The Belle Isle Southsea

Posted on July 7, 2011 by admin

If you like your food in large portions then the Belle Isle in Osborne Road southsea is well worth a visit. The menu has a Caribbean cum Mexican theme to it. We have eaten here on a number of occasions and have always been satisfied with the service and the quality of the food. They have an especially good meal/drink deal on Monday and Tuseday. For only £5 you can have a large Burrito and either a glass of wine/beer/soft drink and on the Tuesday the Burrito is swapped for a large plateful of Nachos. I get jealous if I only go there for a drink and all these massive plates of food come out!

The Belle Isle Southsea

The Belle Isle

The restaurant/bar is very informal and always seems busy which is a good sign. You could say its buzzing most of the time. There are seats out on the pavement too so you can watch the world go by.The drinks are reasonably priced and they do deals on food if there are four of you dining.

All in all a great place to visit for a drink or food if you are in the area.

Reviews

Will return again & again

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is just the kind of place to meet up with your mates for a lovely lunch and a glass of wine, great variety of tasty food, very laid back atmosphere. We also took the kids here for early dinner…

Great tasting colourful food at reasonable prices

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was taken here by my daughter whilst on a day trip to Portsmouth. After aclimatising myself to the busy and lively atmosphere, I relaxed and took everything in. It wasn’t too long before our party…

Great atmosphere, food and drinks

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a refreshing place this is. An informal bar offering excellant value for money and serving some great dishes, exciting cocktails and even real ales. The paella is the best I’ve ever tasted – even…

Excellent value

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Went on a week day evening with my husband and brother in law and ordered one of their ‘for four’ dishes. For £20 we got a pitcher of Red Stripe, and a huge dish of Jerk Chicken, rice and peas. Ive…

A breath of Fresh Air!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have visited the Belle Isle many times since it opened & always found it to be a breath of fresh air compared to so many others in Southsea.
At last a Bar/Restaurant with very friendly & helpful…

Shame about the service

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good location, good food, reasonably priced. It really is a shame about the service. I’ve been here multiple times and it doesn’t seem to make a difference the time of day or whether it’s busy or not,…

Excellent! Surprised!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lovely service, we went there on a tue afternoon- burrito and beer £6, best meal Iv had in ages and the presentation was lovely. Waiter/bar man was friendly. Great atmosphere. Huge burrito and good…

nachos beer and nachos £6 bargain 

Very nice

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

The food here is very nice, nice sharing meals for four and the rest of the menu is very nice, with a good selection on it. This is our Portsmouth friends favourite new hang out. The prices are very…

Great sharing platters

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dont want to go to another boring wetherspoons for a cremated burger and chips? This place has a great selection on their bar menu, some old classics like nachos, fajitas and burritos as well as a…

A great place to eat & drink with great atmosphere.

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brilliant selection of beers, lovely food (especially the tempura prawn starters and steak fajitas). Admittedly could have a wider selection but the menu they do have is outstanding. Including daily…

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Hole in the Wall Pub Southsea

Posted on June 15, 2011 by admin

If you like beer, especially Real Ales, then a visit to the Hole in the Wall in Great Southsea Street is a must do. John, the Landlord, serves and keeps a great range of real ales and ciders that constantly changes. In fact you can see the evidence of all the beers that have passed through the pub if you look at the ceiling on entering.

As well as a great range of beers at probably the best prices in Southsea, you can eat here also. The pub serves up a range of sausages from O’Hagans with mash and also suet pudding and mash, both very filling! The food prices are very reasonable too ranging from £4.95 for a vegetarian pudding.

The locals are very friendly (some might say too friendly), and if you stay for too long you might end up with a nickname or two! All in all a great pub, but being on the small side it can get packed to the rafters quite quickly. There’s no garden and there’s a pub quiz every Thursday.

Current Beers

Beers Currently Available

Twitter (Twitter), Hole Hearted (Oakleaf), Dark Arts (Magic Rock), Slingers Gold (Wharf Bank), Diamond Reign (Castle Rock), Admiral Stout (Irving), Some Are Drinking (Oakleaf), Acer (Bristol Beer Factory), Sunrise (Bristol Beer Factory), Rapture (Magic Rock), Jubilee IPA (Leeds Brewery)

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King Street Tavern Southsea

Posted on May 20, 2011 by admin

The King Street Tavern in Southsea, is a great little pub. Run by Sam and Nicky, the owner and staff are welcoming and friendly. They serve a small selection of home cooked food that changes each day. Because of the limited amount of seating its probably best to book a table. Alot of tables are normally reserved on Fridays and Saturdays. Inside is clean and well kept.

king street tavern southsea outside

King Street Tavern

On some Fridays there is free Tapas at the bar just like at the Kitsch n d’or next door and on every other Saturday the pub is packed to the rafters as Jazz is hosted featuring the Angelhart Quartet with saxophonist Ricky Eastman.

