Becketts is the restaurant in Southsea that’s been recommended to me over and over again. It’s been a Portsmouth staple for the last 30 years but came under new management in 2016 and is thriving in the city’s vibrant food scene.

It has an excellent reputation and now I’ve finally managed to visit I totally understand the hype.

Inside Becketts

From the cute open stone walls to the long foliage embellished sky lights, Becketts is two beautiful converted town houses offering boutique style hotel rooms and breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I arrived a little late and quickly whizzed through the entrance where there’s seating by the bar before the room splits into two long cosy rooms lined with tables.

One of the team kindly guided me down into one of the rooms to my table. I sat under a long sky light running down the centre of the restaurant with modern lanterns hanging down illuminating the space with soft yellow lighting.

The copper embellishments and mis-matched chairs add finesse and quirkiness to the eclectic setting. 

On a grey morning, the friendly staff, welcoming atmosphere and gorgeous setting was just the ticket for a totally dreamy lazy

Window style mirrors line the walls and natural light floods the seating area highlighting the multi-coloured tiled floor making it feel like a courtyard.

I’ve got to admit the glorious interior had me hooked from the get go, I mean look at it! Imagine being taken on a date here, one of the cosy corners would be a wonderful setting for those first few meetings. I’ll have to make Henry, my better more numerically minded other half, to take me for dinner there!

The Menu

There’s a classic selection of dishes on the breakfast and brunch menu at Becketts – sweet offerings like French toast, pancakes and granola bowls are balanced by savoury favourites like a full English, smoked salmon on toast and veggie and vegan meals too.

And, how the hell do you make a decision with all of those amazing choices? Thankfully, I’d left my indecisive tendencies at home and had researched the menu ahead of time, which may I add was a world first for me, and knew that I wanted the smoked salmon stack.

Shortly after my flat white arrived a slice of toasted sourdough smothered with lemon and caper cream cheese and topped with smashed avocado, smoked salmon, dill, lemon and a sprinkling of extra capers landed on the table in front of me.

The creamy avocado was a contrasted with tiny salty caper kicks and it was so blinking delicious it didn’t last long – trust me! It was devoured at a truly disgusting rate – you can always tell when food is good with me as I fall silent and lose interest in everything else. I’m sorry, food has arrived and I am no longer capable of holding down a conversation because what I’m consuming is chuffing ace.

I had a very leisurely morning putting the world to rights with a friend, drinking gallons of coffee and enjoying a good meal. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend.

Finding incredible local breakfast spots makes me so happy and I can’t wait to visit again to see what dinner and lunch is like at Becketts.