Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with rpadam
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Florist, Buckland, Portsmouth
Fratton
Portsmouth
PO1 5JX
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Florist
I was all set to write a glowing review of this excellent little pub, but it very nearly ended up becoming an obituary following the decision of the pub's owners, the Oakleaf Brewery, to enter administration a week after my visit to what was their only tied house. Thankfully, the freeholder has managed to reopen the pub after a short period of closure, so the place lives on despite the obvious absence of the well kept Oakleaf beers, so all is not lost. This is a relief, as the pub is a fine specimen, presenting a grand Brewer's Tudor façade with a corner turret, lovely glazed tiling and old Brickwork Brewery livery. The front door has a stained glass pane and leads you into a compact L-shaped room with laminate flooring and limited seating options. The servery is to the rear left and has a dark wood counter and very simple, clean bar back. Walls are half panelled with the top half painted in a light blue shade and some standard tables and chairs have been sparingly arranged around the perimeter. A few bits of breweriana and modern art contrast nicely on the walls and there was a bookcase in a rear corner stuffed with old copies of the Good Beer Guide The radio was playing unmemorable tunes on my midday Saturday visit whilst a muted TV showed highlights from an athletics meet. A dartboard rounds out the entertainment options as far as I could see and I can imagine the room generates a pretty good atmosphere on a busy evening.
Oakleaf ales obviously dominated the bar, with Hole Hearted, Pompey Royal and IPA supplemented by Staggeringly Good PteREDactale and a real cider, with three other cider options listed on a board and presumably served from boxes somewhere behind the bar. My pint of the Hole Hearted was exceptionally good and the barman was a friendly chap who explained that Oakleaf were considering opening another pub in Winchester, depending on how well the Florist performed.
I really liked what the brewery had done to get this attractive pub open and serving good ale again, so I was very sorry to hear of their apparent difficulties. I hope the freeholder can keep the pub going as an alehouse, as it seems a good asset for the local community and a nice counterpoint to the nearby Wetherspoons and sports-based pubs. Worth keeping tabs on if such high standards can be maintained.
On 19th August 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Dorothy left this review about The Florist
Recently taken over by Oakleaf Brewery of Gosport. Oakleaf beers on sale and guest ales.
On 8th May 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Florist
Architecturally, this Victorian corner pub on the main road through Fratton is a neo-Gothic gem whose ground floor tiled exterior provides a strange contrast to the two-gabled roof and appealing belvedere. Once inside, however, the delight and romance come to an abrupt end. It was difficult to decide which was less lively, the pub or the funeral parlour opposite. There were two bars (in the pub, I mean, not the undertaker's) with a total of nine handpumps, none of which carried any ale. The barman was openly hostile when we entered, while the solitary local was also pretty uninviting. There was an unpleasant odour in the bar. This pub was previously owned by Wadworth, but they sold it a couple of years ago. I don't see my coming back here until there is another change of ownership.
On 1st March 2015
- rating: 2
[User has posted 3286 recommendations about 3251 pubs]