Although its tied to Wadworth, there is usually a guest ale at the bar but they often run out of several ales if its been a busy weekend until delivery of more ales in midweek. There is a nice scrumpy cider too (Westons traditional Scrumpy) which is a favourite of mine. If youre really into cider then a visit to the Florence Arms in Southsea should be on your agenda as they serve over 50 different ciders!

We have eaten here several times and the food is consistently of a high standard and reasonably priced.  Sam and Nicky have recently opened a new cafe in Osborne Road called the Teatray (see map for its location).

Reviews

Good home cooked food.

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great value meal. Limited choice,but what they do have, taste’s wonderfull.
Noisy old Portsmouth pub,but when with friends this just adds to the evening.
All told, well worth a visit.

You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 2 of 5 stars

This pub looked interesting so we decided to give it a try. They definately charge for the view and history because the food is not very good.

Limited menu choice that will not disappoint!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

We arrived early for our Sunday lunch (a surprise birthday gathering). The genial barman, quickly took our drinks order whilst we waited for the birthday boy to arrive! The 6X (Wadworth) is well kept…

Good food but slow service & limited choice

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 3 of 5 stars

Went along with a dozen friends to celebrate a birthday. Excellent quality food but disappointingly small portions & slow service. Very reasonable prices (to match the portion size presumably?) and…

Great Food

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have eaten at the King Street Tavern a few times and it has always been good, the Sunday lunch is great value.
This week I ate with friends and we all had the same. Beautiful home baked gammon ham…

Great value, tasty food

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We went to The King’s Tavern on a Friday night and although it was busy we found a table for the four of us. We ordered drinks and then the owner and chef came over to take our food order. He was so…

Best Sunday Lunch in Pompey, so far…..

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Went here for sunday lunch a few weeks ago. Expected it to be packed however it was relatively quiet. The pub itself is a quaint little number with a good selection of drinks. the dinner was choice of…

Great value for money meals

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was a nice little Tavern. Great atmosphere with very friendly service.

The food was wholesome home style cooking with locally sourced ingredients.

Probably because we arrived at a busy…

Friendly

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really good home cooked food, I had the venison sausages with mash, very tasty. My vegetarian son thought his meal was very good as well as the 6xxxxxx beer. Son & daughter played chess, available…

Every neighbourhood should have one…

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Every neighbourhood deserves to have a pub like this. It’s a really well preserved Victorian Public House with an enthusiastic and charming patron, friendly staff and great food and drink at…

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Jamie’s Italian Restaurant Portsmouth

Posted on May 19, 2011 by admin

Jamie Oliver opens a new branch of his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain soon at Gunwharf Quays. If I can get in on the opening night (dates are not confirmed yet – only by “the end of May”), I’ll post a review as soon as possible if I can get a booking. As Italian food is my favourite, it had better live upto expectations :-}

As Im on the subject of Italian food, one of out favourites is Nicolinos in Emsworth, a short drive from Portsmouth. Tasty Italian food at a great price and huge portions, which I like. Ill post more information in a future blog.

Reviews

Simple food done well

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

Food was well prepared and reasonably priced. Service was friendly. Relaxed atmosphere.

average

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 2 of 5 stars

Maybe my expectations are a little high as its got Jamies name attached to it, but its not better than other chain restaurants just more expensive.

A winning formula for a suddenly successful chain

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

This chain has been designed within and inch of its life to reflect larky popularist Jamie, champion of unpretentious simple clean flavours Jamie, Italian inspired family fair Jamie, and thoroughly…

Fabulous – you must go !!!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We were in London for the day and were determined to visit this restaurant ! So armed with iPhone sat nav we found it ! We just got in there in time as ten minutes after the queues were outside the…

Easy, simple

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

No nonsense, simple food from fun staff who seem to be enjoying their work. No problem with bringing kids and spreading out, great place to hid on a rainy day

As Jamie wants it

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We had to wait for like 45 minutes but we could have a drink at the bar. Jamie’s Prosecco is very good!

