Ketch Rigger, Hamble

 

Lads who lunch visited Hamble Point Marina  on a sunny day, for lunch at the Ketch Rigger, and a little wander around the marina. The Ketch Rigger is comfortable and cosy with plenty of light. Staff are friendly and laid back. There is a combined breakfast and lunch menu. We were advised that breakfasts stop at 12, though it is not indicated, and we were allowed by our friendly crewman to order two breakfasts at a little past 1pm. Not sure if that would be allowed on busy days. 

The lads at the Ketch

Myles had the Eggs Royale, and I had the Eggs Florentine - both were creamy and delicious, and we were served fairly quickly. Most lunch and breakfast items are around £10. The "main meals", including Sunday Lunch, are between £15 and £17.  

The beer selection

There is a modest range of kegged beers and one cider. I had the Shipyard Pale Ale, as that seemed most appropriate! Tasty little beer. Easy drinking. 

Ambiance

There was a relaxed, unhurried ambiance on our visit. Not sure if that would obtain during the busy summer months. There is an open area by the door, where - unfortunately, people are allowed to smoke, with the consequence that the toxic cigarette fumes enter the inside area where people are eating. This is unpleasant and unhealthy. One million non-smokers a year die from having repeatedly breathed in unwanted cigarette smoke. It is a serious health hazard that we should all be aware of - especially smokers themselves, who can take responsibility to ensure they don't smoke in areas where others have to breathe in their cigarette smoke. 

The toilet is outside and around the corner. Slight nuisance if its raining or cold.  There are several rooms or areas, including a comfy conservatory area. On the whole we really enjoyed the place, and would be happy to come back. 

Date: Nov 2022   Score: 6 

Open Mon - Sat 8.30am - 11pm; Sun 8.30am - 9pm - closes at 6pm in the winter. 
Meals all day - stopping an hour before closing. 

Hamble Point Marina,
School Lane
Hamble-le-Rice
SO31 4JD

* Website  
* WhatPub 

* TripAdvisor 

* FaceBook 

Stein Garten, Lower Southampton

 

For Sibs Who Lunch, Lyn and I visited the Bavarian Beer Keller und Restaurant. It's a no nonsense tables and benches place in Southampton High Street, which serves up huge tankards of beer, though you can also have regular pints and half pints. 

Impressive display of German beers

All the main beers are German lagers and wheats, including a dark lager. They have their own branded beer, Stein Garten, a 4% abv lager, but the barmaid wouldn't tell me who made the beer, so I didn't bother with it.  It's a decent selection, and the keg taps make a grand impression on the bar. 

It's set out like a beer tent at Oktoberfest

Inside it is spacious, with lots of bench tables, and some smaller tables. The impression given is of a beer tent at Oktoberfest. The central area, with the longest tables, are where they have the yard long Stein Dog Challenge - where you have to eat a yard long hot dog within a certain time, and you win a t-shirt. Cool. 

Veggie hot dog is £7.50 - for £1 more you can have fries and traditional sauerkraut. It is a generous, good value meal.  We loved it!  More later....

You can come in just for a drink - you don't need to order food. It wasn't busy while we were there (I assume it would get busy evenings and weekends), but three other tables were occupied with people just drinking steins of beer. 

Date: Nov 2022   Score: 7 



Open Noon to Midnight

46-47 High Street
Southampton

SO14 2NS



* WebSite

* TripAdvisor  

* FaceBook 

* Untappd 

The Handle Bar, Portswood (closed)

 

 

Just heard, Nov 2022, that The Handle Bar has closed down permanently. 

It was a quirky and likeable place. Lads Who Lunch visited in October 2020:

Looking out on the world in October 2020

 
The opening of a new pub is always good. And one that focuses on small, local breweries, and serves food, and is kinda cool and laid back is doubly welcome in my eyes. We've recently heard that Caskaway has not survived the government lockdown, so to hear that The Handle Bar has opened is a little blessing.

The bar with local ales

We visited lunchtime and were the only ones to sit inside. There were a few sitting outside in the sunshine, but as there were smokers out there, we sat inside. 

Quirky interior

The inside is quite quaint and quirky. We liked it. And there is a decent selection of beers from local breweries. It was unfortunate that the beer we chose was sour. That with both doors open it was a little cold. That most veggie items were not available, and that my salad wasn't properly dressed. I don't think these are major issues, and on another visit we could have a much more positive experience. We are keen to try again.

