Pitcher & Piano, Ocean Village

Myles at the bar

This was my fourth venture into the heart of the bars in Ocean Village (not counting the Wetherspoon pub), and the second with Myles. Last week we tried Banana Lounge, and found it fairly average, though the food was good. This time we tried the venue next door.  Pitcher & Piano is Marston's upmarket pub chain, which they bought off entrepreneur Crispin Tweddell for £20 million in 1996, when there were only seven pubs in the chain. The deal seemed to include Sheila McKenzie as managing director, as she appears to have created the brand, and made it something that appealed to women. The success of the brand made Marston's an attractive proposition for Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries who bought out Marston's in 1999 for £300 million, and changed their name to that of Marston's. But, despite developing the Pitcher & Piano brand so there are now 18 pubs across the country, Marston's were considering selling it last year for £40 million. No sale took place, so all must now be happy in the Marston household. 

View to the right over Ocean Village

View to the front over the harbour towards Southampton Water

This is a bright, airy, clean, modern and attractive pub. More bar than pub (there are three hundpumps, but none were in use on our visit). With lots of space. There is an air of calm about the place that I liked, and a gentle buzz of conversation. The place wasnot crowded, but there were a good number of tables occupied, so this is a more popular location than Banana Lounge, and we can see why. The bar is higher up than the Banana Lounge, so it has a greater view of the harbour in Ocean Village. There are windows all round, and this creates a lovely vibe. You can imagine yourself on holiday in some exotic location. It really is very nice.

My lunch

The food is upmarket pub grub rather than the restaurant style of Banana Lounge, but the prices are lower as a result. The lunch menus though are similar prices.



Date: Feb 2020    Score: 7


Channel Way
Ocean Village 
SO14 3JB


Monday to Thursday: 10am to 11pm
Thursday to Sunday: 9pm to Midnight

* Pitcher & Piano
* WhatPub
* TripAdvisor

* PubsGalore

* BITE