please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Excellent as ever and can now be combined with a visit to the Barleymow down the road.
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Our bus trip around watering holes of Hampshire last Saturday didn't originally include the Hole In The Wall. Thank God that Mike & Caroline from Havant Brewery suggested it when one on our itinerary was dropped at short notice. We turned up around 2.30 with 31+ people on board our bus and were made exceedingly welcome. Beers were in cracking condition. My favourite? Oakleaf Stout - sublime!!!
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Fantastic session last Friday at the end of a Pompey daytrip. Superb ale line-up included two from Burton Bridge alongside Oakleaf Hole Hearted which was excellent. Pub unchanged since my visit of 2005 and I received the same warm welcome from staff and locals alike that I had done on previous visits. A very well-run, friendly boozer; everything a pub should be. Well worth coming out of town to find - you will not be disappointed unless you arrive outside opening hours!
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Fantastic little pub. What it lacks in size it makes up for in being just so lovely!!! Lots of real ales on tap and, although there were none available when I went, I was assured that cider on tap was also more often than not an option.
A real find and must visit for all real ale enthusiasts.
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Finally got our full list of beers for our Beer Festival Friday 2nd October till Sunday 11th. Will have 6,7,8 on at a time due to space, if you know the pub you know the problems we have with being small. 50 in total, don't think we will be busy enough to go through all 50 but will give it a bloody good go.
ALL GATES (WIGAN) Porteresque 4.4% / Mild at heart 3.8% / Caskablanca 4.1%
ASCOT Alleycat 3.8% / On The Rails 3.8% / Posh Pooch 4.2%
BATH ALES (BRISTOL) Gem 4.1%
BLACK DOG (N.YORKSHIRE) Whitby Abbey Ale 3.8% / schooner 4.2% / Rhatas 4.6% /
BRADFIELD (S.YORKSHIRE) Farmers Bitter 3.9%
BREW DOG (FRASERBURGH) 77 Lager 4.9%
BURTON BRIDGE (STAFFS) XL Mild 4% / Burton Porter 4.5% / Damson Porter 4.5% / Top Dog Stout 5% / Bramble Stout 5% / Dam Dog 5%
COTLEIGH (SOMERSET) 25 4% / Honey Buzzard 4.5%
DALES ALES (YORKSHIRE) Old Chestnut 4.5%
DALESIDE (HARROGATE) Autumn Leaves 3.4%
DARK HORSE (N.YORKSHIRE) Helton Pale Ale 4.2%
DARK STAR BREWERY (SUSSEX) - Oktoberfest 5.2%
FYNE ALES (ARGYLL) Innishail 3.6%
GRAFTON (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE) Two Water Grog 4% / Blondie 4.8%
HAVANT (COWPLAIN) Havant Dropped 3.8%
KELBURN BREWERY (GLASGOW) - Red Smiddy 4.1%
LANCASTER Blonde 4.1%
MEANTIME (GRENWICH) London Pale Ale 4.3%
MOONSHINE (CAMBRIDGE) Harvest Moon Mild 3.9% / Barton Bitter 4% / CB1 Best Bitter 4.2% / Budding Moon 5.1% / Hunters Moon 3.9%
OAKLEAF- Green Gold
OLD MILL (SNAITH) Fallover 4.5%
PHOENIX (BURY) Monkeytown Mild 3.9% / West Coast IPA 4.6%
RED SQUIRREL (HERTFORDSHIRE) London Porter 5% / Brew No1 3.9% /
Weise Beer 5%
SKINNERS (CORNWALL) Cornish Blonde 5%
RCH (SOMERSET) Steam Harvest 4.8% / Double Header 5.3%
WARWICKSHIRE Darling Buds 4%
WYRE PIDDLE (PERSHORE) Crop Slasher 4.3%
YORK Guzzler 3.6% / Yorkshire Terrier 4.2%
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Still my favourite pub in Portsmouth if not in the UK. Great beer and a good atmosphere. Will be at the beer festival for sure.
