Cob & Pen, Fareham

Now under new management and it shows.

We went in on a busy Friday tea time and first impressions were not good. The bar staff were overwhelmed by the amount of people and were clearly struggling. However, more staff appeared (I have no idea where from) and things settled down.
Good quality real ale was on offer at typical pub prices. What was noticeable was the food. Apparently for parties of more than 10 you get a free buffet which looked like good value. Presumably you need to pre book but I noticed a couple of groups taking advantage of this special offer.
I was in a group of three and we decided to eat in the pleasant garden area.
Myself and the wife were going to have fish but apparently they had run out (I resisted the temptation to mention there were plenty of other fish in the sea) and settled for fish cakes with spring onion and mozzarella. The daughter has sweet chilli chicken.
Food bill came to about £15 which was pleasing when you consider it was for three people.
When the food arrived after about 15mins it was pronounced as delicious and was swiftly consumed. For me this was particularly disappointing as I was fully expecting to finish off the daughters meal, however she scoffed the lot! The food was very good as was the beer.
Overall I would have given five stars apart from the niggles- the lemonade had no lemon resulting in an apology and change of drink. The fish had run out resulting in an apology and a change of dish. No coke only diet coke.... I am sure all this will settle down but it did slightly tarnish things and at one point I felt I was destined just to troop back and forth from the bar. To be fair it could be argued that I need the exercise!

Very expensive but friendly

This is a good community pub, I felt it was a bit pricey per pint. To be fair, it does have good guest ale’s which are very nice!
Host’s the village barbecue once a year which is worth a visit. The garden area is really pleasant and (when the sun does shine) can be a nice place to sit on a summers evening.

Food is available for the rest of the year but not tried it yet myself.

best pub in wallington just near fareham! Great small pub!!