The A Bar — Restaurant in Portsmouth

So far, their fish & chips should be the top one or two I had tried in the UK. But I only travelled to some cities and never searched for the best except that I visited in London. Certainly, their price is in proportion to the price. I think the difference is not double or could be 60 or 70%.

Their staff is nice so why did I give three stars? First, I was sitting outside, so they did not have much chance to serve us. By the way, i think they should make the table stand steady on the ground that is not flat. Second, one of the reasons I visited is that they painted on the wall that they have a wonderful garden. I believe it is not the open dining area in the front door. When I asked their staff, smiley, showed us to that open area. Isn't it because I did not make it clear? Language problems?

The outside area is noting attractive, so there's no much atmosphere I could have experienced.

I may visit this restaurant again, but it should not be the top of my list.

P.S. a small fish shop is on the other side, thus it gave me an immigration to link with...

Our first visit here (but it won't be our last).

Booked for dinner but had an hour or so to kill before our booking so spent some time in the bar area. Very relaxed. Nice to see that they have regular customers who drop in for a drink and a chat. Excellent selection of wines and beers on offer. So we were off to a good start.

Dinner was extremely good . Nice simple menu with a sensible number of dishes on offer from pizza through to pork three ways.

We took the unusual step of having chunky chips as a starter . These were sensational being both crispy and fluffy. This was due, at least in part, to them being cooked in super fresh oil, quite a rarity. So simple but so delicious when done properly. Followed by a mackerel pizza (cooked in their pizza oven which is a bit of a centrepiece for the room). This was a first, at least for me, and it did not disappoint such an inspired idea and mega tasty. Move over anchovies there's a new kid in town.

Good range of desserts on offer.

Service is warm, friendly, attentive and not stuffy.

All in all,...

Came here on a visit to family in Portsmouth recently. Really disappointed at the menu as there’s much less on there than previously. There were no healthy eating options like salads. It seems the place has become very wine focussed and more like a wine bar and the service was slow. We ordered just one dessert - a scoop of ice cream- and waited ages and ages, the waiting staff kept asking if we wanted more drinks and we kept saying no we just want the one dessert we ordered please! One of the waitresses was quite rude when I asked her about drinks; I understand they come in bottles but barking at me repeatedly “large or small?” without giving me any idea what constitutes a large or a small then snapping at me when I asked for clarity didn’t make us feel very welcome. All in all a different vibe to visits from a few years ago and despite the nice fish and chips we feel it is no longer was the place we used to love coming to, so...