The Waterfront, Shanklin

The previous reviewer has summed up the Waterfront well. My visit was slightly different, in that it was at the height of summer, albeit shortly after 9am on a weekday morning. The bar was busier than you might have expected for this time of the day/week, with several other tables already occupied. We were here for breakfast. But alcohol is served from opening at 9am and I indulged in a Fuggle-Dee-Dum. The other real ale was Yachtsman. Breakfast was reasonable enough, especially with the Boris 50% off deal. The young waiting staff were friendly and eager to impress, whilst the sea view is excellent. I can certainly see that this place would have a different feel outside of the peak summer season.

As the name implies, this is a beachside pub along the promenade in Shanklin, catering for large numbers of tourists in the high season but feeling a bit sorry for itself when we popped in on a cold October evening. The pub is raised quite high up from the beach and to access it, you’ll need to climb a few steps up to the large, well-furnished front decking area before entering through the central porch. Two large seating areas extend either side of the entrance, with the left-hand side set up more for formal dining and the right side housing the servery, making it the obvious place for drinkers to congregate. Both spaces have been liberally filled with tables and chairs, mostly lined up in neat rows along the bare boarded floor. The bar has a boxy, square counter and mirrored bar back with pretty much no decorative elements and similarly, the décor throughout the pub is a little minimalistic, with some low tongue and groove wall panels done up in sky blue and the rest of the wall space painted white. A few plain mirrors, artistic photos, vases full of twigs and old prints do their best to add some colour and visual distraction but they are fighting a bit of a losing battle and had the weather not been a bit warmer, I’d have been more inclined to eat out on the decking than inside. The pub does accommodation as well and I overheard the barman discussing the rates to a large group of tradesmen who were looking to move here from the grim sounding digs their boss had booked for them! There were three ales on the bar – Goddards Fuggle De Dum, Island Earls RDA and Wychwood Hobgoblin – from which I gave the RDA a try, only to find it was far past its best. We had some food here as well and found this was probably the pub’s strongest suit, with some well-made pub classics going down well after a busy day exploring the island. I suspect had I visited here on a warm summer’s day, I would have left with a more favourable impression, as the beach bar stylings don’t really lend themselves to a chilly Autumnal evening. The poor-quality beer and tepid atmosphere didn’t help either, but I’m prepared to accept that with a packed crowd and some better throughput on the handpulls, things could be very different.

One of a row of bar/eateries along the far end of the seafront near to the Chine, holding a bit of fame as being host to Charles Darwin for a few weeks whilst writing Origin of the Species. Inevitably a fairly modernised (white and grey/blue colours) airy affair inside with a rather prime front terrace affording lovely sea views. There’s a heavy food slant and behold the swarm of black-clad tablet-wielders ready to take your order the moment your bottom touches your seat. Still, there were three ales on – TT Landlord, Wychwood Gold and a local one in Goddards Fuggle which was in surprisingly decent shape and not quite as expensive as I’d feared. For what it is, I was happy enough. Grabbing a terrace seat with a decent local beer on a lazy summer’s evening would be a holiday highlight. 6.5