During our recent weekend away to Portsmouth we stumbled across the most quirky of restaurants we have ever visited. For utter wackiness, well yes it has to come in at the top of our list!
Situated just off the Southsea sea front, in the quiet back streets, the Pie & Vinyl is a tiny, quaint café/restaurant. It is basically a shop which has been converted to a small eatery for passionate music lovers who also like good comfort food, pies! As you enter you will be amazed by the collection of antiques, brick-o-brac, old vinyl records and artefacts, it really is an Aladdin’s cave full of memorabilia. We loved the upside down Christmas tree on the ceiling. We felt like we were stepping back in time into our Grandparents living room in the 1960’s. It was indeed a fantastic experience.
The restaurant does not take advance bookings and closes around 9pm so if you are planning a visit we would recommend that you go earlier in the evening. On the day of our visit we were seated straight away at 7pm but shortly after our arrival people were waiting for a table to become free.
Apart from the delicious pies, for the music enthusiast, the main attraction of a visit to the Pie & Vinyl has to be listening to vinyl records which are played in the background whilst you eat your meal. There is also a record store and a large collection for sale. If you have resurrected your old turntable or recently purchased a new one you will be in your elements!
The menu is basically pies, pies and more locally sourced and produced pies. Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good one! You can choose from a selection of Buckwell, Pieminister pies or other local pies. The names are brilliant and made us laugh. We liked the sound of the Chilli Con Carnage pie which consists of wild British venison, smoked bacon, kidney beans, scotch bonnet chilli, Brewdog Club Pony Ale, it is certainly not for the faint hearted! Or how about the Porksea Islander an exciting tribute to Portsmouth which contains British Pulled Pork, Fennel seeds, caramelised onion chutney and topped with double crispy crackling. We opted for the basic steak, red wine & mushroom with mash, mushy pies and gravy. It arrived promptly, our portions were ample and delicious.
We did chuckle when we had to choose our old crockery (which did not match) from the basket. In fact all the cups, glasses and saucers have certainly had many years of use, it was a very funny experience. You cannot purchase alcohol at the Pie & Vinyl but they do serve a delicious selection of Mr Fitzpatrick’s botanical beverages and a vast array of local tea, coffee and hot chocolate all served up in old crockery.
We didn’t get to sample the desert pie menu but the dark chocolate torte desert pie and local artisan white chocolate ice cream did sound very yummy.
So if you are in Portsmouth and fancy something different check out the Pie & Vinyl for a unique experience, you won’t be disappointed!
