Soton's BEST and WORST Cocktail bars

 Even if you are a seasoned Southamptoner you may only have a vague idea which bars do great cocktails.

More over you don’t really want to go somewhere new to try some cocktails if the round is going to be £20+. As such I have put a guide together of my experiences, I have been all over Southampton drinking and punishing my liver for you so here are my faves:

Best Overall Cocktails: Turtle Bay – City Centre

One of the many cocktails at Turtle Bay

By far some of the best cocktails I have had, surprisingly so. The staff are nice, friendly, good looking (yes that is important) and confident enough to join in a conversation even when you are with a group (which I quite like). I can heavily recommend their Mojitos.

Cocktails will set you back about £6 here and 2-4-1 all day on the weekdays!!

It’s quite busy on the weekends so look out.

Check them out here.

Food available & encouraged, they will even recommend cocktails to your dish. This place is the sex.

Best Selection: The Shooting Star – Bevois Valley

With a massive cocktail selection and an alternative atmosphere this is a good pre-club venue and great for cocktails before a heavier night. All their cocktails are named / based on films and I can heavily recommend the American Pie. Staff are eccentric and fun, regulars seem friendly too.

They close at 2am too! A big cocktail will set you back £4.50

Check them out here.

Food available and hearty: heavily recommended.

Great Value: Hobbit – Bevois Valley

There is not much more I can say about The Hobbit that hasn’t been covered in the media recently. The cocktails are good and good value for money. If you have a Hobbit loyalty card you get them for £3 each, bargain! Closes between 2-4am. When it’s busy though, I can’t tell if the staff are happy for my business or just annoyed that more people are ordering drinks, it can be very busy in there and I waited for over 20 minutes once.

Chef Bernie does the food… eat his Jamaican Cuisine and not chips please.

www.hobbitpub.co.uk/

Worst Value / Most Disappointing: Orange Rooms – Bedford Place

I think my round for 4 people’s cocktails was £42 and the they were all below par, I was just expecting more. So I had no problem explaining that to the barman who had just served me, just with more expletives. Good atmosphere in there though HAHA!

Longest Wait: Vodka Revolution – Bedford Place

Seriously guys get some more staff, I have had cocktails from here and they are not bad, but after 9pm or on the weekends don’t think you are ever going to be served. This makes me rage!

Worst Service: Yates & The Giddy Bridge

Well done guys it’s a tie, I wish we had good customer service in this country, these guys were rude, lazy…. In The Giddy they made my cocktail incorrectly but it was cheap so I can’t really complain… but I will and I swear the woman smelt of cabbages. In Yates the staff seemed more interested in indulging in horse play and I was actually ignored for about 5 mins with a completely clear bar…. NOT GOOD, please do not employ idiot children!

Most of the clubs in Southampton “have a go” at making a cocktail but they are almost always disappointing, so I suggest you avoid poison such as Jesticles and the like – but when you are a student they do definitely get you drunk.