Rosie’s Vineyard, Southsea, Portsmouth – PERMANENTLY CLOSED

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Lots and lots of glorious wine

UPDATE 2020: Unfortunately Rosie’s has permanently closed. We are so sad, it was a lovely place with great food, wine and music! We miss it very much. There’s a new eatery there now called The Beacon which serves fries, burgers etc.,

UPDATE: see bottom of post

In all the years Rosie’s Vineyard has been in Portsmouth (since 1982 in fact), it’s rather odd that I’ve never ever been there. I don’t know the reason why. I suppose I must be mad.

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The FB Pocket Orchestra doin’ their ‘thang’ (although only one can be seen in this shot)

Knowing that the fantastic FB Pocket Orchestra would be playing there today, we decided to book ourselves in for lunch along with Geoff’s parents.

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As soon as I walked in I liked the place very much – a little like how I felt when I walked into The Wheelwright’s Arms in Havant last week.

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Skylight

With it’s wooden flooring and fairly high ceiling with skylights and hanging baskets of ivy and ferns – all plastic unfortunately – the tables don’t appear to be packed in, so there’s plenty of space. Several tall stools are at the bar, all in use today. Lots of pictures on the walls, one great one of Lilly Bollinger on a bike and quoting the following on champagne –

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty”.

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Christmas menu

There are three dining areas to Rosie’s, the main room with the bar which we were seated in, downstairs in the ‘wine cellar’ which is cosy with candles on the table – as do all the tables actually, but obviously the light from them show up more as it’s darker down there – and upstairs (photo number 3), which I didn’t get a chance to look at.

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We chose a lovely bottle of Rioja from the extensive wine menu

When we went to sit down both myself and my mother-in-law noticed how small the tables and chairs seemed, but once sitting down they didn’t seem quite so small, they just appeared to be, but we both commented on this. Geoff is taller and said he noticed it but it wasn’t annoying nor uncomfortable and we were there for almost 3 hours. The backs of some of the chairs had the little slot for hymn books to go in so perhaps they came from a church originally. The tables had cast iron decorative legs which were very nice.

The menu on offer was a Christmas one and we had crackers upon the table. There was plenty to chose from and not all too Christmassy.

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Crab & fennel salad

For the starter I went for one of the specials which was crab & fennel salad with ginger, chilli & coriander. I don’t normally chose crab nor salads but I thought it sounded rather nice. And it was. Very fresh mixed salad leaves and a delicious pesto type sauce. I couldn’t taste the chilli nor the ginger but this didn’t make the dish any less tasty whatsoever, quite the opposite in fact.

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Soup

Geoff had the celeriac & hazelnut soup which he said was very nice.

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Creamy mushrooms

Geoff’s dad mistook brioche for brie whilst reading the menu I think as he was expecting cheese instead of this, which is creamy mushrooms & Madeira sauce with toasted brioche. I adore mushrooms so I would have enjoyed this too. It looks delicious.

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Christmas ‘En croute’

For my main I went for the Christmas ‘En croute’ which was Turkey Wellington. Served inside a light and airy flaky pastry, the turkey breast within was stuffed with cranberries, chestnuts and mushrooms. A very tasty dish indeed.

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Inside stuffed with cranberries, mushrooms and chestnuts

My mother-in-law had the same and she also enjoyed it immensely. Served with thinly sliced sauté potatoes, some wonderfully crispy, roasted parsnip and tiny baby carrots and mange tout (both were cooked to my liking which is NOT al dente). And the jus was incredibly rich and superb and just the right amount of it too.

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Geoff’s apple & cider sausages

Geoff had the apple & cider sausages served upon a bed of coarse mustard mash, baby carrots and a cranberry & port compote.

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Belgian chocolate cheesecake

For dessert I had the Belgian chocolate mascarpone cheesecake with Bailey’s cream. Although this was nice it lacked something. There wasn’t enough of the Baileys sauce for me, only a drizzle. The cheesecake was rich and smooth, a bit dense perhaps and the base was a little dry and not terribly sweet. It was okay, but I wasn’t making any ‘Mmmm’ noises.

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Christmas pudding

Geoff enjoyed his Christmas pudding with mince pie ice-cream and brandy syrup – very festive – and his mother was also pleased with her crème brûlée which was creamy smooth with a crisp hard top and served with a nice shortbread biscuit.

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Creme Brulee

Of course an espresso finished off my meal which was very nice. Even though the only spoon I was given was a long latte one, haha 😉

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Espresso

The staff were very friendly and attentitive, and of course the FB Pocket Orchestra were fab as usual, playing the song I always ask them to, ‘diggin my potatoes’. We first came across them at Restaurant 69 in Palmerston Road, Southsea and have seen them several times now, we’ve become a ‘groupy’ – or stalkers maybe 😉 Everyone we take along with us, young and old seem to love them. There will be a few people in our family who will be receiving their CD for Christmas, ssshhh.

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Rosie’s Vineyard regularly have jazz bands playing so take a look at their website for dates and times and who’s playing. The restaurant can cater for large numbers too, they have a large conservatory and a secret garden, both which I didn’t get to see. I did however, see the very nice Victorian ‘Waterfall’ toilet in the ladies loo.

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Rosie’s Vineyard, Elm Grove, Southsea

We’d definitely return to Rosie’s, no hesitation.

Ambience 8/10
Food 8/10
Service 7/10 (lose a point for the flat second pint of beer for both Geoff and his father, but they quickly changed the barrel, apologised and poured fresh pints without a quibble).
Value 7/10 fairly expensive, but worth it I think, especially with the music

Living life, loving cake

A x

UPDATE: 29/10/2017:

Since this review we’ve revisited Rosie’s on numerous occasions, mainly when the FB Pocket Orchestra jazz band are playing there.
Today I chose scallops to start, the vegetarian main which was thyme roasted butternut squash & beetroot wellington, asparagus, walnut & kale pesto whilst Geoff went for roast pork. For dessert, strawberry liqueur over blackcurrant sorbet, all washed down with a bottle of vino of course.
The food and service was excellent.

3 Comment

  1. […] Addiction is located in Elm Grove, almost opposite Rosie’s Vineyard. Only a handful of seating with wonky wooden tables inside the bakery (separated only by the […]

  2. […] Southsea, Portsmouth. Head East and the road leads into Elm Grove where further down you can find Rosie’s Vineyard and Bread Addiction. Keep going to the very end and turn right at the corner and you’ll come […]

  3. […] I love the little jazz band, FB Pocket Orchestra. Locally (for us anyway) they regularly play at Rosie’s Vineyard in Southsea and also at The Pavilion in Rowlands Castle (for afternoon tea), amongst lots of other […]

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