Day boats, south coast
Fish is landed on the coast and driven straight to us. What arrives decides what goes on the board — which is why the fish dish changes most often.
Sixteen covers and a blackboard.
That is how we started in 2019. The room is a little bigger now, but the way we cook has not moved an inch.
Who we are
Dan and Marta, and a very small kitchen.
Dan cooked in other people's restaurants for fourteen years before deciding he would rather cook in his own. Marta ran the floor at a wine bar in town and had strong opinions about how guests should be treated. In 2019 they took on a tired unit on Wharf Lane, painted it themselves, and opened with sixteen seats.
The first menu was four starters and four mains, chalked up each morning. It sold out on the second Saturday and they have been writing it by hand ever since.
We are not trying to be the fanciest place in Southampton. We are trying to be the one you come back to on a Tuesday. Dan Ellery, chef-owner
6
Years on Wharf Lane
40
Covers on a full night
14
Hampshire suppliers
How we work
Three rules we have never broken.
- The menu is written weekly. Whatever is best that week goes on. Whatever is not, comes off — even if it is the dish everyone orders.
- We make it here. Bread, pasta, ice cream, pickles, stocks and cordials. The only thing we buy in is the butter, and we have tried making that too.
- Hampshire first. Fourteen suppliers, every one of them within an hour's drive. We can tell you who grew your dinner.
Where it comes from
The people we buy from.
We would rather pay a bit more and know the name of the person who grew it.
Growers, Test Valley
Watercress, salad, herbs and roots from two family farms up the Test. In summer the tomatoes come over from the Isle of Wight.
Dairy & cheese, Hampshire
Milk, cream and cultured butter from one herd. The cheeseboard is Hampshire only — we have never needed to look further.
Good to know
The unglamorous but important bits.
A clean kitchen
Our kitchen is inspected by the local authority and our rating is displayed at the door. Ask any of us and we will happily show you around.
Allergen-aware
Tell us when you book and again when you order. We keep full allergen information for every dish and the kitchen will adapt where it safely can.
Independent, still
No group, no investors, no central kitchen. When you eat here the money stays in Southampton, which we think matters.
Come and see for yourself.
Tuesday to Sunday, lunch and dinner. Book a table and we will save you a good one.