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Monday 10 July 2017

Vospers, Woolston (Closed)




Another new outlet has opened in the troubled Centenary Quay development. Vospers, owned by Spencer Bowman who owns the Mettricks chain, is a burger bar serving cocktails and beer. I forgot to ask if they'll serve just a beer without buying a burger; that would be useful, as it's a big place in a visible position. We sat outside, on the other side from the view shown above. Vospers don't have the views that Mettricks have, and the seating is rather utilitarian, all hard chairs lined up in rows. They were playing music loud on our visit, which was bouncing and echoing all over the place, so this is not a place I can see myself coming to for just a relaxing drink as often as I might visit Mettricks. However, the food we had was delightful, and the service from an enthusiastic and bubbly girl, was brilliant.

The veggie burger

As the menu is burgers, we wondered if they had veggie food, and they do - but sadly they only had one veggie burger left. However, they agreed to slice it exactly in half and serve it on two plates! Neat. We also had some chips (OK) and a squid salad (very nice) - though the slices of chilli were way too hot for me! Ouch!

The bar with beer selection

There are two cask pumps (though only one was available on our visit - Wainwright by Marstons), three keg beers, and some bottles. Two of the kegs were Marstons beers, and one was the local Southampton brewery which opened late last year, Unity, so we had a Unity beer, and a Marston's brewed Shipyard Rye Pale Ale.  I liked the idea of a "shipyard" branded beer in a Vospers branded bar, as Centenary Quay is built on the site of Vospers Shipyard! The Unity beer caused me some confusion as the keg clip said Congregate Red Ale, but I couldn't find such a beer. I asked the manager, and he explained that Unity had not sent them a clip, so they made their own. I asked him the abv, and he said it was 5%. Now Unity do a Congregate, but that is a 4% beer, and it is labelled as a Table Beer, not a Red Ale. I went on Unity's website and found Seeing Red, which I showed to the manager, and he agreed was the right beer. It appears Vospers were reusing the Congregate label they had made earlier. Anyway, all sorted in the end.


The hand made keg clip

We liked the place.

Date: July 2017  Score: 6


Update May 2019: Vospers is now closed, and has been replaced by South Quay 82, which we've not yet visited.


1 Centenary Plaza
Southampton
SO19 9UL

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