Date: October 2020    Score: 6 

69 The Avenue
Southampton
SO17 1XS

* TripAdvisor 
* WebSite  (WayBack) 
* FaceBook 

* Untappd 
* WhatPub 

* Daily Echo 

***

Portswood

Smugglers, Bedford Place

 

A pub which appeared in Bedford Place around 2019, replacing the Benzo Bar & Kitchen which had been there since 2016. Lads Who Lunch visited in May 2021 when the street was closed off to allow tables to be set up outside because of Covid. This al fresco street eating, as of 2022, is now a regular feature, is very popular, and appears likely to stay. 

Booking was essential at the time because if I recall, people were not allowed indoors - all pub visits had to be in beer gardens. We ate in the beer garden at the back. It's a small paved courtyard, mostly covered with Perspex sheets against the rain, though we had the more open area where the tables had umbrellas. The courtyard is rather near the bins for a number of the night clubs in the Bedford Place area, so it wasn't the most pleasant of places to be. However, it kind of works in a rough and ready way. 

Keg beers only

The beers are all keg or bottle. I had Sharps Offshore Pilsner - an inoffensive lager. There was a simple lunch menu with some veggie options. 

All in all it was an acceptable albeit bland place. Pleasant enough, but lacking in the style and character of a number of other pubs and bars in the Bedford Place area. 

Date: May 2021   Score:  5

16 Carlton Place
Bedford Place
SO15 2DY


Open: Noon to 11pm

Meals: Noon to 9pm 

* WhatPub 

* Website 

Pubs in Bedford Place

The Muni (formerly Bowlers), Upper Shirley

 

Southampton's hidden gem they call themselves. Well, hidden it certainly is! Only users of the council gold course would be aware of this place, as it is down a long narrow track that is the only way in and out of the gold course. There is no way that anyone else would be aware of it, and they don't advertise themselves.  

Myles with his giant fish and
finger sandwich

My messy looking, but tasty 
tuna mayo baked potato

The location, though remote, is attractive, with a pleasant view of the rolling, wooded golf course. The venue itself is rather plain and low key, with more of a feel of a working men's club or factory canteen, than what one would normally expect of a club house at a golf course.  The name has recently changed to that of Muni or The Muni - I wasn't sure what it meant, and wondered if it was a golfing term. The warm and friendly girl serving said it was short for The Municipal Golf Course. Ah. Of course.  

There were two hand pumps in place, but only one on during our visit - a beer from the local brewery Hop Back. It was a new beer called Rye Tangled - drinkable. The menu isn't exciting, but it does offer standard canteen food or pub grub. I had a decent jacket spud with lashing of moist tuna mayo. Myles had the biggest fish & finger sandwich we've ever encountered. The fish & finger sandwich is one of the staples of Lads Who Lunch - it's a fall back if there's little else of interest, and we often have to fall back on it, so we have eaten bucket loads of the stuff. This was without a doubt a giant sized doorstep portion. 

All in all it's an OK place to have a drink and/or some lunch if you're here playing golf, but - to be fair - it's not a place to go out of your way to come to. It is oddly similar to The View, which is nearby at the Sports Centre on Thornhill Road.  

Date: Sept 2022   Score: 5  

Clubhouse of Southampton Golf Club, but open to the public. Built in 1938. Does food and keg beer. Closes at 5pm. 

Date: Aug 2022   Score: N/A 

The Pavilion
Golf Course Road,
Southampton
SO16 7LE


Open: 10am to 3pm (though could be 5pm)

* The Muni 

* WhatPub

* Bowlers 

* Facebook 

Ceno, Portswood

 

Not yet visited

119 Highfield Lane
Southampton
SO17 1AQ

Open: Tues to Sun 10am to 11pm
Meals: Tue - Fri 10am - 2pm, 6pm - 9pm; Sat 10am - 9.30pm; Sun 10am - 8pm

* Website 

* WhatPub 

Portswood

The Lord Nelson, Hythe

  

Been here many times. Had a family Christmas meal here, probably around 2018. We like to do the Hythe Ferry, and then pop in here for a drink and a meal. There are three cosy snugs at the front, a larger room at the rear, and a moderate but useful beer garden out back over looking the Solent and the Hythe Ferry train that runs along the pier.  

The building is listed. And is included in Camra's Pub Heritage listings.  

I'll dig up some photos....






