The Portsmouth Hoy, Poole

The Portsmouth Hoy is a nice traditional pub on Poole Quay, with a pleasant dark wood interior helping it to maintain a cosier ambience than many of its neighbouring pubs. The entrance takes you to a seating area at the front of the pub, with the servery a little further back along the left hand wall. Beyond there is a strange curved ramp up to a raised section where there is additional seating, although this area was empty during our Saturday night visit. Unsurprisingly the pub has gone for a nautical theme, with various artefacts dotted around the walls and on the beams. There are a fair few old barrels, jugs and bottles throughout the pub as well. This is a Hall and Woodhouse pub and disappointingly, they had exactly the same ale range as in the nearby Lord Nelson, with choice limited to Tanglefoot, Badger Best and the seasonal Firkin Fox. I gave the Best a try and thought it was a well kept pint, but it would certainly have been nice to be offered something different to what was available a few yards down the road. This pub has always struck me as a nice place to come for a bite to eat, although the dark wood interior can feel a little gloomy when it's a bright summers day outside. The pub also suffers from the narrowing of the pavement outside, meaning that it's one of the few Quayside pubs without tables out the front. Still worth a look though.

Official site of the Portsmouth Hoy, contains event details - www.portsmouthhoy.co.uk

Official site of the Portsmouth Hoy, contains event details - www.portsmouthhoy.co.uk