A blog about craft beer, food and drink, pubs and restaurants, life in Hampshire and outdoor lifestyle
Posts about food and drink including pub and restaurant reviews, recipes, craft beer and the latest in my search for Hampshire's best burger.
Find out what I thought about our Saturday lunchtime visit to the historic Chesil Rectory restaurant in Winchester to sample to lunchtime set menu.
Many couples have a few debts to pay off when they get married. Few end up paying back their wedding bills with a home.
This happened to Henry VIII’s daughter Mary after she married King Philip of Spain in 1554.… Read more
This in-depth guide to Southampton’s best craft beer and real ale pubs, micropubs and bars includes recommended pub crawls with maps and directions, plus information on local breweries, getting around, where to stay and more. Comments, improvements, suggestions, correctitons? Leave a comment below or contact me.
A few months back, I popped up to Leeds to check out the city’s oft-hyped craft beer scene.… Read more
Alright, “love” might be a strong word here. I mean, who loves grocery shopping?
I much prefer shopping at discount-store Lidl to the bigger supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda though.
And it’s not because the bill is cheaper (if it actually is – I’ve never bothered to do a comparison).
Here are five reasons I love (OK, prefer) shopping at Lidl to the major grocery retailers.… Read more
Read on to discover five weird and wonderful places to drink real ale and craft beer in Hampshire. Then add your own suggestions in the comments at the bottom of the post.
A few weeks ago on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I popped along to the Bursledon Brickworks Museum near Southampton.
It was no normal day at the museum – today was its first beer festival, and it wasn’t long until I was browsing the museum’s collection of vintage arcade games with a real ale in hand.… Read more
Mention burgers in Southampton and most people think of 7Bone Burger Co or the Rockstone.
I finally got round to rating 7Bone’s offering earlier this year. Now it was the Rockstone’s turn in my search for Hampshire’s best burger.
I regularly visit the Rockstone for a beer or three. But it’s been a while since I’ve eaten there. That changed last week when Tiff and I popped in for an impromptu midweek burger.… Read more
Until a couple of years ago, the Crown Inn was best avoided if you were after fine food and drink (think sticky carpets and faded Sky Sports banners drooping over the entrances).
Then came a £2 million makeover for this 16th-century coaching inn, which turned it from unloved watering hole into a posh pub, restaurant and hotel.
We headed to the Crown for a late-afternoon Sunday lunch last week.… Read more
