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

Banana Lounge, Ocean Village

Not a pub, but a restaurant with a bar area where you can just have drinks. Banana Wharf is a modern diner in Ocean Village. Large windows provide a view over the yachts in the harbour, and also across the water to Woolston Sewage Works. It's a little more bland and prosaic looking inwards, so if you're bringing someone here for a special meal, be considerate and give them the seat facing out. Myles and I came on a Friday lunchtime. The place was mostly empty so we weren't seeing it at its best, but even so, there is a bland coldness about the interior that is not inviting. There is little in the way of style or quirkiness, such as with the nearby Maritimo Lounge, nor any cosy warmth. It feels like a modern office space. Matters are not helped when, even empty, you have to stand at a podium to wait to be directed to a table. Each to their own, but I prefer to sit myself, but I suppose they wish to create an upmarket feel. The prices are a tad high for everyday eating, but are not excessive, and the lunchtime menu was very inviting, and if accompanied by the £1 soft drink deal, offers reasonable value.

The dated decor in the bar area

I really enjoyed my squid. Myles had the fish finger wrap, which came with chips (why not offer a salad as an option?), and was pretty average.

Myles with the fish finger wrap, and a view
of Woolston Sewage Works over his right shoulder

We didn't find anything special to like about the place,. On the plus side I really liked my Salt & Pepper Squid and fully recommend that, on the negative side we found the decor to be old fashioned, and the general ambiance to be cold and functional. On the whole the place is kinda average. If you come here with appropriate expectations I can't see anyone being disappointed, but this isn't the place to bring your special one for a date, nor is it the place to bring friends for a good night out. Business meals on expense accounts is what this place is best suited for. Nobody is going to be distracted or get the wrong idea, and the service and the food is not going to disappoint or embarrass anyone.

Date: Feb 2020   Score: 5



Ocean Village,
Southampton
SO14 3JF


* TripAdvisor
* WhatPub
* Banana Wharf

Quayside, Lower Southampton (Closed)

 

An Enterprise Inns pub reopened October 2016. Cask beer and meals. Closed.

Not visited

West Quay Road, SO15 1RE

* WhatPub 

Enterprise Inns (Ei Group)

Stonegate Pub Partners / Enterprise Inns

  

Enterprise Inns (now called Ei Group) is a very large pub group, claiming to be the UK's largest with over 4,000 pubs. It was formed in 1991 when a businessman, Ted Tuppen, acquired 300 pubs from the Bass Brewery. 

Enterprise was taken over by Stonegate early in 2020.  By 2023 Stonegate are so heavily in debt due to the double whammy of lockdown and energy/cost of living crisis that they are selling off 1,000 of their pubs. 

Most of the Stonegate/Enterprise pubs are pretty basic and pretty rundown. 

Enterprise Inns / Ei Group / Stonegate pubs in Southampton 

 

Horns Inn, Nursling Score: 6 

Mbunto (formally Bitterne Park), Bitterne 
Score: 6

 

Bedford Arms, Bedford Place Score 6

 

Obelisk, Woolston Score: 5 

 

Hop Inn, Bitterne  Score: 5 

 

Old Farmhouse, St Mary's (Closed) Score: 5

  

The Dolphin, St Denys Score: 5

 

Blue Keys Hotel, Southampton (closed) Score: 5

 

Winston Hotel, Southampton Score: 5

 

Gordon Arms, Portswood   Score: 5
Has changed management, needs new review

 

 

The Ice House, Shirley    Score: 4

Fox and Hounds, Bitterne  Score: 3 1/2

 

Yates, Southampton  Score: 3

  

Brass Monkey, Shirley Score: 3 

 

The Griffin, Shirley   Score: 2
I don't think this is still a Stonegate pub

 

Shirley Hotel  Score: 2 

   

The London Hotel, Oxford Street

Unreviewed: 

The Lion, Bedford Place 

Slug & Lettuce, Southampton 

They Keys, Totton 
The Station, Eastleigh 

Links

* Company website 

***

Pubstops of Southampton

Alfies, Winchester

Decent traditional pub in Winchester at the King Alfred statue end of the high street. Originally called The Old Coach House - renamed after the town's most famous resident. Allows children, and does food, though few people were eating on our Saturday afternoon visit. Four local cask beers. Attractive place, though just a little lacking in genuine atmosphere and character (appears to have been refurbished just a tad too much), but a decent place to stop for a pint. Quite popular without being crowded. Very good service. 

Cheers

We came here some years ago when we first moved to Southampton, and sat in the archway entrance to the old stables - the ceiling was covered in assorted framed pictures.  

Ambience

Steam Town beers in Alfies

Date: Dec 2019 
Score: 6

Owner: City Pub Company   (London Road Brew House, Southampton)

157 High Street
Winchester
SO23 9BA

Open 11.30 to 3am
Meals 11.30 to 8pm (after which children are no longer allowed)


* Alfies 
* BITE
* WhatPub
* TripAdvisor 

Firehouse, Southampton Central (closed)

Currently being demolished to make way for a block of flats.

Nov 2024

Student pub round the back of the high street. Sparse, and with plenty of bare wood, there are two pool tables and punk rock playing loudly but not aggressively. Laid back atmosphere. Two Greene King cask ales. I had Bonkers Conkers, which tasted of green apples.

Cask beer selection

An ok pub if you're young and like punk and rock music. There's a new student accommodation block almost next door. If I was a student staying there I could see myself having some fun nights here.

The place will be demolished at the end of 2020 to make way for a block of flats. (It's now 2021, and the place is still standing!)

Date: Sept 2019.   Score: 5

Not yet open, and no news as to when it will be. Website and Facebook are still giving news about re-opening in 2020. 

Date: April 2021

Vincents Walk
Southampton
SO14 1JY

Opens: Noon to past Midnight 


* Facebook 
* Firehouse
* TripAdvisor
* WhatPub

Blue Keys Hotel, Southampton (Closed - victim of lockdown)

Slightly off the beaten track, so I had not previously noticed this place. It's a hotel with a bar serving one cask ( on my visit), and is  a restaurant in the evenings. The bar is clean, and has been recently refurbished, but has a Seventies feel. It somehow works inside an older building. There's an attractive beer garden area. It's an ok place, albeit feeling more like a hotel lobby than a pub. Food only in the evening. OK place if you're local and don't want to walk further for a proper pub, but not a place I would otherwise recommend as worth seeking out.

The cask beer

The ambiance

The building is in a residential area, and was originally a house. According to CAMRA it was used as a girls school after the war before being converted into a pub.

Date: Sept 2019.  Score: 5


82 Northlands Road
Southampton
SO15 2LH

Place is closed, and has been since March 2020. It is not listed on the Enterprise (now Stonegate) pub list, and the pub/hotel website is down. Reviews on TripAdvisor is that of customers who had rooms booked, but when they turned up the place had closed. I'm marking this as closed for now - victim of the lockdown. 

Date: April 2021 

The building has been bought by a new, small, Southampton based hotel company, Jamba Leisure. Unclear if the company owns any other hotels. 

Date: Feb 2023


Open: Midday to 10.30pm

Food: Evenings only

Owner: Enterprise Inns


* BlueKeysHotel (website not active as of April 2021) 
* WhatPub
* TripAdvisor1 / TripAdvisor2
* BITE

***

Enterprise Inns (Ei Group)