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quick note for your diary, the beer festival runs from saturday 3rd of october for 9 days, they are trying for 50 different beers in 9 days, i'll help as much as i can but i will need some assistance(big barry, hope your off that week)
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What a wonderful pub. Great selection of ales and knowledgeable and helpful bar staff. What more can you ask for.
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Country Life Brewery Black Boar (Devon Porter), Marston Moor Cromwell Pale, Buffys Norwegian Blue, Hepworth Sussex, Scattor Rock Rock Steady Light, Oakleaf Holehearted plus, on stills, 2 ciders incl Thatchers Cheddar Valley dry, also Grandmas Weapons Grade Ginger Beer. Enter to the front room, half wood-panelled, tiled floor, trad seating, up a step (under hop-adorned archway) to fairly tight bar area, esp with a little finger buffet laid out Sat nt for 60th bday, heavy floral paper on upper walls here, and tankards hang from beams. Past bar down corridor with tables & retro 70s dumb-waiter, tall wooden pew-like(?) settles to rt , further to tiny snug on left mirror, old photos, servery from rear of bar. Menu includes steak&kidney pie, mash/peas, £5.25, or steak-ale-mushroom pie £5.45. All beers <£2.50. Friendly young staff, good pub & it would have been sampled earlier in the day but for a Sat opening time of 16:00!
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One of my favorite pubs in country. On my last visit there were 5 excellent ales on including some lovely Dark Star Hophead :) To all the staff keep up the good work!
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Almightylala - first, an apology. I had written down the meal timings for the Florence, which was the pub above yours in GBG07, so I was wrong to think you do food til 8.30. A mistake on my part. It was definitely the right pub, though, as we had walked half way across town to find you and I remember the address.
What that doesn't alter, though, was that we were told in a fairly offhand way that food was stopping in 10 minutes so we couldn't have any. The jostling did occur, and while I appreciate it may have been accidental, there was no apology or acknowledgement from the person involved.
In fairness, then, next time I'm in Portstmouth I will come in and try your food and hopefully be a bit more positive afterwards.
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In reply to ETA, are you sure you've got the right pub as the last two GBG's have not got any food times at all. Also I don't recall ever having a beer on called Copperhead and to be jostled by another customer sounds very unlike this place. Please reply as very interested to find out what pub you did check out in the GBG.
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I was highly disappointed with this pub, especially as I had made a point of travelling right across town to get here. GBG says food served until 8.30pm, we arrived at 7.50 and were told we were too late to order, even though the fat-splasher was still in the kitchen. Then I was jostled by another customer, who knocked my pint over and refused to apologise, let alone replace it.
The beer (Copperhead) was OK, but nothing special. Another pub with an undeserved reputation for excellence, and one to which I won't be returning in a hurry.
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Caught this pub the night before the beer festival and the choice and quality of the ales was pretty good then! Great little local, very good bar staff and nice feel to the place. Went in on the first day of the festival also and wished I didn't have to get the train out of Portsmouth that evening. I'll be back.
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oh no, not another beer festival, please tell me i've not got to drink all 40 of them in the coming week, mind you it would be good
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Beer Festival coming up this Friday the 3rd October 2008 till Sunday 12th. Those of you that know the pub know we haven't the space to put on a normal beerfest so we will endeavour to put on 40 beers over the week, 26 new to us 14 old favs.
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The only pub I know where the landlord opens for a group of football fans when he would normally be closed. Serves the best pint of Nuptu'Ale and the wife loves the belgian beer. A country pub in the town
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Answer to previous message. Slake the beer in the jug would not have been there for more than a couple of minutes. We poor a couple of pints into a jug when a beer is particularly lively. Helps us to keep down wasteage and keep the price down to you, having a beer where you waste a 1/2 to the drip tray for every pint would mean a price of more like £3 a pint to the customer. Not good
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Still a great pub, but... I'm having to reduce my rating from 10 after what I saw this Saturday. Pints were being topped up by the barman from a jug that was a quarter full. How long the beer had been in the jug is anyone's guess. Not good.
