[AD*] Looking for something new in Portsmouth? Is it time for cocktails over a hearty meal? It is? Oh good, then it’s time to get yourself down to the newest restaurant to open at Gunwharf Quays. Cheers!

Cosy Club has a setting that makes you feel instantly at ease. From the fancy lights dimmed low to the retro decor, it has a friendly attitude and a relaxed charm.

The lovely folks from Cosy Club HQ invited me to try the menu and a few tipples of my choice to review and share with you.

Come on in and take a look at the warm and welcoming Cosy Club…

Cosy Club has only recently moved into Gunwharf Quays but it has quickly transformed a corner of the shopping outlet into a bustling new place to go.

The interior style is an odd eclectic mix of old fashioned oil paintings, 1920s Art Deco features and shabby chic painted tables and chairs. It shouldn’t work but it does and, funnily enough, it really is cosy!

On the menu there’s dishes to suit all tastes and I couldn’t say it specialises in one type of food. They do have tapas style starters to share, classic British meals, Thai inspired curries and a section dedicated to fully loaded burgers.

It’s a great place to head to if you’re with a group of friends with very different tastes. We’ve all been there, the fight for where you should eat, well this restaurant will have something to keep everyone happy.

There’s also a great cocktail menu, I mean a seriously diverse selection of drinks and flavours. I tried two during my meal there, the ‘Spiced Pineapple and Pear Daiquiri’ and ‘Blow a Raspberry at Collin’ but I’ll be heading back to try and make it through the rest. There’s an offer on for a ‘Teatime Tipple’ running from Sunday to Thursday from 4-8pm – any two cocktails for only £9.95, what a bargain!

A Spiced Pineapple and Pear Daiquiri and my happy little face!

The Dairquiri had fresh lime juice and spiced pineapple mixed with Xante pear and laced with Ron Barcelo rum and it felt super elegant being served up in an old school champagne saucer. It was a wonderful introduction to menu and it tasted rich and a bit like Christmas, the citrus cut through the spice which kept it from being heavy – delicious!

The Collins was the opposite, it was the epitome of summer, fresh tasting raspberry shrub and fresh lemon mixed with Chase GB gin in a tall glass with lots of ice. This will be the perfect refresher after a long hot summer day.

The balcony space is huge and you’ve got an amazing view of Portsmouth Harbour, I can imagine being sat on the terrace sipping a nice tall drink watching the sun going down and catching up with my friends.

After settling in we picked starters and mains as we’d had a long day gardening and had really worked up an appetite. We started with some tapas to share followed by a loaded burger for me and a Thai green curry for Henry. For those of you not in the know, Henry is my better, more mathematically minded other half, who was very excited to come to a blogging meal with me (it’s very rare I get a plus one!).

From the tapas selection we ordered the Tempura King Prawns, Crispy Sesame Chicken both accompanied by a soy and ginger dipping sauce and Halloumi sticks with chipotle jam. They were so delicious and there’s so many other dishes I’d like to have tried too – the prawn and squid dish sounded incredible!

I’m allergic to raw onion and the manager and the waiting staff were really good at making sure all the meals and sauces were ok for me to eat. It’s a tricky allergy as cooked onion is fine as it changes the enzymes in the raw onion. And oddly, I can’t eat spring onion in any form. Some of my dishes might look a little different to what you’d get if you made the same order. If that’s the case, remember I have the oddest allergy and that’s probably why!

Henry’s Thai green curry looked delicious and came out in a trio of dishes on an ornate metal tray. With the curry was a pot of spring rolls and prawn crackers too. He very much enjoyed it and it was gone in an instant!

The Thai green curry looked and smelt so good!

I picked ‘The Major General’ a fully loaded burger with, take a deep breath… smoked streaky bacon, melted cheese, balsamic onions, rocket, tomato, gherkin, burger sauce, and last but not least, the pièce de résistance, a macaroni cheese fritter. I’ve had a one of these fritters before and I’d forgotten just how tasty an addition it is!

The extra layer made it very tall and it required both hands to keep it together, which is never a bad thing in my books – I do like a loaded dirty burger! It also added a really creamy, crunchy texture to the burger. I was so hungry and this really hit the spot, and was very satisfying.

I’m not going to lie I had to take a little break between our main course and pudding, everything I’d had was so tasty and I’d gobbled the lot. But, that was only to make room for some pudding, I’d seen the mini doughnuts go out to another table and I really wanted to try them.

I should imagine the melting chocolate bomb pudding is going to be very popular but I had my heart on those sizzling little balls of dough.

The mini doughnuts did not disappoint! When they arrived the smell was incredible. The sugary, cinnamon scented dough was heavenly and they were so fresh! I don’t know what possessed me to order doughnuts, as I don’t like them, but these were more like light fluffy little fat churros and man do I LOVE CHURROS!

A mini doughnut covered in toffee apple sauce!

The cherry on the cake so to speak, was the toffee apple dipping sauce. It was insanely good and the perfect partner to the doughnuts. I didn’t like the chocolate sauce that came with it, it was more like a syrup and I’m a bit of a chocolate purist. But, I was more than made up with the toffee apple sauce, it was divine. Thankfully Henry had ordered the same as me and he liked the chocolate sauce so we did a trade and realised this is why we worked so well together!

I made the decision to have a whole portion of the doughnuts to myself and I was a bit worried after having a starter and a main meal that I wouldn’t be able to eat them all. But, as soon as I’d finished the first one I knew it was completely the right decision. Boom, five minutes later, there was not a morsel left in sight. Sharing, in my case, is not caring – ha ha! You’d have had to have forcibly removed the doughnuts out of my hands if you’d have wanted one, there was no way I would have given them away, they were too delicious!

As you can probably tell I had a wonderful time at Cosy Club and loved the relaxed environment and scruffy food. Affordable and in a glorious setting, the restaurant is a great addition to the foodie scene at Gunwharf Quays.

I’ll definitely be heading back to sample some more drinks off the cocktail menu, eat more doughnuts and spend some time on that balcony. Take a look at the whole menu to look at the eclectic range of dishes, there really is something for everyone!

If you fancy trying the Cosy Club, look for your nearest restaurant with this handy Cosy Club locator.