Three Cuts Burger & Tap, Southsea

We first saw the sign for Three Cuts Burger & Tap in Elm Grove Southsea and thought it was just Jag’s just changing their name. It’s not! These guys are NEW, and we caught up with them last week to find out more.

Introducing…

Husband and wife team Eryn and Caroline took over Jag’s in March 2020. They couldn’t have picked a worse time to open a new restaurant with covid hitting almost immediately after they got the keys. 18 months later and the impact of Covid is still being felt throughout the industry with staff shortages across the country. I do feel for these guys and anyone else in the same boat.

Eryn has years of experience in hospitality and we’re told he’s the man behind the menu, confessing to us that he loves his food, especially meat, so it makes sense that his restaurant specialises in meaty burgers!

Wife Caroline manages the social media and has a part-time job, and if a new restaurant doesn’t make these guys busy enough, they’re also expecting a baby! You certainly see they are not afraid of hard work.

Venue

As we all know, Jag’s became a little neglected over recent years so Three Cuts have given it a fresh makeover with new lighting. The place is bright and airy with a large glass window spanning the front of the property. This makes it particularly good for people watching, a favourite pastime of ours. I never noticed before but there is a basement downstairs that is intimate and cosy, away from hustle and bustle above.

There are big plans for regular events and live music, starting with a Blues evening with a set menu with desserts from popular Coastal Cheesecake Co. Future plans include more live music events showcasing different cuts of fresh steak.

Tipples

We were seated at our table and ordered a craft beer (Gamma Ray) and a Pornstar Martini which was 241 I was told – yippie! The cocktail was very nice indeed and there is a good selection of different craft beers too, plus goblet-sized glasses of wine. If you like your drinks to be strong, then try the special grog mix cocktail which “has more mixture than alcohol’ our waitress warned! For obvious reasons, this is limited to two per customer (still part of the 241 offer) which is a blessing for thirty-somethings like me who don’t like a place too rowdy.

Nibbles

We ordered the brisket croquettes and the BBQ chicken wings to start, both very enjoyable dishes. The croquettes were very meaty,  just pure meat in fact and of good quality. The wings were tasty too and had a good amount of BBQ sauce for ultimate stickiness. I’m beginning to call myself a vegetarian less and less these days thanks to dishes like these.

Burgers

For my main, I ordered Jammin’ the fried-halloumi burger with peppers, garlic mayo and chilli jam. The batter on the halloumi was delicious and there was no shortage of chilli jam so it had a pleasant kick to it. Carlos had the Bullet n’ Brisket burger which was a meat patty topped with brisket and cheese, the ultimate meat feast and certainly very photogenic, just how he likes it.

Takeaway

These weren’t our first burgers from Three Cuts as we had made use of their previous £4.99 UberEats offer. We both had the Smokey Bird burger which to date is our favourite. This is made up of beautifully coated fried chicken thighs, cheese, pulled pork and BBQ sauce. It really is epic.

We couldn’t manage loaded fries or a smaller side, or dessert for that matter, but it all sounded lovely. The staff were all very friendly and hard working. It was a busy Wednesday evening and they did well to keep calm under pressure.

Our verdict

We enjoyed our meal at Three Cuts Burger & Tap and hope to visit Eryn and Caroline again soon at Love Southsea Market or Lakeside North Harbour where they often serve lunch. It may be an end of an era for Jag’s but we’re happy to welcome Three Cuts Burger & Tap to Elm Grove and wish them the best of luck with their new venture.

Service 9
Quality 8
Value 9
Ambience 8
Return? Yes
Overall 9/10 – we recommend the Smokey Bird burger!

Photos by the talented Southsea Snapper