Try the alcoholic ginger beer.
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This very small place feels like a country pub in the heart of the city, the staff are very friendly and seems to gather nice punters. The beers and ales on tap are unique (you have to try hole-hearted) oh and pop into the India Arms next door for a curry afterwards.
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Popped in for a couple of pints and must say both were in excellent condition.The staff were very friendly too.I look forward to visiting for a longer session next time.
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I haven't reviewed this lovely pub for 2.5 years, I've realised, during which time we've being going regularly. Still can't find a single bad thing to say - the atmosphere is still welcoming and relaxing, the AlmightyLaLa still keeps a barrel of beer just the way it should be, the ciders keep coming, the guest beers keep rotating, and the eponymous Whole-Hearted still tastes like angel tears on the tongue. The anonymous poster who complained there was no totty - why not take your own along with you?
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I would like to thank The Almighty Lala for his kind congrats. It will still take me a long time to reach the amount of awards that he has got. hopfully 2 good real ale pubs in the area at least. Froggi
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Congratulations with your entry in the Good Beer Guide 2008! Well done.
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i've just seen the beer list for the festival which starts on friday 28th and runs for 9 days, it's going to be hard to drink anywhere else for a week or so, lots of unusual ale for the area(as always)
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I have to agree with the below comments, and point out, again, that pub reviews are the only place people can talk about BITE, which is stupid and wasteful. There should be a message board s to allow the people who make it work, ie us posters, a chance to discus and air views about how it works and give us a better sense of ownership.
I am also dubious about anonymous posters, but dafter than that is the fact that all a poster's reviews are displayed with a click on their name but the is no ranks given. I know some people are snooty about messageboard ranks but just having a number after a name shows everyone how much you've contributed.
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I noticed your comment on the Wenlock Arms page.
I think you will find that the speed that you go up and down the Top 40 ratings, is in direct proportion to the number of members that have rated your pub. Your pub has been rated by 62 users while the Wenlock has been rated 268 times. It is therefore a lot more difficult for spoilers to move the Wenlock's Top 40 position.
I have a pub in Reading, which at present has a rating of 8.8/10 (rated by 22 users). If we get 3 more good reviews we should go top, but I don't expect to stay there for more than half an hour.
I think that members shouldn't be allowed to post anonymous reviews (what are they trying to hide?). It is also impossible to see what other rubbish they may have written. If the username is displayed, as in "smiff", you can click on his name and see he has only made 3 reviews and slated every pub!
I also think you shouldn't be allowed to rate a pub without reviewing it. I bet there are a lot of people out there with a dozen different usernames, purely to manipulate the Top 40.
I haven't been in you're pub yet, but I'll be reviewing it soon - so watch out.
P.S. We've got Whole Hearted in our pub at the moment!
meeko - 21 Sep 2007 09:35 |
In response to Lord Lucan the website works fine if you're using Internet Explorer however if you're using another Browser, I think Firefox has been mentioned to me, then it does tend to mix up the format of the website. Have mentioned it to the company that did the website for me but am still waiting for a reply. Thanks for letting us know though.
On another subject funny how we manage to get to Number 1 in the top 40 one day and then receive 2 bad comments the next mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm is there possibly a connection.
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hole is the only thing i could say about it
smiff - 20 Sep 2007 15:47 |
dont rate this pub there was no totty but was okish
anonymous - 20 Sep 2007 14:24 |
A fab pub with lovely ales, the Ginger beer (5%) was fab! although evening spolit by someone a bit anal complaining about the fact that I was having a fag outside, errrr I thought all pubs were now smoke free? you can't please these people
anonymous - 16 Sep 2007 19:45 |
Did I mention that Hole Hearted is named after this pub;)
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May I be the first to congratulate Oakleaf Brewery for winning Silver Medal, with Hole Hearted, at the Golden Beer Category at this years GBBF. Hole Hearted, incidentally :), is named after this pub.
