The Forge, Southampton

Disappointment of the week for me was coming to what looked like a decent village pub run by Vintage Inns, only to find it is neither. It is now an overblown carvery run by people whose first language is far from English, and where a solitary handpump on the bar was incapable of dispensing anything, not even the Doombar for which it was clipped. There is a large conservatory extension at the front, making it quite an impressive albeit slightly odd building, there is plenty of parking, and there is a restaurant area in the older part of the building where the carvery occupies space which was presumably once a bar counter. The small garden at the rear is mainly used by smokers. The food didn't look that appealing, and it wasn't that great. Any quaintness arising from its previous life as The Black Horse has been obliterated by Eastern Mediterranean clutter, and there is no pub atmosphere. Not worth a revisit in its current incarnation.

Maybe part of the Vintage Inn chain, but is really called the Old Forge