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. 


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• 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. 


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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 

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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.


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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

White Swan, Swaythling / Bitterne

Useful family pub on the Itchen river near the popular pool by Mansbridge. Two standard cask beers. Pub grub, including cheesy chips.  Building is old. Had problems with flooding, so the delightful beer garden alongside the river has a slightly higher wall than one would expect or like.

Beer selection

Beer garden, possibly 2017

 

After canoeing in 2021

We've been here many times, and always sit outside by the river (or, rather, by the flood wall by the river). It is usefully split into smoking and non-smoking areas.  We always enjoy coming here, usually after swimming/paddling/splashing/canoeing by Mansbridge, or sometimes after a walk along the river. There's always plenty of room inside and out, and we've always managed to get a table, even though it can get busy on a sunny weekend. 



Date: 2017-2021    Score: 7 

Open 9am to 10pm (11am to 10pm on Wednesdays)
Food  11.30am to 9pm 

Family friendly

Mansbridge Road
Southampton
SO18 3HW

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***

Pubs in Bitterne

Tipsy Pig, Romsey

Modern craftbeer pub opened in December 2016 in the old William IV pub by a father and son team. It's clean, trendy, and cool. Aims to do food. Mix of keg and cask beers. It's OK. Doesn't offer beers by traditional local brewery Flack Manor, preferring breweries that follow the trendy American BJCP school of brewing. The bearded son is engaging and good to chat with.

It's a good alternative in Romsey.


Beers drunk here include Electric Bear Drop,



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