5 High Street
Hythe
SO45 6AG


Open 11am to 11pm every day

Lunchtime food, 11.30M to 2.30pm weekdays; 11.30 to 11pm weekends

Children welcome



* WhatPub 
* CamraPubHeritage 
* LordNelsonHythe 

Beards & Boards Craft Beer Bar, Bedford Place

 

Opened in September 2019, just in time for the pandemic, this was our first real chance to visit this relatively new beer outlet in Southampton.  It's mostly a typical "craft beer bar" in that it is small, has plain wooden board seating rather than comfortable, lacks charm and history, doesn't do food, and offers a range of cask and keg beers from small breweries. However, it has its own gimmick of a theme of skateboards, and it does allow children (a rare and brilliant thing!) - indeed, supplies games for kids (and adults) to play. It's a welcome addition to the  thriving beer scene in Southampton, and makes Bedford Place even more of a social draw. 

The beer choice

Accidental photo of us choosing
our beers

There is seating outside at the moment, though as that is taking up space on the road, it's unclear if this is going to be a permanent thing.  

Inviting name - Banana Milkshake

Another beer

My quibbles are the lack of food offered by the place (though they say you can bring your own, or order in, I'd kinda prefer if they took over that side of things, otherwise it's little more than ordering at home and drinking a few canned beers there), and the feeling that its a bar rather than a pub, and - unlike the BrewPub bar round the corner which has a wow impact on entering, there is a lack of distinction in the place - it is, after all, just a small slightly dark shop room (or a table in the street, if you sit outside). That's not to say I don't like it, I do, it's just that I don't think it is really aimed at people like me (slightly romantic, aging hippy in love with history, tradition, and authenticity) but at younger (albeit middle aged), more trendy people. 

A happy Chrissie

We are both keen to revisit and try out the skateboard sample tray. It looks so cool. And this bar would be great as part of a pub crawl around Bedford Place.

Date: May 2022   Score: 7 

Pubs in Bedford Place

Pie & Vinyl, Portsmouth

 

Charming & quirky place that is worth a visit. The vinyl records are all new issues rather than originals - the prices appear to be around £22 per album so there's no chance of a bargain, and there's little romance because they are not the originals. However, if you like buying new vinyl, this is a cool place to browse - you even get a free cup of tea! 

The pie part of the shop is mostly separate, though there are albums around the tables to browse for those so inclined. The menu is divided into meat pies one side, and non-meat the other. A hot pie by itself is £6.50, gravy £1 extra, mash (various) £3 each, mushy peas or beans are £3 - though you can get the complete plate for £11.50. The servings are generous, and the pies are tasty. 

There are canned beers from three different local breweries available - 440ml cans  are £6.50. All in all not cheap but a fair deal for honest, locally cooked food and locally made beer in a charming and quirky environment. And the staff are cool. 

Well worth a visit. 

Date: March 2022    Score:  8 

59-61 Castle Road,

 Portsmouth PO5 3AY



* Trip Advisor 

Mettricks, Portswood

 

After several years under dodgy ownership, Mettricks is back under the control of the founder, Spencer Bowman, and he has opened a new branch in the old Lloyds Bank building in Portswood, which had previously been converted into a pizza restaurant.  

The ambience 

The inside is very attractive, and the atmosphere is buzzing, and the vibe is cool, trendy, and bohemian. The music is, though, just a tad too loud for comfort; and, with the high ceilings creating an unpleasant acoustic echo which makes the music sound harsh and hollow, that, for us, was a serious flaw. But the place looks great, the service is pure Mettricks (smooth, casual, friendly, and rather slow), the food menu is small, but very interesting, with a decent choice for non-meat eaters, and there's a local beer on tap. The place has more good than bad.  But it could be absolutely brilliant if the music were turned down a tad. The buzz of other people chatting and enjoying themselves is the best music - the canned music should be warm and low for the customers, just there to fill in any spaces between the conversation (or, preferably, not there at all in order to allow people to relax and chat to each other without having to raise their voice - but that's a personal choice).  

The choice of keg beers and cider

The beer I had was Unity Conflux - a locally made beer (Unity are just down the road - oh, no, they are not, they moved in 2019 to Princes Street). It's a modern hazy pale ale, in which the citric hops are added late to create a soft and fragrant citric flavour with little bitterness.  

My Turkish eggs

I ate the Turkish eggs: Poached eggs with seasoned yogurt, spiced smoked paprika butter, herbs & buttered toast. Bloody good stuff!  Lyn had the breakfast butty with awesome crispy kale. Both meals gave me ideas to try out at home.  

Lyn looking wistful as she tries
her smoothie

This is a good place. 

Date: March 2022 Score: 8


267-271 Portswood Rd, 

Portswood, 

Southampton 

SO17 2LA

Open: 8am–11pm every day


* Mettricks

* Daily Echo   

* TripAdvisor 

Portswood