Abarbistro

Formerly the American Hotel (which once housed convicts on their way to the colonies), this old inn overlooking Portsmouth’s fish market is now a bistro/bar tacked on to a taste-and-buy wine business. The food is resolutely simple in approach, & flexibility is the name of the game: you can eat in the light, airy bistro, the bar, conservatory or outside when the weather allows. If meat is your thing, order slow-cooked pork belly with colcannon, local Buckwell sausages & mash or South Downs sirloin steak with a retro peppercorn sauce. Otherwise, try fish from the market – pots of mussels, whole plaice with anchovy butter or salmon wrapped in pastry; the twice monthly Fishy Friday deal is a draw, too. Puds range from mint chocolate marquise to prune & Armagnac tart. Service is good, likewise the stunning global wine list, which features two dozen by the glass.