The Lord Raglan, Emsworth

A traditional looking stone built pub on the outskirts of Emsworth, the main draw here is undoubtedly the large been garden which has been attractively planted with a selection of foliage and hanging baskets and offers great views over the harbour and jetty with boats moored up right outside the garden wall. Internally it’s perhaps a little more basic than might be expected going on the exterior, but there’s certainly nothing at all wrong with it. It’s roughly an L-shape layout with a dining area off to the left. Flooring was slate style tiling and there was some wood panelling on the lower part of the walls painted in a Farrow & Ball shade of brown. A few oak beams and supports were an attractive feature and there was a large brick fire-place and black chimney hood at the rear of the pub that had a plasma screen mounted above it. We didn’t study the menu but were surprised that they didn’t offer food all day on Sunday, with a number of punters being disappointed. Perhaps the demand is weather dependent, but certainly on this beautiful sunny day the garden was full to capacity and they could have sold plenty. Service was a bit hit and miss with one barmaid seeming to be rather slow and having no idea who’s turn was next, whilst another stopped midway through serving me to get a soft drink for her daughter who was running around behind the bar. Beers on tap were HSB, London Pride, Oliver’s Island and Seafarer’s Ale. Ciders meanwhile were Magners and Stowford Press.