Pubs and Beer in Southampton: The Malvern, Shirley

Large pleasant multi-purpose pub in a part of Southampton that lacks pubs. I've been here a few times as its near the garage that I use to repair and MOT my car. It was totally refurbished a little while ago. It does food and Greene King beers, and is large and comfortable and is clean and well run, though lacks charm. Not a place to make a detour to, and a little too large and soulless to be a proper local, but a useful spot for a drink and/or something to eat.

This area is classed as Upper Shirley.

Date: March 2017 Score: 5

I found an old review for TripAdvisor

Large detached building with an open leafy garden in a prominent corner location on a main road. Recently refurbished so the inside is clean and modern albeit lacking in character. Has a feel of a European bar. Spacious, yet the seating is slightly cramped and awkward. Does standard pub food for around £8 a meal. It's ok, and is very popular. Lots of TV screens showing Sky Sport while bland modern music plays at an acceptable level. Though lacking in charm, character and interest, it's a clean and tidy place. Normally four cask ales, only Pride available on my visit. Has a small selection of bottles - as with the cask selection, nothing interesting, but Duvel and some BrewDog are offered

Date: Aug 2015 Score: 6

It's been several years since I last visited, so Lads Who Lunch descended on the Malvern on a busy Thursday in January, doing a Mystery Shop for Ipsos (free lunch, and some modest expenses on top).

The smart exterior

The cask beer range

Something every day

Hunter's chicken for Myles

Scampi and chips for me

Myles with his full fat Coke

Toilet needs some attention, a common
fault with Greene King pubs

Modest/bland décor gives more of a
café feel than a pub

Nothing much has changed since my last visit. Place is clean and tidy and functional. It provides a space with tables and seating for people to have food and a drink. But it does not (at least in the daytime) provide any sort of charm or atmosphere or sense of community. It's a Greene King pub, and while some of the better Greene Kings do offer beers outside the Greene King range, the Malvern sticks to the core beers. The food is typical Greene King - with a focus on the standard "pub grub" fare: meat and chips. Mashed potato is offered with the pies, but it is mashed. We had the scampi and the hunter's chicken - choices dictated by the Mystery Shopper guidelines, otherwise we would have gone for something smaller or more interesting, such as the salt and pepper squid or the chickpea curry. The food was edible (as is typical), and the beer (IPA, as per the guidelines) was palatable. None of it was delightful, or something you would recommend to friends. It is functional, and it works. We ate, we drank, we chatted, and we left satisfied.

Since my last visit a charge has been introduced for the car park for non-customers. According to signs in the car park we should report our registration number at the bar - we did, but the barmaid shrugged and said we didn't need to. Probably best to check, just in case! Lots of cameras around the outside of the pub. Myles suggested it might be due to the close proximity of the hospital - I doubted that, as there is free 2 hour parking in the streets around the hospital, but he may be right. Service at the bar was functional rather than warm, which would perhaps be down to staff available on the day of our visit, and that could be different on a different day or time. Most tables were occupied, mostly by older people like ourselves, and certainly all the tables with chairs had gone, so we took a table with benches. We didn't find the benches comfortable - they don't have backs to rest against, and they are a little too high so you either have your legs dangling, or you lean forward and sit on the edge. Sigh.

All in all not a pub to heartily recommend, but neither is it a pub to dismiss. It is clean and functional, and - apart from the benches - comfortable. It serves a purpose. A place to come for an unpretentious standard pub grub meal if you're in the area, and then to move on.

Date: Jan 2022 Score: 5

290 Winchester Road

SO16 6TU

12-11 Mon-Thu; 12-Midnight Fri & Sat; 12-11 Sun
(Meals 12-10)

Greene King

* Malvern Tavern
* WhatPub
* BITE

* TripAdvisor