The Belle Isle, Chichester

Tucked down a side street opposite the cathedral, this is a particularly large open plan bar and restaurant which has an unusual feel, falling somewhere between modern craft beer bar and 90’s drinking barn. The huge bare boarded room has predominantly white walls, all covered with various signs and murals relating to the various food and drink options available. It doesn’t make for the most engaging interior, but it’s been done with a degree of flair, rather than corporate homogeneity, so the final result is actually not all that bad and far preferable to similar sized efforts from the usual pub-co suspects. The servery is along the left hand wall and has a nice curved counter, high mirrors on the bar back and a large wooden plank end piece bearing the pub’s name. The bulk of the room has been filled with a good mix of seating options, with something to suit just about everyone. Some driftwood-style low partitioning, chunky pillars and loads of potted plants break the space up to a degree whilst contemporary photographs, compact book shelves and a large map of the world add colour and points of interest around the room. To the right there is a small table service area under some fake wooden beams. Tables here were formally set, with lots of photos on the walls and a nice section of patterned tile flooring. An enclosed rear patio garden could be viewed through large glass doors to the rear, although I didn’t get out there to explore properly. A folk music soundtrack played throughout most of our visit but the place was very quiet, with just a couple of locals near the bar and a small group playing board games at the back. There were four cask ales on the bar – Beer Studio Flaxon Flagon, Franklins Belle Isle, Kingston Farm Ram Radley and Vibrant Forest Chinook. I had a pint of the latter, served by one of the friendly bar team and whilst it certainly tasted fine initially, the pint was very cloudy and the quality quickly tailed off as the pint went down. A strong keg showing included beers from popular breweries such as Siren Craft and Tiny Rebel and there was a pretty good bottled range to beef up the options available. We stopped here for a bite to eat following a walk out to Chichester Harbour and back and found the food to be good quality and the menu a little left-field with most mains costing around £13. I had some initial reservations about this place, but soon warmed to it. I found it a friendly and comfortable spot for a good meal and whilst the pint wasn’t great, the pub did make the last Good Beer Guide and I may therefore have been a bit unlucky – the decision to restrict ales to four interesting micros means it is probably well worth a look to see what they have on. It’s a shame the place was so quiet, as I imagine it comes into its own more with a bit of a crowd in, but overall I enjoyed our visit and would pop in again when I’m next in town.

Official site of The Belle Isle - www.thebelleisle.co.uk

Official site of The Belle Isle - www.thebelleisle.co.uk