Hamble ShopZone

All information here is presented in good faith. It is my personal view that is represented. There is no commercial connection between myself and any establishment listed here except that I spend money in them.

Contents 


Hamble Pubs,Clubs & Eating Places

These are the ones that I have visited and so I can claim to have some comment about them.

Pubs Clubs & Restaurants

Pubs in a linear crawl

The White Hart, Hamble Lane
This pub is in an old building, originally houses. It has been relatively recently altered to provide more space. Dark wood ambiance, excellent for dining as well as drinking.
They have now got a beer garden, first known as "Mustn't Grumble" now the "Cheeky Monkey" garden with childrens swings and a summertime ice cream 'bar'.
There is a good choice of food and drink (Gales beer here). Waiter service for food.
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The Victory, High Street Hamble
This building has an upper dining area, that I havent yet visited.
Photographed along with wannabe  prime minister in June 2001. It made a good picture, regardless of the eventual outcome of the election.
Downstairs, the bar is again in a dark wood style. I havent been here that often, but I have enjoyed every visit. The blackboard special food is good.
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The King and Queen, High Street Hamble
This pub is unique in Hamble in that it also has coin-op laundry facilities for sailors who are using Hamble Quay. They are to be found downstairs on the Rope Walk side of the pub.
 
Organises sailing events, and often has a marquee outside in the summer to provide more under-cover space associated with sailing events.
Mount Gay Rum features here.
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Bar attached to the Driftwood Restaurant .
There is a small bar to the side of the Driftwood Restaurant building.
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The Bugle, High Street Hamble
Has re-opened and is a very popular pub again with good beer, restaurant-style food with contemporary restaurant style menu. The redevelopment has used features from the old pub and is more 'open' inside but still feels old.  I have been in a few times since the re-opening, tried the food and the enlarged patio on the north side of the pub. This has river views. A pleasant re-addition to the Hamble pub scene.
The pub was found to be older than expected and its structure has been restored by the builders. What was the restaurant and car park is now occupied by houses, so we have a pub without a car park next door to people who paid a lot for their property. Interesting .....
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The Harrier, High Street Hamble opposite Coronation Parade
I have not been in here.
 
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Clubs

Each of the Marina Developments Limited marinas along the river (Hamble Point, Port Hamble and Mercury) on the Hamble side have a bar which serves food. I believe that these are in fact clubs attached to the marina.

The Ketch Rigger, Hamble Point Marina
Small bar, with views over marina. Exellent home-made soup. Nobody minds if you have a blue face from antifouling paint.
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The Square Rigger, Port Hamble Marina
Gone replaced by luxury flats and yacht brokers. Somewhere in Port Hamble there is somewhere to eat but I havent bothered to look yet (May 2008)
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The Gaff Rigger, Mercury Yacht Harbour
Upstairs above the chandlery. I have been in here twice while on the Day Skipper course run by the Hamble School of Yachting back in April.
Not a very large bar, but it has a roof top patio adjacent.  This has nice views over the river and makes a nice change.
The restaurant has been improved since my last visit, so I cant comment any more..
Rumour has it that it has changed from effectively a caravan site bar (just along the access road to the marina), and has now become more up market and attractive as a place to eat out rather than just eat.
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Eating Places

Apart from the food offered by every pub in Hamble there are also other eating places in the village.

Restaurants

There are five establishments that I can think of which can serve drinks with meals. The Dolce Vita is often heavily booked. The pubs as expected fill up in summer and are fairly empty in winter.

Take a look at http://www.ladieswholunch-in-hampshire.co.uk for some other reviews :-)

Driftwood(in the building formerly known as the Key Restaurant), Rope Walk
In a Queen Anne house.  Some tables with  river views.  We went there with friends and were treated to excellent food but the service was relaxed (allow lots of time), in a relaxing environment. When we began to order the starters we got as far as saying 'prawn crackers and .... ' when the waitress vanished, returning later with the crackers. We ordered a lot of food and eat it all but we managed to hit £175 for 5 people. The langoustine prawn dish is delicious. (April 2008)
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La Dolce Vita, Hamble Square :
Feb 2004 Reopened, having taken over the estate agents/yacht charter office next door.
So there is more room ! .Door catch doesnt work so table 19 has to keep tripping the catch so door shuts.
Italian Restaurant. Good (now reduced but favourites still there) choice of Italian food on the menu. Reasonably priced. I enjoy eating here, but the claustrophobic may find the tables quite closely packed. In Feb 1998, they had the 'bar' part removed and the interior re-done. More room now.
Still close packed tables despite expansion.
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Cinnamon Bay (formerly the Last Viceroy), Hamble Lane
Indian restaurant with a large seating area. Wide choice on the menu. Does take-away with a discount. I quite often buy take-away from here when the spirit of cooking leaves our house, especially when the scent of curry wafts over ... Menu adds interesting items to the standard Indian repertoire: fish dishes and oriental fusion now feature alongside the kormas. Used to have a website but has gone now. 
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Boomerang, Hamble Lane
Was previously Wellies Restaurant, and before that a night club D'Jangos. Good food, good service and very child friendly with a good selection of italian and international themed food.
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Compass Point, Hamble High Street
    Now a house..
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Other Eating Places

