Steam Town Brewery, Eastleigh

Steam Town is newly opened in a former brewery. It's a little outside of Eastleigh, but close enough to the Itchen Way to make it a viable stopping place in Bishopstoke as an alternative to the Toby Garvery. I popped in at lunchtime during the week - not a busy time, and the restaurant side was empty. There were a few blokes of assorted ages having a drink. The lunch menu appears to be limited, especially for vegetarians, but there are halloumi sticks, which are always welcome.

The bar brews its own beer in a brewery visible through glass doors off the restaurant area. There are four active pumps, all offering Steam Town's own beers. In addition there are around ten kegs behind the bar. Difficult to see, but there is a blackboard to the left of the bar which lists all the beers on it. The kegs are from a selection of breweries - none of them are Steam Town. The bar does third pints, but only on the keg beers.

The place has been stripped back to bare brick to give a modern vibe, and there are occasional train themes to add more character - a station clock, train carriage seats in the restaurant, plus brewing/beer themes, such as using cut away kegs in the toilet.

Dogs are welcomed and "well behaved" children are tolerated it seems, though not exactly encouraged.  I kinda liked the place, though it felt not quite finished, and a little soulless during my visit - it's probably warmer and friendlier in the evenings. They occasionally have live bands. It's certainly a place worth making a detour to check out as it does have character, and it does brew its own beers. If you're a dog owning, burger eating, beer drinker, you'll like it even more!

1 Bishopstoke Road
Eastleigh
SO50 6AD

Opening Times

11-11

Meal Times

12-3, 6-9 Mon-Fri; 12-9 Sat; 12-6 Sun

* Website
* Facebook
* TripAdvisor
* WhatPub

Oasis Bar, Lower Southampton

1950s pub/bar offering one cask. On my visit the cask was Old Speckled Hen. On a Sunday all draught pints are £3. It's a small to medium size corner location bar, with a patio area out front. No food, just drinks. Quite plain, but not unpleasant. Has the look and feel of a Continental bar, except for the very loud drunk taking advantage of the cheap Sunday drinks. Barman laid back, other customers mostly middle aged men on their own, with one married couple at the bar chatting to the barman. The place could be acceptable if it wasn't for the drunk. Four large supporting pillars rather impose themselves.

Date: October 2019  Score: 4 

The above review appeared recently on TripAdvisor. Trevor, the owner, responded: 

 trevorw864, Owner at Oasis Bar, responded to this review

So, you visited in October 2019, 11 months ago, and now write a patronising inaccurate review that unless people note the date gives the impression that we are flaunting the COVID rules? Unacceptable.
For the record, the building is from the 1950's, the bar isn't.
We stopped the Sunday £3 pint offer when we reopened after the initial lockdown in early August.
During lock down, we refreshed all the decor - our palm tree motif covers two walls, with that and the other decor using no less than 7 colours. We also sanded, stained and re-varnished the bar fronts, DJ booth, back bar shelves and patio benches to give the woodwork a variety of colours and textures. Every bit of gloss paint was redone too. We also replaced all the tables with contemporary wood and metal ones.
One loud drunk? Your opinion, which you'll gather we don't give much credance to ... and how does that negate the 'continental bar' look, do they not have loud people on the continent?
The four large pillars are holding the rest of the building up, FFS.

The gist of that, is the place has been redecorated, and the beers on Sunday are now more expensive. The four large pillars are still there supporting the building above and are still imposing themselves on the space.  I'd like to thank Trevor for the feedback about how the place has been updated since my review, but TripAdvisor doesn't let you do that.  I'd also like to ask Trevor why my review so annoyed him, as I don't think I set out to mislead anyone about the place, just give an honest appraisal of my personal experience. It's true the review was put in TripAdvisor recently, though the experience was a while back, but TripAdvisor allow that, and put in the date so people can see when the visit took place. Not sure in what way the review was inaccurate, as I reported my experience in as accurate and honest a way as I could. Out of date, perhaps, but so is this review: "The staff were very friendly, it was clean and tidy and there was a good atmosphere. Lots of people came in later than us. We had a good end to our evening but I'm not sure what it may be like on a busy Friday or Saturday night. Date of visit: January 2020" To which Trevor responded on the same day as he responded to my review: "Hi - sorry this has taken so long, thank you." If Trevor is concerned that my review is placed chronologically out of sequence, then that's a matter to take up with TripAdvisor rather than rant about my review being "patronising" and "inaccurate". But there we are. I have some empathy with Trevor's position, but I'm not comfortable with his manner of expressing it, and feel that he probably gives a more negative impression of Oasis than my review. But others may feel he is right, and such people would be attracted to Oasis as a result. I am now more put off revisiting Oasis than I was before. So be it. 

