Platform Tavern, Old Docks, Southampton

lovely music bar with good beer, eclectic mix of ornaments, stone walls and a nice bar. Good beer

This is a well lived-in two-roomed pub and restaurant down on the main road opposite Southampton docks. You enter into the main bar area, slightly the larger of the two rooms, but with a big section of partitioning wall to the left on entry, which makes it feel a fair bit smaller than it is. The room has been filled with standard tables and chairs, with a space to the front left cleared out to allow for bands to set up (live music seemingly being one of the pub’s fortes). There is a red colour theme in this room which can take a bit of getting used to and the decor is heavy on music themed items as well as a smattering of breweriana. The servery is a compact affair located in the right rear corner where a few bar staff were jostling for space whilst trying to get through a pretty busy Saturday evening crowd. A door to the right of the bar leads into a second room which is primarily used as an overspill seating area or dining room depending on the time of day. Two rows of tables and chairs take up much of the space which is somewhat limited thanks to the presence of a particularly large servery along the back wall. Decor in here includes a lot of African themed paintings and objects for no obvious reason. We stopped in here for some food and enjoyed some good pizza from a pretty extensive menu. There were five ales on the bar – Fullers London Pride and Southern Star, Gales Seafarers, Fallen Acorn Hole Hearted and Langham LSD. I sampled the latter two ales and found them both to be in great condition, with the Hole Hearted impressing in particular. The staff were all really friendly and the good crowd made for a nice, bubbly atmosphere that we didn’t fully appreciate from our table in the quieter side room. This place has a nice traditional feel to it and seems to draw a good crowd based on the friendly staff, good food and beer and perhaps the prospect of some live music. I found myself very much at home here but would definitely recommend avoiding the more formal side room unless you intend to eat. A good double header with the nearby Dancing Man bar and worth adding to any crawl around the city centre.

Slightly bizarre pub with a friendly yet rather run-down feel. Despite the signage, it is not obvious that they brew on site anymore and none of their own beers were on offer at time of visit, so I suspect that all brewing activity has now moved along the road to the brewery/restaurant. Still a good range of beers on offer though, as well as a cider festival.

A great pub full of life on my Sunday visit,extremely busy maybe due to the live music on at the time but I'm sure its a feelgood place all week long. Six pumps for ale and my Vibrant Forest Nova Foresta went down well. A top pub.

Waterfront (almost!) pub with a striking deep purple exterior paint job. Characterful interior with South American/African influences which some may find twee but I thought rather worked. The layout is two rooms (well, areas) separated by an archway, with pulled burgundy satin ceiling covers on the left side. Big on music with a plethora of gigs advertised and eclectic piped music on the go (abetted by massive CD collection behind the bar). Five ales at the bar - London Pride, 2x Bowman and their home brew (Dancing Man) which was in good nick. They were setting up for the weekend beer festival which I wouldn't have minded hanging around for had I not had a few more pubs to tick off. Other offerings included free Wi-Fi and a selection of papers. Locals were friendly and I got chatting to a couple at the bar. Well-worth the pleasant walk to sample this one (look out for the historical quotes embedded in the pavement on the way).