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Congratulations on the baby and winning pub of the year! It's all happening! Had some of Grandma's Ginger Beer last night... phew... great stuff!!
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popped in last night, the pub was being presented with the portsmouth Camra pub of the year award, and well deserved it is to, a great range of 8 real ales and 3 ciders. A great pub that just goes from strength to strength
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Sorry to say I have moved away from my favourite pub now.
Auditions are well under way for a replacement here in Glasgow, but The Hole In The Wall is a very tough act to follow.
Cheers to you & yours John. Take care
Dave T.
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I don't know about "the best pub on Portsea Island" - this is one of the best pubs in the country. Excellent choice of really well-kept ale with a constantly changing selection of guests, proper glow-in-the-dark cider and decent selection of euro bottled lager if you like that sort of thing. The 5.5% ginger beer is an experience too! Staff and locals are friendly, while the decor and atmosphere is the stuff that your olde worlde theme pubs can only dream of. Highly recommended.
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Quite simply the best pub on Portsea Island. Very well-kept beer at reasonable prices, an excellent atmosphere and a variety of people. Best of all, the ale selection is the most adventurous in the area. highly recommended.
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Great pub - atmosphere is welcoming and relaxed, beer is fantastic and the real cider a treat
Keep up the good work!
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Would like to thank TheAlmightyLaLa for very generous comments about the Barley Mow. We all try to help each other when we can. Hopfuly with more pubs in the area serving good beer and atmosphere we will all benifit. The Hole in the Wall is a long established good beer Guide pub serving geat beer I hope that I can live up to challenge.
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great little pub, good range of real ales, real cider and belguim bottles. very good food at a good price. friendly landlord and a nice mix of customers, top hole.
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Visited this pub last year before seeing a show at the nearby Kings Theatre - could easily hvae spent the whole night in this great pub. Very friendly Landlord and other drinkers. Spent a while asking landlord about previous uses for the building - beer was excellent and food fabulous - reminds one of what pubs used to be like - also surrounding street is pleasing on the eye - almost Dickensian !!
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The Hole in the Wall remains top pub for miles around.
The rating system seems to be letting them down.
Probably one opf the other posters used a low rating without realising it? There are nobad comments toback it up.
Doh !
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I'm back in Prague now, but I did spend some great evenings in The Hole in The Wall again during my trip back to you UK over Christmas/New Year. Again, I filled myself silly with the O-Hagan's sausages and mash. And tried the amazing alcoholic ginger beer... ooh, I'll kill for one of those right now! After two pints you certainly knew it was alcoholic!! Yum!
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Have been the landlord of this pub now for the last 2 1/2 years and have always used this excellent site to see if we're doing the right things or not. Have never felt the need to post a comment until now though, how did we go from a 9.7 to a 7.1 rating, number 1 in the top 40 to not even in the top 40 overnight. Have seen the new number 1 The Red Lion at Snargate has had the same problem and doubtless other pubs the same.
Please can someone explain as I'm at a loss
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Lived in Portsmouth 24 years never heard of this pub but visited just before Christmas - excellent beer selection, very well kept, food looks good as well - too busy drinking to get to get to it! Definately return
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Brilliant place. Top beer and great atmos!You need to get there early to get a table though.Apart from that it's one of the best 'locals' in Portsmouth.
And try the Alcholic Ginger Beer! Is lovely, and has a nice little kick to it!
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Visit this pub and you wont need to go anywhere else ever again.
This has everything you could want in a pub and more.
I'm lucky that I live round the corner from it, but I have never ever heard anyone ever have a bad word to say about the place.
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Re-visited this little pub recently... several times!! My family who live in the area now visit regularly. Great food at an amazing price - very filling - I'd recommend the 'O-Hagan's sausages and mash'! Much busier than it used to be which really helps with the atmosphere.
