The Black Rat Restaurant, is a local restaurant and bar serving high quality food with locally produced ingredients. We are open for dinner seven nights a week, as well as lunch on Saturday and Sunday.
The Black Rat is a converted pub that still has its warmth and friendliness, but is now a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant. The food is all freshly prepared in our kitchen and could be described as ‘Modern British’. The wine list has some 80 wines with a balance between Old and New World. We have a bar upstairs where you can have a pre-dinner drink whilst perusing the menu. Non dining guests are also welcome to make use of our bar, unless it is being used by a private party. To avoid disappointment we strongly advise that you book in advance, especially at the weekends!
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The Food
The food is all freshly prepared daily in our kitchen and could be described as ‘Modern British’. Where possible the food is sourced locally from small dedicated suppliers with the importance being on the best quality we can get our hands on. The restaurant also has an allotment where we grow as much as we can so we can use it at its peak. Fish is from Flying Fish in Cornwall, local game from Blackmore Game, Secretts Farm vegetables, meat is sourced from Huntsham farm, cheese from Premier Cheese and smoked produce from Brown and Forrest .
The Team
The kitchen team is led by Chris Bailey who was trained in Michelin starred restaurants such as Chez Bruce in London and Zaranda in Madrid. He is very passionate about food and ingredients and tries very hard to source the finest produce. Chris has a small but strong team behind him who are all integral to the kitchen, headed by sous chef Jamie Stapleton-Burns. The front of house is run by Gareth Freeman and Howard Geary who both have a long record of experience within the local area.
History of the restaurant
The Black Rat was run as a pub for as long as anyone can remember. It has now been completely renovated, whilst keeping all of its old world charm. The building itself dates back to The 1700’s although in the cellars there is evidence of 15th or 16th century stone work. The new owner, David Nicholson, has been in Winchester since 1995 running The Black Boy Pub just across the road in Wharf Hill. Well worth a visit if you enjoy real ales. The new Black bottle has also been added to the group serving wines and charcuterie at the bottom of Chesil Street. Ideal for a pre or post dinner drink.
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