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Detail Pages
The Britannia, Poole
Parkstone
Postal town: Poole
BH14 8BB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Britannia
This large, backstreet pub was lost to the pub-going public for a number of years, trading as a fancy restaurant instead, before reverting to its former name and reopening as the food-led pub we find today. The pub has a pretty vast interior, with the main entrance taking you straight to the bar, from which sizable seating areas spread out to either side. The left-hand spaces seem better suited to those hoping to just come here for a drink, with basic seating options enhanced by the odd bit of lounge furniture, as well as giving access to a beer garden. TV screens were showing muted sports coverage and although the decor was as plain as in the rest of the pub, it did at least feel like somewhere you could get relatively comfy. We came here for food and therefore found ourselves escorted to the right-hand side of the building, where formally set tables awaited diners under plain painted walls decorated with cheap nick-nacks and corporate branding. The room extends back a fair way here and there were notably more people on this side than in the drinkers' area.
We received a very warm welcome from a greeter who handed us over to a wise cracking waiter who kept our nephew entertained with his daft banter. The food was pretty good - I took all three courses and enjoyed them all - whilst ale choices were limited to just St Austell Tribute and Taylors Landlord, with the former thankfully in pretty good shape.
There's not much hiding the fact that this place is all about the food these days, but I have to hand it to them for devoting such a generous space for those preferring to just have a drink. It's a bit of a dull, corporate feeling pub, despite its independent ownership, but it serves a purpose and is worth a try if you want a good pub meal.
Date of visit - 12th March 2024
On 4th August 2024
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Brit
Formerly The Britania, this fine mock-Tudor building is a large town pub tucked away off the main road on a quiet one-way street. It has a small, cramped car park and an even smaller paved garden. Inside, there are two main bars and a restaurant area. The larger bar has a raised area of floor, presumably used as a dance floor at some point, and there is a pool table. It also has a grand open fireplace which was surrounded by stacked logs. The smaller bar is cozier, has a brick fireplace and a barrel pretending to be a table alongside some comfy chairs and a Chesterfield. The restaurant area is named The Westwood Event Rooms (no-one could tell me why) and is available for private hire. On entering, the senses are assaulted with the vilest kind of uncensored gansta rap played at excessive volume. The young barman was an annoying twat, while the customers were exclusively twenty-something dickheads whose Dorset accents had given way to a pseudo-Caribbean whine, and who greeted strangers with snide remarks and childish sneers; one assumes the pub’s name-change was to accommodate their inability to voice four-syllable words which didn’t include ‘mother-’ as a prefix. Free WiFi was available and there were tv screens around. There were two ales on, both Ringwood, and both drastically overpriced for the area. I had a pint of Best which was in reasonable condition. The ambiance was generally uncomfortable, and I have no desire to return as things stand.
On 5th June 2015
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3516 recommendations about 3480 pubs]