 

  

  

Phocea is at a birthday party, so I'm revisiting a few pubs while I wait to pick her up. I'm back here to see how the place has improved since my last visit. There are around 10 customers inside and another four in the patio area outside smoking. The place is snug with subdued lighting and music at a modest level. Indie music. Gentle relaxed conversation is going on. 

  

Some Christmas decorations set up attractively in the window spaces. There is a cask pump handle tucked away behind a pillar, but I don't ask for it, I take a Red Stripe keg lager. On the whole this is a laid back place, more bar than pub, a mix of customers, both young and old. The decor feels old, faded and dated, and is not to my taste, but it's not offensive. It's not a place I'm warming to - it has the feel of a WWII German bunker, but each to their own.

Date: Dec 2021.  Score: 4

137 High Street
Southampton
SO14 2BS


Opens 12.00 every day



* Website
* WhatPub
* TripAdvisor 

The Bricklayers Arms, Millbrook

Local pub. Lease is up for sale by Star Pubs, which makes the pub appear to be closed, but it is still open. A little run down but friendly enough. Does cask, but none available on my visit - apparently it had been a busy weekend! No food. Signs in the toilet seems to suggest that drugs are sold on the premises, and that the pub is trying to discourage this. A corner location, with two separate bars - the main bar, accessed from the front, and a games bar, access from the side, which was closed during my afternoon visit. If you live in the area, this is an OK place in an area not blessed with many pubs - though the Ship Inn, Redbridge and the Park Inn, Shirley, are not too far away, and both are very decent pubs. On the whole there is little here to attract outside visitors.

Ambiance

Date: March 2018   Score: 3 


165 Wimpson Lane
Southampton
SO16 4QD

Open Noon to 10pm every day (until 11pm weekends)

No food. 


* Facebook
* WhatPub
* Star Pubs

• Pubs in Shirley

Beers & Bottles, Portswood (Closed)

Beers & Bottles is a high street off-licence in Portswood that focuses on beer. There is a good selection of beers from the UK and Europe, plus some from America, and other parts of the world. I visited here shortly after moving to Southampton, and quite liked the place as there is a decent selection, good prices, and it is convenient. My review for RateBeer:

Beer and wine shop in the student area of Southampton: Portswood. Has the usual Belgians, and the usual UK bottles, plus some American stuff, including beers from Hawaii, along with a decent selection of local beers. Not a range that will excite most RateBeer users, but handy if you’re in the area, and way better than most High Street beer shops and supermarkets. If you want a larger selection, including beers from some of the real cutting edge breweries in the UK and on the continent, then Bitter Virtue is going to be your choice. But when doing the weekly shopping in the nearby Sainsbury’s I can see myself popping in here somewhat more frequently than Bitter Virtue purely because it’s convenient, and will have some beers I'm likely to buy.

I just visited in Feb, 2018, and found a lot of empty shelves, which looked worrying. But the man behind the counter said the owner was out picking up some new bottles, and the shelves would be full again soon. I hope so.

Beers in the window

Came here (March 2020) to buy some beers, and the place is closed and gone. It's now a noodle shop. Shame. 


* Beers & Bottles
* RateBeer 
* ThomasHallet 
* Facebook

Portswood

Prince Consort, Netley

We've come here several times over the years, and each time we come we like it more and more. 