The food is really extraordinary: the “meat appetizers” (I forgot the real name on the card)…

Nice Atmoshpere. Friendly Service

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

The setting is lovely at Canary Wharf. The menu had great selections and the service was terrific! Tom, our waiter took very good care of us. In fact, the other patrons were friendly and fun also. I…

good food and value

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

no booking, had to wait about 20 minutes, good food (not excellent). atmosphere and service were fine.

Jamie lovers have to wait as usual, the house is always full

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

You get high energy from the restaurant guests. The ambiance looks like a cafeteria and seats are not so comfy at all. Menu does not cover so many choices. Osso bucco was ran out the night we went…

Good food at reasonable price

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall experience was fine. We had to wait for 30 minutes with lots of people in the line. The restaurant was extremely crowded and noisy but it’s very casual dining anyway. The pasta is great but we…

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Kitsch n d’or Southsea

Posted on May 19, 2011 by admin

Our favourite restaurant at the moment is the Kitsch n d’or in Southsea. This family run restaurant serves tasty meals at a reasonable price. It has a small wine bar attached to it (which has a great atmosphere), open on Fridays and Saturdays, that also provides free tapas on the bar each Friday. Prices range from £20 to £23.50 for a 4 course menu in the evening depending on the day of the week. They also do a very reasonably priced lunch menu which consists of 2 courses for £6.50 and you can accompany this with a carafe of wine for only £5!

kitsch n dor southsea outside

Pete Codling recently exhibited some of his art work in the wine bar to raise funds so he could go travelling. You can see a video of the exhibition on Youtube here: – youtube.com

On some days there is live jazz in the restaurant with Harry Strutters Hot Three

Inside the Kitsch n dor French restaurant in Southsea

Last Thursday me, my wife and a friend attended their monthly wine tasting evening featuring a Spanish menu of ten tapas dishes accompanied by four different wines. I must say it was one of the best wine tasting evenings that we have had there in recent times.

Paul, the owner who also cooks, introduces the evening with a talk of what we are about to eat and drink. The menu consisted of bruschetta with serano ham and tomato, grilled courgette, broad bean and mint mousse (which was delicious), calamari (which we all agreed was the best we have tasted), prawn skewers (I didnt particularly like this one but the others did), peppers filled with crab, black pudding with chorizo sausages (very filling), chicken and potato, beef stew and creme catalan to finish.  All this for £23.50.

Two of the wines were outstanding, one white and one red. They were served up by an employee of  wine merchants Portal, Dingwall and Norris in Emsworth, who supply all the wines for each wine tasting. The white was a glass of Bornos Sauvignon Blanc and the red I’ll have to find out what that was.

All in all a very nice evening was had by all.

Reviews

Fantastique!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved every aspect of our evening there. The food was amazing and one could definitely tell that it was good home-cooked food instead of mass produced franchise food! Staff were warm and welcoming and…

Ok, but ………

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 3 of 5 stars

Service very very slow. There were 2 waitresses on duty, but they seemed all over the place. Took 25 minutes for our order to be taken. We then had to ask for drinks, then ask for bread. If you don’t…

Not as good as expected

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 2 of 5 stars

Food: Very well priced but nothing special
Atmosphere: Lovely if a little cramped at the table
Service: Slow and very sloppy. They only had one waitress and we had to wait almost 45 minutes between…

A great Restaurant in every way!!

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Kitsch’n d’Or is a hidden Portsmouth gem of a restaurant, it has that great ‘shabby sheek’ feel to it that is so hard to get right, but this place does get it just right. The service is excellent…

Good night out

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lovely food and very attentive service. Great for a special occasion. Will definitely come again.

Yet again outstanding

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time we visit here it creates a bookmark in our lives, everything about Kitsch’n d’or is excellent, the menu is always spot on and we loved the new layout to the place. Looking forward to our…

Good food

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

A hidden food extravaganza, with a great atmosphere

Good Name

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very good food,wide choice of menu but get there early as the choice of food gets smaller

Faultless

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

This restaurant is faultless , service , menu , price , taste , drinks ….. perfect.
The attnenion afforded to us was admirable. We went on a Thursday evening and we were glad we had book for a…

delightful

TripAdvisor traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars

what a pleasure it was to have dinner in this hidden little gem. the service was second to none the waiters and waitresses could not do enough for you. the resturant is clean, vibrant and very…

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