"I never seem to head into town anymore...!"

A review of The Empress by Lozzenge written on Wednesday 6th of August 2008

I never realised how important a good local is until I started frequenting The Empress on Thoday St in Romsey, just a stone's throw from my gaff.

I love the fact that when you walk in you are greeted with a hello from the staff and smiles from the locals, and when I say locals, I mean REAL locals! There are so many familiar faces to be found in here, many of whom clearly have been coming here for many many years.

I started out popping down to the pub for one or teo before heading out into town with mates (we're mid-twenties professionals), but now we always end up staying there for far longer than we planned and generally 'sack off' the far more expensive drinking establishments in town! The 1am licence on Fri and Sat certainly contributes to this...

There's always something going on/being organised by the landlord, Dave, the manager, Chris and their fab staff.... a great quiz on Tuesdays (which I've not managed to win sadly!) ...free sandwiches are served between rounds. On Wednesdays they've recently started film nights in the carpeted bar area (this leaves two other areas and the garden for non-film watchers. They do a ballot for the films they show which I think is a really good idea.

The pub also does quite a lot of fund raising, in particular for MAGPAS. Most recently a load did the 3 Peaks Challenge to raise money for a local kid, Becki, who was diagnosed with cancer.

As for the all important drinkies on offer - 4 lagers on draught, a couple of ciders too, plus many more bottled varieties. However, it's the real ale that most people opt for - there are always 5-6 on offer, often including some from the local Milton Brewery. The landlord and manager run a ballot on ales too and are always up for suggestions! Spirits and wine wise, there's everyting you could wish for really... Foodwise, we'll, it's not reallly a foody pub - it's a drinky pub, but I have to say that the Empress has the best selection of pub snacks around! The Mini-poppudums are my personal fave, especially as they come with a small tub of mango chutney!

In short...in my opinion, you'd struggle to find a better local! Try it out and you'll see!.

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