Date: Sept 2020    Score: 9

Ambience

Generally offers two cask beers

Clean and tidy. Lacks atmosphere and charm but serves beer and food. Job done. We had a very tasty nut roast with fresh veg. Veg was crisp to the point of being underdone, but Chrissie was happy. I have a preference for cooked (soft) veg. Place is popular on a Sunday, and tables were soon all reserved around us, and the bar area was rapidly filling up. This is a decent local which offers decent food and a selection of cask beers. One of the beers on our visit wasn't as fresh as it could have been, but was just shy of refusing.  An ok place I'd be ok with returning to. And we liked it more than the nearby Dancing Goose.

Date: Nov 2019    Score: 6

This place tries hard to do well, but it doesn't work for me. Nothing wrong with it, just that it's not my style. The original Victorian pub has been modernised with cool greys and pale wood furniture into an IKEA cafe. There are four casks, but they are national standards like Doom Bar. And four is too many, as I rejected two as undrinkable before settling on a wa werm and out of condition but drinkable Atlantic. It was an awkward and embarrassing moment. Fair play the barmaid didn't quibble, but also didn't quite understand as she "doesn't drink beer".
My baguette was tasty, though came with chips and salad as standard. All of which was very tasty - but were the chips really necessary? I'd prefer that to be an optional extra rather than be put on my plate.

I was also put off by being told to sit at the table and the barmaid would come to take my order. I said I would be quick so no need, and then was asked if she could take my drink order while I was deciding! Good intentions, no doubt, but I was now feeling somewhat out of sorts with the pub as we were clearly operating on different time scales and perceptions of considerate and discrete service. Then, when I did order she said she'd start a tab, and I was now fed up with fighting her decisions. But really I prefer to pay upfront in a cafe or pub because I don't see the value in going to the bar twice. When I'm finished I just want to leave, not wait at the bar to be served!

Date: Jan 2018   Score: 5

71 Victoria Road
Netley
SO31 5DQ

Monday-Saturday 11am-11pm; Sunday 12-10.30pm 

Food 12-2.30 then 6-9.00  All day Sat and Sunday (until 6pm)

Children welcomed 

* WhatPub 

* TripAdvisor 

* BITE 
* Daily Echo 

The Mailmans Arms, Lyndhurst

An unpretentious down to earth Greene King pub next door to the Ferrari showroom at the eastern end of Lyndhurst. Three GK cask ales, including the GK house ale which here is labelled as Forest Bitter. Attractive from the outside, it's a bit disappointing on many levels when you get inside.

Meals offered, all at £9.50. Piped music. Single L shaped bar. Huge plasma TV showing sport. Rear beer garden, and a front courtyard where you can watch the cars go by while breathing in the fumes of cars and smokers.

A red sign behind the bar suggests that customers don't ask for a straw, as plastic straws are bad for the environment. We agree and are in support of that, but Chrissie didn't see the sign when she asked for a straw for Popsy. Then felt bad about it because the barmaid glowered at her. But why did they give us a plastic straw instead of a paper one? Instead of putting up a sign asking people not to ask for straws, and then making them feel awkward when they do ask, simply stock paper straws. Seems more socially as well as environmentally friendly. While we were drinking a barmaid came up and told us she was taking two chairs at our table which we were using to hold our bags. I'm not sure what's wrong with being polite and asking, rather than demanding. 10 minutes later as we left, the chairs she had taken were still not being used.  These are small details perhaps, but it's often these small things that matter, and make the difference between a great pub and a poor one.

All in all the Mailman's Arms is a bit drab, plain, and down market for our taste, but seems popular with locals, and those who like an unpretentious pub with blunt service. Each to their own.


* Website
* Facebook
* TripAdvisor  (as restaurant)
* TripAdvisor (as pub)
* BITE
* WhatPub

Sir Joseph Paxton, Locksheath

Beer selection

Family friendly pub in a semi-rural location on the edge of Lockheath. Does food lunch times and evenings. Its clean and tidy, but furnishings are cheap and worn. Four casks from Fuller's and Sharp portfolio. My HSB was drinkable but not fresh. Mash was instant powder, but - to be fair - the meal was modestly priced, and we sometimes use instant powder at home when in a hurry. So, a modest, homely, and down to earth pub with a real fire in the front bar.

Christmas ambiance