Zippers Port Solent is a fairly new restaurant just north of Portsmouth. We were invited to try out their menu, and as it happened we were in the area so were more than happy to!

Zippers Port Solent has a lovely clean eating space – tables with plenty of space and views out onto the harbour area. We arrived an hour late due to the big storm the night before, to be greeted by our server Aga who was helpful and recommended dishes to us. Service was quick and food came promptly which is always good. One of the main things I look out for when eating out is how child-friendly the venue is, and crayons and an activity sheet was perfect for H. Even better we could do wordsearches with her which is a new one! I’ve got a Picasa album with more pictures in it.

We ordered starters of some olives and garlic bread – not too much and even H had an olive and enjoyed it (result!). Shaun ordered a diet coke and I ordered a cappuccino after a night of very little sleep thanks to the big storm. The cappuccino was just right, a good flavour and strong. The garlic bread was fresh and soft and had a garlic dip with it.

We ordered from the kids set menu for H, so got her blackcurrant juice, some nachos (very slightly salty), some spaghetti with meatballs (messy but filling), finishing off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream which had a good flavour.

Shaun ordered a steak which came with chips – personally I’d have liked to have seen more vegetables, but if you opt for a side salad instead of chips then you get a few – if you really need chips then they’re available as a side order too. He found the steak was just right.

We ordered an onion loaf with our mains – a load of onion rings fried together. This was out of curiosity mainly, and it tasted good – though Shaun had most of it! It came with a spicy dip as well, which was good – a nice spiciness to it without being too overwhelming.

I ordered a hot vegetable wrap and a side salad – the hot vegetable wrap had mushrooms which I swapped for more pepper. It was warm and served with a generous helping of chips. I was so hungry I scoffed the lot – there is a salad bar with freshly stocked vegetable dishes to help yourself from. The vegetarian options weren’t clearly marked but two staff members helped me out, as well as recommending the cayenne pepper sauce (which was good, not too intense but peppery). I did for the one trip to the salad bar, and couldn’t work out if the sharing rule applied or not (I shared the cucumber with H and some pepper with Shaun) – if you share you’re charged per person.

Dessert was a Banana Split that we shared, and Shaun also ordered a cappuccino. I picked off all the fruit and ate that (as well as ice cream) which was fresh. I wasn’t as keen on the squirty cream – fresh would have been nicer, the ice cream it came with was fine and was enjoyable.

Zippers Port Solent Restaurant is situated within the Port Solent complex, away from the main shops. Park your car in the main car park and head towards the shopping area next to the marina – it’s upstairs there with views of all the boats. The dining area is bright and spacious, and all the staff were helpful and friendly. We had a really filling enjoyable meal which came in at around £65. i saw there were meal deals at lunchtime so there could be savings to be made there. Ultimately we were so full we didn’t have any tea that night – portion sizes are generous and we definitely over ordered on food.

We’d definitely go back!

We were offered complimentary meals for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own.