Shooting Star, Bevois Valley

Updated sign and paint job. 


Date: March 2023   Score: N/A 

A little rough and ready. A pool table dominates the space. High chairs. Line of men at the bar. Three pumps - Doom Bar, Red Cat, and an unavailable Otter. Pictures of cocktails behind the bar. Energy bombs advertised. No food. I wouldn't bring a child here (tolerated at weekends before 6 - but what they would do here, I don't know). Three dogs sniffing about and barking. A scruffy place that I am struggling to like. I don't understand why children are not welcome, but intrusive and noisy dogs are. But that's the sort of place this is.

Ambience

Date: Feb 2017    Score: 2

Star Pubs & Bars (previously Scottish & Newcastle)

42-44 Bevois Valley Road
Southampton
SO14 0JR

Mon to Thurs: 3pm to Midnight
Fri to Sun: Noon to late.



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Big Cheese, Bitterne (Closed)

The Big Cheese was a Greene King Hungry Horse pub in a prominent location on a roundabout just north of Bitterne town centre. 

We went in last year for a meal, but didn't have a good experience. The place was big, crowded and noisy, We wanted seats for the three of us so we could sit down to eat. We found a table, but it only had two seats. I went into the second bar where I found a vacant seat. Out of politeness I asked if I could take the chair into the next bar, and the barman said no. I explained that we had a family of three, and only two chairs, so if we couldn't sit down we wouldn't be able to have a meal. The barman insisted that the chair stay in that bar. Obviously we had to leave. 

Just passed it today and it is closed and boarded up. The place was always popular, just poorly managed, so Greene King would have been making money on it. Perhaps the company was concerned about its poor reputation reflecting badly on the Hungry Horse brand, but I would have though the better solution would have been to get a decent management team in. Anyway, I understand that it has been sold, though Greene King haven't said who bought it. I know that McDonald's wanted to buy The Bittern pub in order to build a drive through, so perhaps it is McDonald's who have bought it.

Feb 2017   


I have been told that it is a housing company who have bought it. They intend to knock it down and build houses, but their initial plan has been turned down by the council because it had too many houses for the site. The company are revising their plans and trying again.


June 2019 

Pubs in Bitterne

Greene King pubs in Southampton

Master Builder, Bitterne

An excellent Wadworths pub on the outskirts of Southampton. Four different Wadsworth cask beers on offer from two banks of three pumps placed in two separate bars. Family friendly with food available all day weekends but not in the afternoon during the week. Refurbished to a high standard, this is a pub for special occasions as well as the casual drink.

Pubs in Bitterne

Wadworth Pubs in Southampton

West End Brewery, Bitterne

A Greene King pub on the outskirts of Southampton in the little shopping area of West End. Family pub with food deals all day, every day. It's been well over a year since I've been here, and the place has been refurbished and extended. It's a good community pub with a relaxed yet lively atmosphere. I like it. Three Greene King cask beers on offer, with one pump not in use.

Beer selection

The menu has changed since our last visit. On that occasion we had ordered a bucket selection, but on getting back to the table and talking about it we realised there had been an error and a misunderstanding. The staff were polite but unhelpful, and we had to have stuff we didn't want because they didn't want to cancel the order. I brought the menu item to the attention of Greene King who said they would change it on future printings of the menu, but offered no compensation, not even a 10% off your next meal voucher, or a free drink with your next meal voucher. Anyway. They are a very successful company, so clearly don't need to do such things...

The ambiance

Date: Feb 2017   Score: 5


I had done a review for BITE in Feb 2015:

Family friendly Greene King pub. Fairly recent build, though interior has a traditional pub feel. Place appears very popular - on our Friday afternoon half term visit the place was packed. Has a holiday camp social club feel, with a solidly working class clientele. Three Greene King cask ales, and a range of meal deals on offer, including kids meals. Veggie options are very limited. Food is aimed at being filling rather than healthy or tasty, but it is what it is.

Oct 2019 visit with Myles

Popped in for lunch with Myles. I had a tasty veggie pie (mushroom) with mash and gravy. Myles had cod and chips which he found a bit greasy. The two were part of a £9.99 deal. Solid portions. I had a pint of Treacle Stout - a collaboration between Greene King and a Bristol brewery Cocksure (who appear to have changed their name to Tapestry).  The staff had problems with the card machine so everyone had to pay cash. Food took a while (they did warn us). And meals were constantly being offered to the wrong tables! It's a popular place. Clean and tidy and quite sociable with a good feel to the place. There's nothing special about it (there rarely is with Greene King pubs which tend to be popular and functional rather than attractive, unique or interesting), but it serves its purpose well as an old fashioned tavern offering food and drink to locals and passersby.

