw none on this visit.

We sat in the garden for a little while, then came inside as it was turning cool.

The garden is No Smoking. Too many pubs are ruined, you think sit outside in the fresh air, only to have smoke being blown in your face.

My only gripe was the music. Not the music per se, but it would have been far better no music, especially out in the garden. Late afternoon, in the little Italian coffee shop, there was no music, and that was far better.

Two very nasty reviews on TripAdvisor and one not very pleasant, either trolls or rivals dishing, that bear no resemblance to O’Connor’s Secret Garden. TripAdvisor is rapidly losing all credibility when it fails to deal with fake reviews. It also becomes a laughing stock when Alton Kebab shop (empty when we left O’Connor’s Secret Garden) is ranked No 1 on TripAdvisor. The glowing reviews for the Alton Kebab shop all saying the same thing, all singing from the same song sheet.

TripAdvisor claim to have algorithms that detect fake reviews. Must be their idea of a joke. They fail to even root out fake reviews when drawn to their attention.

• O’Connor’s Secret Garden – TripAdvisor

Tags: Alton, food, O'Connor's Secret Garden, O'Connor's Secret Garden Bistro