AFTER popping in for a meal on Saturday evening I was surprised to see how busy Winchester’s newest restaurant was.

Located at the end of Jewry Street next to the Theatre Royal, Porter House opened in March.

We were greeted by polite staff and seated in front of a big front window allowing us to watch the world go by as we flicked through the menu.

The restaurant looks modern, with a minimalist décor and has an open kitchen allowing you to see the chefs in action.

Settling into our cosy window seat I asked the waiter to recommend a starter and a main course to see what the restaurant had to offer.

For starters I tried the surf and turf which consisted of grilled lobster tail and tenderloin steak, mango-corn salsa and pomegranate (£7.95). I’ve never seen what the fuss about lobster was before but this was expertly cooked and very succulent. Likewise the tenderloin was cooked to perfection and portion wise left me salivating for the main course.

My girlfriend went for the cream of vegetable soup of the day, served with bread and butter (£3.25) which she was very happy with.

Next up came the steaks. On our waiter’s advice I went for the 10oz charred tenderloin steak (£22.50). This was by far the most succulent, flavoursome and tender steak I have ever eaten. It looked small in comparison to my girlfriend’s 12oz grilled sirloin steak (£19.95) but was definitely the better option as my steak was more tender.

The steaks came served with hand cut chips, which are replenished as many times as you can eat them. But to be fair there were so many on the plate you’d have to be a very hungry couple to take advantage of this!

The steaks, which are all from Argentinean cattle, were accompanied by a rich red wine jus and a peppercorn sauce.

We also opted for a side dish of roasted vegetables (£3.75) and my girlfriend had a baked potato with bacon and sour cream (£2.50).

It’s fair to say at this stage we were quite stuffed but managed to find room for the Bailey’s cheesecake (£4.50) and the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream (4£.50).The Bailey’s cheesecake was the better dessert by far and had a soft, melt in the mouth biscuit base.

My chocolate brownie was delicious but could have benefited from more ice cream. Both were stylishly presented with strawberries and sauce artistically framing the puddings.

We were very impressed with the quality of the food at the restaurant and were told that nothing there is frozen, apart from the ice cream, of course!

Our food came to £68.90 without drinks.

Porter House 24 Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8SB 01962 810 532