ReviewWith limited time to enjoy pre-match drinks prior to a recent fixture at nearby St Mary's, I found myself being dragged into this recently revamped Greene King pub on, what used to be, Southampton's main binge drinking strip. Formerly known as the Old Fat Cat, the place has all the hallmarks of a drinking barn venue and is well positioned to capitalise on this with various university buildings in close proximity. As you would expect, the pub has a vast, warehouse-sized single room interior with a strange shaped servery running down the right hand side. The place was packed pre-match with a very visible security presence but both sets of fans mixed sensibly with no signs of trouble, despite this being something of a local derby. There is a lot of seating throughout of mixed styles, some on raised platforms and all fully occupied on this visit. High tables and stools, standard tables and chairs and a few comfier looking tub chairs seemed to predominate, especially in the front section of the room. The walls are part panelled with some unattractive wallpaper above and several large TV screens were showing a live football fixture. The servery area was pretty jammed, but I did manage to spot an unusual island display table in the middle of the bar, which the staff had to manoeuvre around and which had been used to create a display of spirit bottles. A small section of the pavement outside the front of the pub had been screened off for smokers but there doesn't appear to be any outdoor seating available.
I was expecting the usual Greene King dross here, but the options were Greene King IPA, Belhaven Howell at the Moon and Brains SA, so not too bad all things considered. The Howell at the Moon was actually a tasty, moreish autumnal brew and served in reasonably good condition by one of the heavily overworked bar staff for whom kick off probably couldn't come quick enough.
This is a pretty bland, lowest common denominator type place which, despite the refurbishment, can't shake off the 90's drinking barn vibe that it has laboured under for so long now. I'm sure it's a decent place for the students to gather and it worked okay for a no thrills pre match pint, but Southampton has much more to offer than this kind of place and I don't expect to make a return.
