The Phoenix, Romsey

Searching for the Thirsty Pig, the new craft beer pub in Romsey, and I walk past The Pheonix bar and eatery. It looks rather plain, and the name is not inviting, but I like to try out pub so I go in. Three beers on offer. Initially it all looks fairly standard. I order a half of a Castle Rock beer, Elsie Mo. The woman behind the bar struggles to find "the right glass", and asks for assistance, and is told to use the glass under the pump. So eventually she ends up giving me a pint of Castle Rock in a Deuchars IPA glass. I don't mind the glass being a different brand to the beer (this happens all the time), but I do mind being given a pint when I asked for a half. Normally I point it out and get the beer poured into a half pint glass, but clearly the woman is stressed enough already with the difficulty of having served me at all, so I let it go. I sit down and survey the place, and it looks OK. Then I go to the loo, and get my first real impression of just how big the place is, and at how well decorated it is, and that there's a beer garden out the back. There's a good vibe about the place - it has a little more character than the name suggests. I enjoyed it, and was pleasantly surprised at how much it has to offer.

The pub was refurbished in 2015 at the cost of  nearly 1/4 million pounds.

Date: Nov 2017   Score: 6

Chrissie outside The Pheonix

Visited during lockdown in June 2020 because they were doing takeaway cask beers.  There was a one way system of in and out. We liked visiting Romsey so much, with the Phoenix doing fresh cask beer, Luc doing great sandwiches, and Reeve doing excellent cakes, that we came back a few days later to meet up with our friend Marie, and during the day I made a new friend. Even during lockdown pubs have the potential to bring people together and make new friends.

Barmaids pulling generous pints

All the beers served at The Phoenix during both our visits were local breweries. Support local, drink local.

Drinking the awesome Perridge Pale in the abbey gardens.  

 Date: June 2020   Score: 8

Beers drunk:

Flowerpots Perridge Pale
Stonehenge Great Bustard
Stonehenge Mystik

30-32 The Hundred
Romsey
SO51 8BW

Open 10am to 11pm

Food. Children welcome. 

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