The Bugle, Hamble

I dont mind paying extra for good ingriedients that have been cooked by a decent chef, but when the food has clearly been cooked by someone who has been told "use all of the fish" resulting in my Plaice with crushed potatoes being undercooked and the fish of a portion size that was ridiculous, the i have to say i object, It wasn't as if they had the decency to slap a large portion of potatoes on the plate, these were equally small and rubbish, any idiot can cook new potatoes and then beat them relentlessly with a ladle, shocking, The cheese platter was very good but �8 for a cheese platter with one of the listed cheeses missing without a word of explanation is bad.
The beer was standard pub price and variety, I liked the table i had right next to the disabled toilet, which when used by all and sundry who can't be arsed to go upstairs to the regular toilets is a treat.. the sound of someone grunting and farting their breakfast away only brightened my outlook of the food.. Someones having a laugh here.. and it's not the punters, i suspect that the regular Sailing-set go here as it's THE place to go, but by God surely they have brains to see whats happening and that they're being ripped off?? ... No? your probably right..

5 Aug 2011 23:10

The Victory, Hamble

I visited this pub by chance , working in the Locale.. I went to one other pub on my first night and was horrified by how awful it was, On stumbling into the Victory as the more appealing of the local pubs I was pleased i did, visiting it every night for the next two weeks.. The Beers varied and excellent, Doom Bar being particulalry well kept, The staff were all fantastic, chatty and plesant, you were welcomed and remembered, The food again was on another level, Excellent fish well cooked, everything i had i couldnt fault, starters , mains or deserts,a Northern colleague of mine declared the meat pie the best outside of the North east, and had it three nights running
I wish that there were more pubs like this..This deserves more recognition for the service it does, its at the centre of the local community and interacting well with visitors...A Victory indeed.. 10/10.. and i dont give that out much..

5 Aug 2011 23:00

The Snooty Fox, Lowick

Visited the Snooty fox and was disappointed, They had three real ales on tap, Green King IPA, London Pride and one other, Amstel and the usual suspects.. Modern Bistro style pub, Specials on the board, surprisingly few.. vast swathes of empty blackboard, lunch menu had 3 starters, 4 mains and 4 deserts, told straight away that one of the mains was off..Ordered Pate, Mrs Z decided to have the same, told sorry mine was last, mains ordered, Belly pork with crackling, fish and chips, and a half pound burger..Starter Pate, good but a bit too much fat on the top, mushrooms on bruschetta (toast) luke warm.. Mains burger excellent, vey good chips excellent cooked twice just the way you should to get chip perfection, sadly the fish had been cooked twice too.. warmed in the oven i suspect due to the elastic nature of the batter, my peas were lukewarm having only just made it out of the microwave being warmed, 30 seconds less would have seen them still chilled, The belly pork was a disaster, flacid and disgusting, very little meat.. no crackling, appeared that this and my fish and chips had vanished from the special board so these too were the last portions.. clearly getting ready for the weekend by selling off your food to unsuspecting patrons on the friday..unacceptable..
We told the waitress of our concerns and she went from smiling and happy to looking horrified and just ..well..left..when she reappeared she deducted the pork from the bill.. Whilst it was good of them to do this, it shouldn't have happened..very few patrons, and it perhaps explains why, A refreshing menu and this pub would be busy. as it is ,it is very near empty, and if its because of the slow service and menu i wouldn't be surprised..
On the up side the car park was large and empty, and the toilets were spotless, the staff are friendly but clearly don't know quite what to do in the case of complaint. Comfy sofas but a lot too modern..A Pity

5 Aug 2011 22:51