The Alma Inn – Upham – The Pub Grub Hub

Pub website:

https://www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk/nationalsearch/southeast/thealmainnsouthampton#/

Review at a glance:

Would we return: No

Food: Could be better

Price: Reasonably priced

Ambience: Welcoming

Staff/Service: Friendly staff, fast service

Anything else: Family friendly with play area outside and games inside

Choice of menu: Veggie options, vegan options, not much gluten-free, not fussy eater approved

After a restaurant detour and ice cream stop it’s back to our regularly scheduled pub grub crawl. Where next? The Alma Inn in Upham, a Stonehouse pub near Marwell zoo. It’s been on our to-visit list since a friend recommended it.

Even though it’s on a main road, The Alma Inn still manages to feel remote. And the family-friendly vibes are there from the moment you roll into the carpark, with a playground for the kids, and follow you into the pub itself because of the claw machine games.

The staff are pretty friendly too, greeting you as soon as you enter, serving you quickly and making sure they say bye when you leave. It’s always nice to be in a place like that.

Grub’s up – what we had:

To share: Doritos Cool Original nachos

Doritos Cool Original tortilla chips smothered with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalapeños and nacho cheese sauce.

Simple but tasty and really satisfying. The toppings tasted like they were from a well known shop-bought brand but that really doesn’t take anything away. It was a bowl full of flavour, texture and everything that makes nachos the best starter.

The fussy eater ordered: Simply chicken burger, with chips and a side salad

Nice and simple. A plain chicken breast. Fancy it spicy? Why not swap your chicken to a Southern fried chicken breast instead.

To start with it was nice, even though the chicken wasn’t really a chicken breast; more like chicken tenders without the batter. The tomato was missing from the burger, and while the online ordering is really helpful and lets you easily request certain ingredients be removed, we didn’t tick any of those boxes.

Unfortunately, there ended up being a big chunk of fat in the meat and let’s just say the fussy eater is a fussy eater for a reason, and fatty chicken is just not it. There was a lot left on the plate as a result.

The veggie ordered: Plant based chicken burger with potato tots

A plant based chicken breast topped with chunky tomato salsa and vegan grated melted mature (made with coconut oil). Served with oven cooked potato tots on the side.

Before it came out we joked with each other that it was probably going to be a Quorn chicken-style fillet, and in all honesty that’s pretty much what it was. Cooked really well though, with a smokiness they don’t usually have, but even with the chunky tomato salsa it was a little dry.

The potato tots were ok, a little bit too salty and the texture made them feel like hashbrowns without the crispiness. Chips might have been a better option for the meal, not sure why they weren’t an option for the burger. It was an alright meal, but would try something different if we went back.

Overall

It’s a nice place that’s really easy to picture having family get-togethers in or enjoying a Sunday roast before the dreaded Monday back at work. The staff make it a really nice place to be, and it’s lovely to see lots of fun ways for kids to stay entertained.

It’s just a shame that the food we had on the day wasn’t as good as the rest of it.

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