The Tenth Hole Tea Rooms, Southsea

When it feels like we're finally coming to the end of a month of particularly horrible weather, as soon as the sun shines through the clouds I can't wait to get outside and make the most of it.  A few weeks ago, there were blue skies in Portsmouth so Rob and I headed straight for Southsea beach for a stroll.  By a complete coincidence, ten minutes later we were outside The Tenth Hole.  This adorable cafe claims to be the best tea rooms in Southsea, and I'm definitely not going to argue with that claim.

6oz Burger Restaurant, Southsea

6oz Burger has been on my list of restaurants to try in Southsea for so long, I have heard amazing things about their pink burgers from so many people, and they get their meat from my favourite butchers ever so it's fair to say I had pretty high expectations.

i Italian Restaurant

After visiting i a few weeks after moving to Portsmouth, Rob and I talk about it so often.  The atmosphere was brilliant, the food was to die for and we both really enjoyed an excellent night.  A few weeks ago we couldn't put it off any longer, and this time I took my camera with me.

Southsea Food Festival

During our last weekend in Portsmouth before heading home for the summer the annual Southsea Food Festival was on.  Most weekends there is a little market in Southsea so we weren't expecting it to be too different but we were wrong. It was absolutely huge - the streets of Southsea shopping centre were packed with amazing stalls.

Southsea Beach Cafe

A few weeks ago my parents popped down to Portsmouth to visit Rob and I.  The Sunday was rainy and grey (typical British summer time) so we headed out to grab some lunch.  I'd heard brilliant things about the Southsea Beach Cafe and it's in the nicest place - right on the seafront - so we gave it a go.

A Bar Bistro

I've lived in Portsmouth for almost a year now, and I've been walking past a cute little bistro all the time and always saying I wanted to go there but it took me this long to actually go through the door.  There are so many places I want to go here it's pretty much endless! After our day at the Isle of Wight (post here) we popped to A Bar Bistro for a few drinks and some food.

Zizzi

A few weeks ago Rob and I headed into Gunwharf for a date night with absolutely nothing burning a hole in our pocket - all we had was an email. How did we wangle a meal out without paying for it?

Circolo

Date night rolled around again a few weeks ago, so we headed to Circolo in Southsea to satisfy our pizza cravings and we certainly weren't disappointed.

The Still & West

Every time my family pop down to Portsmouth for a visit, we end up trying a new restaurant out.  There are so many places to try in Southsea, and a few weeks ago we gave The Still and West in Spicer Island a go.  Rob and I had visited before for a few drinks in the sun but this was the first time for food.

Where to go in Southsea

Last August, Rob and I moved to a little flat in Southsea (have a sneak peek at our flat here).  Since then we've spent all of our weekends exploring Portsmouth and finding the best places to spend our spare time.  It's a brilliant little place and we've fallen in love with it, if you've visiting this little part of England, here are our recommendations (and a few places we haven't tried yet!).

Meat and Barrel

With a boyfriend who's a sucker for a burger and ale how could we not try this place?  It's relatively new to Southsea and every time we walk past and glance through the window he gets sucked in by the huge amount of ale pumps lined up across the bar.  We popped in a few weeks ago to grab a few drinks and a burger and I can sum up our visit in one word - YUM.

J's Italian

After loving every bite at Larry's Steak and Lobster a few weeks ago, when Rob and I found out that J's Italian was part of the same Relentless chain of restaurants we couldn't wait to give it a go.  We popped down on Friday night after work for a sneaky date night.

The Tenth Hole Southsea

Rob and I are suckers for a slice of cake, and one weekend in September while we walked around Southsea in the sun we came across the Tenth Hole cafe, popped in for a drink and came out a few stone heavier!  The cafe itself is sat between a cricket ground and a mini-golf course (hence the name) and I love how it's decorated! The walls are covered in hand-written quotes and paragraphs, the furniture is up-cycled and colourful and I adore the wooden floors.  

Although they do pretty delicious sandwiches (the pulled pork bun is to die for), nothing beats their cake selection.  They're all kept in a glass display case and change every day.  There's such a huge selection from victoria sponge to mars bar cheesecake to aero brownies to pavlova.  They are so delicious and the slices are huge!

I've become a bit of a sucker for the Victoria Sponge - look at the size on that chunk! We've been back a few times now, and every thing we have there is delicious.  Although it isn't a bargain, everything is reasonably priced and the service is amazing - I don't have anything bad to say! I love it there.

Living in Southsea

About a month ago, I moved into a little flat in Southsea with Rob, and when I'm not working we spend every minute making the most of living in this beautiful place! We've found so many lovely little places to visit on the weekends, and we'd love to share them.

We've found a few pretty tasty places to eat out so far - we're big fans of Coast to Coast in Gunwharf Quays (the chicken wings are to die for), Giraffe also in Gunwharf (devine ribs), Tangs Chinese on Elm Grove (amazing sweet and sour chicken cantonese style) and the Wine Bistro on Palmerston Road (if you like your shellfish, the mussels to share is a must-have).  We're desperate to try the Steak and Lobster on Elm Grove - it sounds delicious!

We spend quite a lot of our time walking around the city finding new places; walking along the front always reminds us of home and more often than not we end up popping into a pub on Spicer Island for a pint before we walk back to the flat.  I love these adorable beach huts and Canoe Lake is such a lovely place to walk around on a sunny day.

When my parents visited for the weekend we spent most of our time doing very touristy things - we went up to the top of the Spinnaker Tower with our Tesco Clubcard vouchers and loved looking out over the city trying to spot familiar places.  It's usually £10 a head which is pretty expensive, but our vouchers meant we only paid £2.50 each - much better!

There always seems to be some sort of market on the weekends - I especially loved the farmers market with the freshly baked bread, huge meat joints, delicious looking fruit and beautiful flower arrangements.  We've also found a few vintage markets, the odd car boot sale and the weekly Southsea market on Palmerston Road.

We are loving every second of living here, and I spend all week looking forward to the weekend knowing we'll have a brilliant time exploring a different pub, restaurant or part of this lovely place.  If you have any Southsea recommendations I'd love to hear them!