Pitcher & Piano - Winchester

P and P first started in Fulham in 1986, since when it has evolved into one of the UK's favourite bar groups, offering premium drinks, mingled with food that carries its own distinction against a background of different themes, many deriving from the locality, and from what is the whole being of contemporary life in modern bars.

Their courtyard area is one of Winchester's best kept secrets and an attractive place to while away the afternoon with a classic Pimms. Start with a cocktail, say a bourbon sour, cosmopolitan or a parson green apple before tackling some food that will vary from pub to pub. There are bar meals, try bang bang chicken in Bridgewater, or a more formal approach in restaurant style, what about Moroccan lamb in Soho, with hot chocolate truffle brownie and vanilla ice cream in Birmingham. In general the menus are very similar, with plenty of choices all round.

There are now over twenty five branches of Pitcher and Piano where you can be assured of the same decent levels of food and drinks, service and quality. Surely that's better than the lucky dip approach?