The Butcher's Hook, Southampton

As the name suggests, this micropub which opened in 2014 occupies a former butcher's shop, although the premises was previously used by a florist. Thankfully, plenty has been retained from its original incarnation, so we find a fantastic little room with a nice patterned brick floor and some fabulous tiled walls including checked tiles with a floral pattern on the lower section of the walls, a nice four-tone dado and plain white uppers. The highlight is a wonderful tile painting of cattle and sheep by Carter & Co Tilemakers of Poole, close to the front window - the sort of tile painting that would get the place listed as a CAMRA heritage pub in normal circumstances. This tiling makes the conversion a great fit for a pub, as it gives an otherwise standard micropub a bit of a Victorian-era pub feel to compliment what is otherwise very much a 21st Century pub set-up. An L-shaped bench has been fitted under the front window and along part of the right hand wall, liberally festooned with scatter cushions, and serves a table made from an old cable spool with padded kegs providing additional seating. Two long tables with metal framed chairs cover the rest of the right hand side and there is a drinking ledge down the left hand wall, but that is pretty much the extent of the seating, aside from the few tables on the pavement outside, which give nice views to the clock tower and bridge over the Itchen. A huge beer board to the left on entering lists the full cask, keg, can and bottle range, but you need to walk down to the far end of the room for service, where the beers are found on stilage along the right hand wall with more boards back here detailing the draught options. Some scruffy shelving covers much of the opposite wall, with an old road sign to one side and elsewhere there is a large bookcase and a few nice art prints and reproduction posters on display. The ceiling has been criss-crossed with lighting wires and boasts a fantastic collection of retro beer mats near the front window, which are well worth a nostalgic look through. There is also a rail with the inevitable butcher's hooks hung from it. A good rock soundtrack played quietly throughout my visit and I noticed a 'Shut the Box' game on one of the tables. There is no bar here - just the landlord who patiently waited for me to choose from Vibrant Forest Metropolis, Tapstone Soma, Flowerpots Perridge Pale and the clunkily named Big Smoke Chinook, Rakau & Azacca. Five kegs from Northern Monk, Vibrant Forest, Tiny Rebel, Eight Arch and Cloudwater made a good alternative to the cask options and the bottle and can range covered products from similar high quality UK micros plus a few Belgian, German and Czech brews. The Metropolis was £3.80 for a 6.0% beer and tasted divine - excellent cellarmanship which has helped the pub into the latest edition of the Good Beer Guide. This is a top quality micropub that has benefited from inheriting a beautiful premises and is reaping the rewards from providing high quality beers in top condition. I made the walk out here from St Denys, which didn't take too long and was very pleasant with the river crossing, so the pub can easily be added to a crawl of the fine pubs in this part of town. An enjoyable visit and another Southampton micropub I had to tear myself out of in order to continue with my crawl.