An uneventful trip from Fratton to Southampton, though sadly I failed to log in to the free WiFi to check availability of tickets for the big show next week.
Oddly, looking at the flyer I was reminded that Micky Quinn used to play for Portsmouth
Southampton is always a slight let down after Pompey, lacking the surprises and the tiled pubs on every corner. But Freemantle was a revelation last year, and there’s some very good beer on the walk to St Mary’s, which isn’t something you could always say about the trip to the Dell.
My epic walk in the Friday heat (so hot Simon would have called it Fryday, geddit ?) would go from centre to north and over the river west, an epic journey akin to the one undertaken by Gudrun in the Radio 4 play.
I joined the flood of suits from the centre heading towards the bars along London Road, a different side to city life you particularly enjoy observing when you’re retired.
The three newbies seemed a little modern. For goodness sake, Belgium & Blues promises a gin bar.
But Pub Hermit, as close as I get to a local informant, told us it was decent and he’s rarely wrong.
Luckily, the gin bar is upstairs. If Mrs RM had come I could have left her there all evening.
Downstairs was a genuine craft bar, in the sense you were definitely in Draft House or Craft Beer Co territory, rather than the Brewhouse & Kitchen wannabes of Southsea.
Perhaps I’d have felt differently on a wet Tuesday afternoon in November, but on a busy Friday it was a little gem. My notes say “classy“, “independent on a chain strip” and “normal people drinking pints“. The Vibrant Forest, a bit of a bellwether, was an easy NBSS 4. Richard would have claimed it as an outpost of Leeds.
Oddly, my immediate comparison was the Hopbunker in Cardiff, if that was given a mild makeover by Tiny Rebel.
Yes, there were high tables.
But there was proper seating too, and the same warm pubby feeling you get in the Platform down at the Harbour.
Strike one to the Saints.
retiredmartin 
Nice place. When I was in there Friday before last, I was a bit naughty and had a pint of Brugse Zot. Does that count as evil keg?
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No, it’s older than Brew Dog so NOT evil. I was in there Friday 8th about 5.30. You must have seen me !
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We arrived about 5ish and only stayed for one pint. Chances are we were there at the same time.
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““normal people drinking pints“ –This sounds like the sort of situation Simon would encounter and be supremely disappointed. “Oh, come on, there’s got to be some weirdos around here somewhere…”
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One person’s definition of normal may differ from another’s. In Martin’s case it means he forgot to show us the picture of 47 mobility scooters parked neatly at the entrance; all the owners thereof were queuing at the bar demanding pints of Directors.
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“Something” must have happened, no doubt Simon would have noted or prompted it ! This was just a pleasant bar with normal people, perhaps the low lighting covered up the weirdness.
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Pity I missed you Martin, ideal venue for a pub hermit – all those dark corners…
…at least I would have increased the ‘something happening’/weird person count…
..I haven’t got a mobility scooter yet though…
😉
As the nearest you can get to a local informant (I’m honoured and proud), I would definitely recommend my next post as a pre-emptive tick (but then you may have already been there last week).
🙂
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Oooh, exciting.
I’ll be down in Hythe for the ferry to Isle of Wight, if it actually exists. Some time.
I’m not great company when I’m single-mindedly ticking pubs in a hurry !
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Ah yes – the fabled island of Vectis, first confirmed by Pliney the Elder as being ….”below Magnus Portus”
Last time I looked it was still there…
…it would be good to meet up for a local beer (aka pint of Ringwood ;)) if timings work out….
🙂
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Don’t mock the Gin bar OR keg beer. Pubs must cater for all tastes. Otherwise they become empty souless places, often closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, inhabited only by the ghosts of old men sat sipping lifeless pints of brown beer, brewed in the days when dry hopping meant that the hops actually stayed in the sack (only way they could keep them dry!).
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Mock, me mock ? Coffee, Gin and Prosecco fuel the nation, let alone our pubs.
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Great work on shoehorning a Skids song into the title….I’ve been stacked out at work so feel as though I’ve fallen behind as you’ve been prolfiic recently. Pub Hermit knows his stuff and I would agree wiht you that Southampton is always going to feel more gastro than Portsmouth…
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Well spotted, ten points. I used to buy all the Skids singles when I was 15 but I’d never heard that one till a few years back, oddly.
I know what you mean about Southampton feeling posher, but there’s probably more money in the Pompey boating villages, and a lot of Sou’ton is very basic, despite Pub Hermit’s best efforts. The area where St Mary’s is now used to be right rough ! Cruise liners don’t see the half of it.
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Ah…that’s interesting as I thought it was much more upmarket…Richard Jobson would be happy at some working clas angst
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“which isn’t something you could always say about the trip to the Dell.”
Is that where you lot buy non-Apple computers?
“(so hot Simon would have called it Fryday, geddit ?) ”
Sadly, yes. 🙂
“Luckily, the gin bar is upstairs. ”
Ah. They’re doing a takeoff of the Delirium Village in Brussels:
http://www.deliriumvillage.com
“Strike one to the Saints.”
Looks pretty good from this angle. 🙂
Cheers
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