Sir Loin of Beef, Eastney, Southsea

Now a more sedately coloured Blue and White exterior, I based the whole of yesterdays crawl on coming to this famous Southsea pub,wondering how I'd managed to miss it out on previous trips, as soon as I turned the corner I knew I had in fact been here and exactly what it looked like inside, obviousley omitted to review it and the visit somehow erased from my memory until that moment. There's a long central bar with the carpeted room wrapped around it. The seating is quite normal, unpretentious and comfortable. There is a row of ten handpumps on the bar top with six being on when I entered with one being turned just after I sat down, the remaining five were Irving Frigate , Fullers ESB, Hop Back Citra , Fallen Acorn Hole Hearted and Awaken the later setting me back a very welcome £3.30. It's a cracking straight forward pub, how I ever forgot about my previous visit I'll never know.

Somewhat isolated from Southsea’s other top ale houses, the Sir Loin of Beef is a cracking two bar local’s pub in the Eastney part of town. A corner entrance takes you into a bright front bar with the servery running down the right hand wall and a good selection of traditional hard bench and low stool seating opposite. The room has been painted an eye-catching shade of yellow, which doesn’t sound like the best idea on paper, but it manages to work somehow, giving the place a vibrant feel that seemed to have rubbed off on the locals, many of whom were in on my Saturday early evening visit, creating a lively atmosphere. Like many pubs in the area, the pub has strong military ties and there is a great deal of naval memorabilia on display, much of it relating to submarines, including a few scale models behind the bar and a particularly memorable photo near the door picturing a surfacing submarine flanked by a school of dolphins. The ceiling is also a talking point, as some industrious person has attached a series of beer garden parasol shades to it, which creates quite a colourful spectacle. There is a smaller second bar to the right with a bar billiards table at one end and a large picture depicting a wide variety of military emblems. Seating is a little more limited in here and the room was considerably quieter than the main bar, mainly being used by a few youngsters putting crap tunes on the jukebox. I was greeted by a long row of handpulls – probably around eight or so in total – with a mix of reasonably well known brands and beers from smaller local breweries. I tried something from the Hop Back brewery, which I found in excellent condition and enjoyed supping from my table at one end of the pub as I watched the characters around me go about their business. This is another quality local’s pub that Portsmouth and Southsea seem to specialise in. I really liked the lively feel of this place and the unusual decor which set it apart from other pubs of this type. It’s a bit of a pain to try and incorporate on a wider crawl, but I would say it’s well worth the effort and I’m very pleased that I came here.

Well described by Quinno below, the L-shaped bar still has the iron columns which replaced the supporting walls when the knock-through was done. Ales on were Wreckless, 6X, Irving's Frigate, a strange strawberry beer, HSB and 3 more that I forgot to record. Crop Circle was available in bottles. There was a quiz night on, I found the staff pleasant and the atmosphere was welcoming. An excellent ale pub, well worth a visit and a valuable inclusion in a crawl.

Heard this venue had fallen out with Camra, for some reason, but is undoubtedly a real ale pub. 8 handpumps, Sat pm had one unclipped, otherwise Flowerpot Goodens Gold, Hopback Summer Lightning, WJ King New Beer's Resolution, fff Moondance, Irving Frigate, Palmers Best, Whippet Gone with the Whippet. Light and airy in the bar with large windows to street, the rear area has had a pool table removed but sadly the dartboard has also gone – ‘It's just a drinkers pub now' we were told by the friendly guys at the bar, but must be popular as they had 19(!) teams for the quiz last week. Friendly staff too, I really liked this place – they just need to invest in some half pint pots; serving that measure in carling glasses is somewhat off-putting to old grumpies like me, haha! Ps. not at all crowded pre-match, but if you are heading to the ground there is a choice of buses from the stop almost opposite which will get you there in 5mins.