Nothing to add that hasn't already been said. The exterior and interior is fantastic. Sat upstairs in the 'gallery' section. Had a good pint of Itchen Valley breweries 'Hampshire Rose'. Unfortunately, the TVs blasting out football ruined the vibe - would be better without all that. But all in all a great pub with plenty of character. Hopefully it'll keep on going for many years to come.Fabulous old place, and steeped in history (apparently) as the building in which the traitors in the Southampton Plot of 1415 were tried, which, although I haven't done any research, find hard to swallow completely, but its nice to think so. Anyway, at least this place has some character as all the British pubs which aren't among the 33 closing per week, transform themselves into chains of Greedy King or Wethys or Ember or whatever. Shame the place is so filthy and dark, the furniture beaten and broken - you will fall through the chairs when you sit on them, the beer is just about ok and the food is lost in 1973 CO-OP stamps britain. Oh well, at least it looks great, including parrot and this just about allows it to have a 4. Music dreadful. You couldn't stay in here for too long.Popped in with my wife yesterday lunchtime for a quick sandwich and a pint. Stayed for three pints and spoke to Mike behind the bar who has a great knowledge of the pubs history which was extremely interesting.The sandwiches were good and well presented.If you enjoy your counties history and a good well presented pint then go to the Red Lion its steeped in history and has an Old World Charm. It was so present not to see a TV and loud music, time for relection and conversation.

OK, the pub is large and suffers from the usual Wetherspoon's uninspiring fitments and layout but that is not an unsolvable problem here. My usual visits are when the Saints are playing at home on a Saturday and, not surprisingly, the place is packed with football fans vying for service with the usual suspects. This is where the staff differ from most other pubs in the chain. They are exceptionally well aware of the customers at the bar and rarely serve anyone out of turn. In addition the regular (?) Saturday lunchtime staff are a breath of fresh air; welcoming, happy, funny and a downright good advert for the pub. Well done the management and staff here; long may you serve we thirsty customers.went in sunday afternoon and order ringwood old thumper which was a good pint. the pub was packed so it had taken a few mins to get served not the fault of the barstaff being slow. found a seat a averge spoonsOne of the best ale ranges I've seen in a spoons. Otherwise the usual

Went to this pub Saturday night. I was one of 10 of us who booked our xmas party. We had the xmas menu and the food was really really good, table laid up nice with crackers and candals. The pub looked great really chrismassey with the decorations xmas tree and lights, looked like a real santas groto. They had obviously gone to alot of trouble making the pub look good and we were all made to feel very welcome. They had a log fire which made it even more cosy and homely. We asked about the parrot reading the other review and the landlady went to get him. Jasper was spectacular bigger than i expected and what lovely colours he was. We were told he is a macaw.
What a great night we all had!!!friendly country pub lots of character and interesting menu. even got a pub Parrot and is apparently haunted by a strange ghostly figure called Dan!friendly country pub lots of character and interesting menu. even got a pub Parrot and is apparently haunted by a strange ghostly figure called Dan!

In response to Penguintoo (Im quite fond of Penguins!) I feel he does have a right to his/her opinion, could be wrong but I thought we lived in a Democratic Sociey? Each to his own etc, etc? Cant believe everyone is taking it all so seriously, there is a war going on in Afghanistan! I have been a regular at the pub through many different Managers so as you can imagine I do have my opinions, not all of them positive! And as for the Rambling Biker Gary, are you that total Moron with the personality of a Gnat that uses a WHOLE car parking space for your Toy (I mean Motorbike!)Ok penguin you've admitted to getting some things wrong, now it seems that you are being outnumbered perhaps you should admit that you were hasty with the other comments,and that in this time of goodwill to all men you should consider moving on from the past and dare I say it from the pub aswell. I'm sure that other pubs in the area would welcome your insincere custom.
Merry Xmas to all sincere Humble Plumb regulars.
Obviously this web site is not meant to be used as a direct conduit of your personal vendetta against either the pub or management so mooooove on.
P.S. Well said bikergary whoever you are.In response to "penguineater" report dated 16th Dec, I stand corrected. It is Kev and Dee Jukes. One assumed and mis- heard surnames. The previous deputy Manager holds the surname which is the Managers surname prior to marrying Kevin Jukes. That surname itself is 'Harris' - which is where i also misheard by calling them Harrison.

Now, please read previous reports and they speak for themselves. Merry Christmas

Been in here a couple of times after a trip over on the ferry- needless to say the main attraction of Hythe is the 1909 train taking you to the ferry. This place, well, it has several really wonderful 'snugs', which I think, one hasn't got a TV in it, but not sure- but the pub structure is quite impressive, if not a bit too large- large bar at the rear and outside beer patio which looks out onto Southampton Water and the ferry train, so prob ok in Summer. There are some real ales, and I think last time I had a 6X which wasn't great, but drinkable and the glass stank. Not tried food in here but no reason it would be any better than barely edible. It's actually got some life, so its not bad.....stuck between a 4 and a 5 so have to make it a 4 on this occasion as not as good as Eagle and Child Oxford which I gave 5. Prepare for future update.Food is homecooked and very well priced,different bars for watching sport or chilling with no sport and genuinely a very nice place to relax and enjoy a decent pint,the beer was tremendous...would not recomend to any 1 .. dirty place horrible food .. fotball in nearly every bar ..full of fough people ..

We had our Christmas do there on Thursday and it was a great choice after all, I would surly recommend it to all groups!Good value for money, no waiting, fresh food and everyone found their favourite dish, even vegetarians. Great service, friendly staff, the place seemed to be very busy when we were there! Must try the chicken fajitas when you go!We go to The Bold Forester regularly and love it! The food is exceptional, decor is lovely and cosy, and the staff are very attentive and friendly. It's also very reasonably priced and has great special offers.

We recently took friends who were visiting from Australia. Our friend is very into cooking and food and is always picky about restaurants. He had Thai red prawn curry and said it was the best food he had tasted in the UK and is going back next time he's in the UK!

Headed down to The Bold Forester on friday for a low key dinner with friend...and wasn't at all dissapointed. Great atmosphere and we were still able to hold a conversation without having to shout over background music! Our waitresses were helpful and friendly. Most importantly the food was fantastic, I had a fillet steak that was cooked perfectly and my friend's cheese board was very well stocked! A lovely dinner followed by the opportunity to hang around finishing our wine feeling under no pressure to clear off... Definitely worth a visit.5 stars!