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Who forgot to mention that the beer is still cheap, oh there we go! The guest ales change from week to week now and the Oakleaf Nuptuale and Hole Hearted are constant features. There's also a rack of daily newspapers to read. There's the occasional brewery/beer festival trip arranged through the pub.
Still upto standard etcetera, etcetera, etcetera..
Try one of the pie and mash and you won't have to eat for the rest of the week!
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I switched to this pub as my 'local' about eight months ago. It's just the job. Great beer and a very social place. I wish the music was more to my taste, but I can always plug into my mp3 player in between frequent trips to the bar. Can't reccomend it highly enough really. I was so rubbish at the quiz !!!!
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The chilli & rice for £3.95 was good.
Wide range of beers. The 'Holehearted' a bit too perfumed for me, but worth going back to try more.
Small, cosy pub, almost full of locals midweek at 6pm, including some mad students playing scrabble and doing push-ups...
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brilliant pub. visit it and get plastered.
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Range of ales excellent in this dark and cramped boozer, sadly thats much like the clientel when I went in. Camra sterotypes ahoy!
No atmosphere at all, though the barmaid was a friendly and the beer was fantastic. Interesting to see you can get your orders in pitchers as well!
A place for a quiet drink and nothing more.
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Visited this little watering-hole as a direct result of reading about it on this website, and was delighted with my decision to seek it out. Hidden down a backstreet, but worth the effort to find out. Oakleaf Brewery ales served in splendid fashion, and two varieties of real cider pleased the girlfriend no end. Good wholesome food at very reasonable prices, very friendly clientele (including the local vicar on one visit). An oasis of calm in the midst of life's trials. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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The pub now serves hot food with various flavours of pie with mash and a selection of high quality sausages with onion gravy and mash. Prices around the £5 mark for a very filling meal. Well worth a try.
anonymous - 9 Dec 2005 10:58 |
The new "Bar Manager" has continued to improve on the previous incumbent and now stocks other guest Real Ales as well as Oakleaf Brewery ones. I've tasted some of the guest ales that the 'Ole has in other parts of the country and they don't taste half as good as they do in this Pub. This is testament to the continuing quality of this well run pub. Food is good and the regulars are happy as "Barry", especially if Pompey have won!
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Can only agree with the other comments. If you only visit one pub in Portsmouth, make it this one. Best pub in the city in terms of beer quality - although The Winchester, which also serves Oakleaf runs it close. It is a small pub and gets busy weekend evenings, often with the local Camra mob but increasingly with more svelte types who drift along from the India.
Usually has a small selection of Belgian bottles available, a rarity in Pompey.
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Yet again this pub continues to deliver. Now added to the excellent beer range (two of Ed's brews plus Young's Winter Warmer) are a good selection of bar snacks served until 8pm. These include toasties, jacket potatoes etc and come in generous sizes with a side salad.
I meant to have only one pint when I arrived at 1945 but didn't leave 'til after 2200 having been engaged in conversation with the friendly manager and an equally amicable local.
Still a gem, and still gets worthy of its 10/10 marks - keep it up!
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Delightfully unchanged since my last visit, and the beer, atmosphere and friendliness of this pub made it the highlight of my trip.
Recommended for Oakleaf Brewery beers, namely Nuptu'ale, Oakleaf Bitter (absolutely exquisite), Squirrel's Delight and Hole Harted (brewed specially for this pub).
Background music kept down to a comfortable level, allowing the pub to buzz with the delightful sound of conversation.
In many ways this was the best pub I visited in Portsmouth & Southsea.
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An absolute gem. One of the most friendly pubs I have ever been in, serving some of the best beer I have drunk in my life. The Oakleaf Brewery produces some of this country's finest beers. The pub is a charming example of a back street local, and is definitely worth a visit. Met someone called "Bob" there - very friendly - during my visit on 22/11/2002.
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