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| ...Steam not shown... |
So back to Southampton town centre for a quick one at a pub near the revamped cultural and educational quarter by the civic centre.
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| Place of learning MkI... |
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| Place of learning MKII... |
...and is owned by the country’s leading pub retailer and brewer (their words, not mine), Greene King. Unfortunately they’re not leading the TripAdvisor rankings with this pub, but I suppose being ranked 249, out of 985 pubs in Southampton could be a lot worse.
Inside the pub is a large single space with a raised area on the left and large bar on the right. It is a generic eating pub, like Brewers Fare, and all the rest (too numerous to mention)...
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| Big bar... |
At the bar, as you might expect, there’s a fine selection of beers from the country’s leading brewer...
...but you don’t need a photo of those.
After a short deliberation, I decide to have a half of IPA, rather than the Abbot or Scrum Down (no idea why really...)
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| Not an Italian beer... |
The heavily tattooed barman, fully understanding the subtleties of ‘the proper beer glass’, served the half of IPA in an worryingly thin, but beautifully decorated Peroni glass. Having done my best to dispel any thoughts that I was drinking a European lager, the IPA was drinkable, good, but uninspiring and not a great example of an India Pale Ale...
Multiple TV screens were showing Sky Sports upcoming schedules, adverting loops or just staring blankly at the few customers who were spread thinly about, eating or just having a drink...
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| Blank screens.... |
...the piped music competed with gentle hum of background conversation to make the place seem welcoming...
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| View to the front - piped music and conversation not shown... |
...but the standard design, drinks offerings and pre-packaged menu just makes it seem bland.
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| Who me....?! |
There wasn’t really any incentive to stand (or sit) still for very long here, and I finished my half of IPA, and said thanks to the barman as I left...but the quote...the song and the original video kind of struck a chord...
...We don’t need no India Pale Ale...
...We don’t need no thought control...
...No dark sarcasm in the taproom...
...GeeKay leave them pubs alone
...Hey!...GeeKay! - Leave them pubs alone....
....All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.....
etc...
To be fair there’s nothing wrong with this pub, it is functional and perfectly adequate, a lot of people who visited it liked it on Trip Advisor and...and...
...all in all it’s just another GK pub...
Beer Mat Moment.
Ok I couldn’t resist a fine example from the country’s leading brewer...
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| A Side - Greene King ‘Your IPA' |
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| B Side - Greene King - ‘Your IPA’. |
Top 250 pubs in Southampton is a big selling point...can't believe GK marketing haven't honed in on that�� good mat but an average boozer I reckon
ReplyDeleteBritain Beermat
You could be right there B.B. Altough perhaps top 250 ranking doesn’t meet their perceived high standards as ‘the country’s leading beer retailer and brewer’ 🙄
DeleteHad a half decent pint of Titanic Iceberg in here three years ago, but I won't be back, hideous place.
ReplyDeleteP.s
DeleteIt was the Frog and Parrot back then, but hideous all the same.
At least there was a half decent beer offering then. Totally agree with you though - a completely soulless, artificial place. A bit like a convenience store for beer and meals perhaps.
Delete"I suddenly realised that I hadn’t done a GHGTTP2 blog post for a while..."
ReplyDeleteNot to worry; I haven't been replying to blog posts lately in a timely manner.
(I blame - a cold heading into its third week; catering; the doctor; and 4 litres of tomato soup being sprayed all over the back of the car, including the back seats!).
"Place of learning MKII..."
Beats MK1, though it still looks like something from Russia.
"(no idea why really...)"
I'm guessing a flight of fancy.
"Not an Italian beer..."
Mayhap the IPA sells so well all of its glasses were in use? ;)
"View to the front - piped music and conversation not shown..."
Now that would be a neat trick; to show audio in a photo. :)
"Who me....?!"
Crikey. Are they trying to impersonate a Hard Rock cafe?
"kind of struck a chord..."
Slow golf clap on the lyrics below. (doffs hat)
"...all in all it’s just another GK pub..."
Which pretty well sums it up, dunnit?
"Ok I couldn’t resist a fine example from the country’s leading brewer..."
I'm guessing that's a bit of sleight of hand. They say they're the country's 'leading pub retailer and brewer'. I think if you omit the pub bit they wouldn't be #1. ;)
Cheers
Nice one Russ - and great to hear from you. Your comments are always worth waiting for...! :)
DeleteThe exploding tomato soup must have been quite spectacular - reminds me of when one of my 5 litre kegs of home brew blew up in a cupboard in my garage. Blew the doors open and the back off the cupboard! Clean up probably wasn’t as bad as your car though...
Couldn’t resist the slight of hand - though possibly GK intended it too in an underhand way...
Hope you get rid of that cold soon - I think the global cold virus has been like that this year - my wife suffered for at least 3 weeks with hers (lingering mainly as a sore throat)...
Cheers...
Thanks buds.
DeleteYour home brew blowup sounds like a good story to be sure. :)
As for the cold, sheesh, just topping 3 weeks and still lingering somewhat. Others have said similar to what you mentioned about your dear wife; three weeks seems to be the norm, so mine should be gone by the weekend. ;)
Cheers