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The Dancing Man, Southampton
Southampton
SO14 2AR
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Dancing Man
Great old stone building, lovely refurbishment with brewery and outside space next to the docks. Excellent stone interior and good beer
On 5th April 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Dancing Man
Always busy, this brewery tap is much as described below. It’s become trendy, and the lack of other decent pubs in the area has increased the numbers coming here. It was noisy, not particularly convivial, and crowded, so not as enjoyable as it should have been. The beer was good though, my favourite behind the Old Fashioned bitter which hit the spot nicely. I shall come back in the hope that things will be more enjoyable when it gets too cold for the tourists.
On 20th October 2021
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3285 recommendations about 3250 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Dancing Man
Very much a tourist trap this place. We got here on a Saturday lunchtime and every available seat and bench was taken up outside, at the front of the pub, as the sun was out. We decided to have a nose upstairs, where we were greeted and asked would we like a seat for dining. I headed for the best option and took a pew at the bar, so we went for their Hop Cocktail on handpull, which was a decent unfined IPA, at 5.2% a tad pricey though, but that was ok as it was Mrs Ale's round. Loved the building, 14th Century Grade I listed.
On 3rd April 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Dancing Man
This is a rather fancy brewpub in a nice old wool storage building built from stone and stood just across the road from the Isle of Wight ferry terminal. There is a large patio area outside the front of the building, across which countless picnic benches have been laid out, all of which were fully occupied when I visited early on a warm Saturday evening. You enter into a stone floor room with a good bit of open space around the entrance and a mix of bench and chair seating either side. A large spiral staircase in the centre of the room makes for an eye-catching feature and leads up to a first floor restaurant, whilst also nicely breaking up sightlines and acting as a place from which various decorative items can be hung. The room has been decorated in a rustic style with exposed stone walls, wooden beams and posts, old signs, clocks and the like on display and muted lighting all coming together to create a nice, coherent look. The room’s centrepiece is arguably a large pulley/winch contraption that was presumably used to haul wool bales in and out of the building in the past, whilst various junk sculpted robots can also be found dotted around the room. Towards the rear of the room, you go up a couple of steps for the bar area, which is a bare boarded space with a sweeping curved bar counter along the back wall. The counter has wooden plank frontage whilst the bar back has been cleverly designed to look like a large keg. High tables and stools run down the left hand side of the bar, with some of the stools designed to look like logs – definitely a case of style over comfort though. The brewery is visible to the right of the bar and through some windows to the left. The first floor restaurant is a much quieter, formal affair, with more bare stone walls and quirky decor plus lots of standard seating options and an amazing high vaulted wood beam ceiling which is worth the trip upstairs to see alone.
Dancing Man beers unsurprisingly dominate the bar, with the handpulls dispensing Dancing Man Vagrant, Jack O’Diamonds, Mi Amiga Phantasma and Old Fasioned, with a single guest ale of Dark Revolution Electric. The keg range was even more extensive and included four of their own brews on the bar plus many further keg beer and cider options dispensed from taps on the bar back, each with their own novelty handle. I tried a pint of the Mi Amiga Phantasma and it was an excellent drop which I thoroughly enjoyed and had I not agreed to meet friends elsewhere, I would happily have stayed and sampled more.
This is a great use of an old building which had been shut for a number of years following its use as part of the Southampton Maritime Museum. The brewery have eschewed the modern tendency to design an industrial-styled brewery tap and have instead created a very individual, interesting and comfortable bar and restaurant full of well kept beer from the on-site brewery. This is one of the best pubs in Southampton right now and it is well worth the walk down to this end of town to check it out.
On 20th September 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Dancing Man
Quite splendid transformation of an ancient building, with an excellent range of ales and keg/bottled craft beers from the central bar, which also houses the brewing kit. Thoroughly recommended.
On 10th June 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Dancing Man
Now this is an interesting place,a modern pub/restaurant on two levels by way of a gentle spiral staircase, housed in an authentic very old building,the stone walls and barnacled dark timbers make quite a feature, its also home to Dancing Man brewery and their beers can be found amongst the eight handpumps in the downstairs bar.My pint of Dancing Man Congo Driftwood was spot on, its a top place and a must visit.
On 13th April 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
peter ashworth left this review about The Dancing Man
Built in 1415 as a storehouse for wool,this grade 1 listed building is one of Southampton's oldest buildings and over the centuries has been a warehouse,prison and up till 2011 a maritime museum.The building was given a new lease of life when it opened in February 2015 and is now a modern styled pub and restaurant and home to the Dancing Man Brewery that has come a long way since it opened up in a disused kitchen of the nearby Platform Tavern pub.
The building has an excellent restoration which includes an impressive curved staircase which leads to the upper floor restaurant(4 casks available)On entry you notice quite a few oddments and other miscellany plus a tourist information centre and proceeding forward up a few steps the bar faces you with around 8 handpulls the majority from there own brewery which included Pilgrims pale ale,Congo driftwood ( a mango and papaya pale ale)Fiddlers Jig bitter,Big Casino IPA and The Last Waltz which was a black IPA at 5.3%
The pub is situated at Town Quay and is only about 200 yards from the Isle Of Wight Ferry.Without There is also a brew school where you can learn the art of brewing which starts at 6am and is 75pounds per person with a maximum of 3 and includes a buffet lunch and a couple of pints at the end
The pub is open Sunday till Wednesday 12-11 and Thursday till Saturday 12-12. Definitely worth a visit
On 19th June 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2318 recommendations about 2275 pubs]