In this category, there is one place that you can sit down to eat that is now also in the 'restaurant' category.

The Hamble Tea Rooms/Angelos , High Street Hamble
Cream Teas, light meals, and Hamble souvenirs. They now have a web page www.Homestead.com/tearooms and email address Tearooms@Talk21.com.
They are also have the Hamble Visitor Information Point for tourist information. In the evening they are now also open as Angelos as an Italian Restaurant.  We will be trying them soon
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Take-Away food

Ming Wah, Coronation Parade
Standard Chinese take-away, with a few extra spicy dishes on offer. Under new management , wider menu and much nicer food.Their range is as good as the New Jade Palace of Woolston, so we go there more now.
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Hamble Fish and Chips, Coronation Parade
Another set of owners and a renovation. A traditional chip bar layout across full width of shop so theres more room for the customers.
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New Jade Palace, Woolston
(Next door to Southern Domestics) Yes I know its not in Hamble but  will deliver to Hamble for extra £3 on the bill. Wide range of specialities. We cant stop ordering their crispy duck and fried starters.  Occasionally delivery drivers get temporarily lost but have never failed to deliver. Alternatively can go and be hypnotised by Chinese state TV  (improved satellite feed since, much more watchable but still  definitely different) on the TV in the takeaway waiting area.
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Kiosk

Blue Star Boats, Hamble Foreshore
Serves teas, ices, cakes, burgers, chips, soft drinks. Open air seating adjacent to the kiosk. Probably the best views of the river's activity apart from the Yacht Clubs. (of course there are benches all along the public area by the water).
They have applied for permission to build an all-weather building on the site of the kiosk to allow them to stay open on days when the tea blows out of your mug outside..
Motor boat hire, river trips, river taxi for yachtsmen. They also run the Hamble Ferry.
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Bonne Bouche, High Street

    Upmarket Sandwiches , Delicatessen, decking area outside

Shops

Boat Provisioning -a summary

I prepared this summary in reply to an email question made regarding provisioning for a cruise of a week with seven crew.
Prepare ahead for your food. In the village of Hamble are three small 'supermarket' shops. These shops would need advance notice for larger orders, as they are often nearly empty of things like bread.
These are (in order of distance from the sea)

 
There is also a 'delicatessen' shop called Bonne Bouche in High Street Hamble. It sells bread and cheese etc. and provides orders for yachtsmen. telephone 023 80455771 Fax 023 80455788. I think this shop is a bit expensive but the food is very good.
All of the shops in Hamble are nearest to Port Hamble Marina. If you are departing from Hamble point marina or Mercury Yacht Harbour then these are 1.5km South of the village and 1km north of the village.
If you wish to obtain supplies more cheaply, I would suggest a taxi  or bus (5km) to the Tescos Superstore at Bursledon, almost a hypermarket. All is available here.

Another possibility is http://www.foodafloat.com which is offering on-line ordering of food for delivery to boats in the Solent area.

Miscellaneous

Post Office Coronation Parade Hamble Lane
A  post office is amazingly still  to be found in Coronation Parade. The village centre one simply vanished along with the post box.
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Sailing Clothes

Crew Clothing Company
Replaces Scotties with a "nice tidy shop" selling pastel sailing shirts and shorts.
Scotties has gone, and no longer exists on the face of the earth. Probably just as well as now the Volvo Ocean Road Show and Fashion Parade is no longer is based in Hamble there are no more Silk Cut sailing kits to dispose of .
Mad Max : Where the Lloyds Bank branch was before they neatly removed themselves from the scene. Sells branded clothes sort of things. As it is situated more or less where one dances with  cars at the top of the narrow winding high street, I have never looked in there.