Date: Oct 2019   Score: 6

59 High Street
West End
SO30 3DQ

Open
11am to 11pm
Meals
Noon to 9pm


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***

Pubs in Bitterne

Greene King pubs 
in Southampton

Humble Plumb, Bitterne

Wadworth's pub tucked away in a back street. I love this pub. Great beer, great atmosphere, great food. As well as Wadworth's beers they also do guests or "changing beer" as Camra now likes to call them. The original early Victorian building (which appears to have been a residential house, has been extended to create versatile seating areas. Very pleasant. Child friendly. Only drawback is that they don't do food in the afternoons.

On my visit in 2015 I had Hop Kettle Kia Ora, Hop Kettle Solstice, and Okell's MPA.

A couple took over in November 2011, but a different couple are in charge now according to the pub's website.

Meals are around £10. Smaller meals are offered for around £7. Packet if crisps is £1.10.  Pint of 4.4% Farmers Glory cost £3.75 during a visit in Sept 2017. Six different cask beers on offer, one of those a guest.

Humble Plumb
Commercial Street
Bitterne
SO18 6LY

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Wadworth Pubs in Southampton

Pubs in Bitterne

The Anchor Inn, Totton

Cracking pub on the water near the tide mill. Great views. Great atmosphere. Four casks including Doom Bar and Ringwood's Forty Niner available. Open log fire. Relaxed atmosphere. Probably the best pub in Totton. A little out of the way, but worth searching out for.



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Elephant and Castle, Totton

Another busy pub. This is in the town centre. Folks are in, but the pub is not busy. Doom Bar is the only cask. Pub is a bit scruffy. I wait to be served. And wait. Then give up. I don't mind waiting if the beer and or pub is decent, otherwise, what's the point?

Old Farmhouse, Totton

Typical Greene King Hungry Horse. Two beers on: IPA and Abbot. I waited a long time to be served while staff walked languidly past. Eventually I gave up. Pub seems fine, but I couldn't be bothered waiting any longer for an average beer like IPA.

Date: Feb 2017   Score: 5 

Greene King pubs in Southampton

Salmon Leap, Totton

 Another modern pub with two traditional separate bars. That seems to be what they like in this part of Totton. One beer on, the Ringwood. Friendly atmosphere. I like the folks in this pub the best so far, but the GK pub has been the best overall. Child and dog friendly, and serves food, but I wouldn't enjoy eating here as it smells too much of dog.

The Testwood, Totton

Original a Whitbread pub called the Testwood Hotel, it was acquired by Greene King, who built a conservatory along the front, and converted the inside to a spacious single bar. There is a plain but generous rear garden which would be pleasant in the summer. It's a popular place for local people, mostly for low cost everyday Greene King pub food. Quite a low key relaxed atmosphere. Three regular Greene King cask ales, plus a cask cider. Service was slow and indifferent, but in all an acceptable place if you live local. 

The Greene King cask regulars, plus a cask cider

Scampi and chips. Plain and simple.
Edible rather than tasty

Lyn had the Hunters Chicken which
comes with something they call salad

Greene King IPA 
in an Abbot Ale glass

Coca Cola with
ice and a slice

In the good old days - The Testwood when it was a 1930s
roadside pub owned by Whitbread

Date: Feb 2022    Score: 5

A decent sized modern Greene King pub. Family friendly and doing food all day. Larger range of beers. Nothing special, but decent enough. A better pub all round than the Saxon.


Date: Feb 2017   Score: 6 

Child friendly

Open 11am to 11pm

Food  11am to 10pm

Salisbury Road
Totton
SO40 3ND

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Greene King pubs in Southampton

Saxon Inn, Totton

I've visited all the pubs in Southampton, so I'm doing a Totton crawl, starting here in the north of Totton in a modern estate pub. Its large and popular with two large and distinct bars. I entered the lounge bar. Plenty of seating and tables. Furniture is a little worn out, but the place is clean and comfortable. Family friendly with good value food. Two casks pumps, but only one available - Ringwood Best in flobby condition. OK place for the locals, though nothing to really attract outside visitors.

The Elm Tree, Swanwick

Proper old fashioned pub in a semi rural setting.  Decent sized car park, though I can see it might get full at busy times, as the pub extends into the side beer garden to accommodate a dining area. Four pumps, three in use: Doom Bar and two beers from Flowerpots. The Flowerpots Bitter was in excellent condition.

The range of beers

I entered into a sparse public bar with the rugby on, but nobody watching. Moved through into the lounge, where the cask beers are kept, and where the locals were gathered round the bar. The dining area looks a little chintzy for my taste, but seems quite acceptable. As the pub is proper old fashioned, and I visited in the afternoon, the kitchen was closed, and menus had been removed. One couple, and one family turned up looking for food, and both left on being told food didn't start till 6pm.

The ambiance

I sat in a rocking chair which started to fall apart. On handing the pieces to the landlady it was clear this often happened. I had a feeling that the chair would be reassembled after I left, ready for the next customer to sit in and break it.


Date:  Feb 2017    Score: 6 



Swanwick Lane
Swanwick
SO31 7DX


Hours: 11 - 11

Food: 12 - 2 Mon
12 - 2, 6 - 9 Tue - Sat
12 - 6 Sun

Wellington Pub Company 


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