Banana Wharf in Fareham

Food very nice although quite pricey. Service from waiting staff great, but sadly can't say the same for the maitre d who wasn't particularly welcoming! There was some confusion as we had booked a table for an early lunch at 11:30am (due to one member of our party having to get to work by 1:30pm). However, what we didn't realise (since there is nothing on the website or during the online booking process), is that lunch service doesn't start until 12pm. The maitre d made us feel very bad for not realising this, suggesting it was our fault for not checking and then made a big fuss about how he needed the table for another booking at 1:30pm and couldn't possibly take any orders for lunch before midday. This made us feel quite unwelcome and spoilt our meal as we were rushing so as not to be too much of an inconvenience! It was also somewhat unnecessary as, in the end, with a bit of shuffling around, there wasn't any problem with the tables, and the waiting staff were fine with us placing our orders and then just waiting until midday to serve the food. Unfortunately this is the second time we have experienced the feeling that customers are not really that welcome at this restaurant and it is off-putting! Shame, as the location is lovely.

Not one for leaving reviews but credit where due. The food was absolutely amazing. Great value for money. Staff were perfect. Thank you for a great meal.

Tony and his team have made a fantastic setting on the Hamble. The service by Rhys, Daisy, Isabella & Dan is attentive and courteous. The food is delicious and a wide range of drink choices. Set in the Universal Marina, ample parking and great beer garden overlooking the water. A booking on popular days is essential and easily made on the website. Bring your kids and pet friendly too.

Fourth or fifth visit for us, but first for a sneaky mid week lunch (belated Birthday). Agree with other recent 5 star reviews, great atmosphere, very pleasant surroundings, super friendly and engaging front of house team, and good food too - all at reasonable prices. Varied menu - and decent selection of wines/beers. Hard to fault overall and our waitress capped it off with attentive table service throughout (thank you Isobella)

As always a great evening at one of our most favourite local places to dine. The food was delicious, the atmosphere lively and the service, as usual excellent. We were looked after by Rhys and Lynette who were both welcoming, friendly and fun as they always are. (All the staff are wonderful whenever we go in, whatever day of the week or time!) Banana Wharf is a firm favourite of ours and we are so lucky to have it on our doorstep ❤️ Highly recommend dining at this wonderful little gem on the river! Sad to learn that Lynette is leaving, she was a big part of our lovely visits and we’ll miss her banter.

WOW. A little precious gem. Enjoyed an impromptu lunch this afternoon. From the welcome to us leaving, it was flawless. Service and staff impeccable, as was our lunch, pizza and bbq ribs, plus drinks. Looking forward to the warmer weather, so as to enjoy the outside space. Just perfect.

Wifey and I have just had the best lasagna ever and the garlic bread was fab too!!

We love this place, it has great views especially in the summer and the food is amazing as well. Definitely worth a visit !

Great location and excellent food

The food was very tasty.. The service was friendly and efficient. Only our bunch and another table there, so we were supplying the atmosphere. Some good music too.

I have eaten here twice, and on both occasions the food has been great quality. It is a little bit on the pricey side but due to the location and atmosphere of the restaurant it’s not too bad. Bar is okay, again a little bit on the expensive side. Staff have always been friendly when I’ve been. Due to its location it is a great place to come in the evening in the summer and sit outside.

Friendly staff, perfect location for a drink and some food on a lovely summer's day. Also dog friendly!! Thank you

Always popular and busy. Service can be a little slow but waiting staff very friendly and knowledgeable.

Food was OK, great service, really nice team and very attentive. Setting is great, will definitely be back as I think fajitas I had we're just over cooked rather than anything serious.

Had drinks outside, dog friendly, will visit again👍

Great food choices. Large portions. Lovely location,

As much as I love dogs I really don’t want to dine in a restaurant surrounded by them. There is a garden but on this rainy lunchtime they all came in. Two dogs started fighting. One dog squatted next to our table and relieved itself. It was the most unpleasant experience ever. Wait staff were lovely and food was nice, but even so we couldn’t wait to leave and won’t be returning.

Lovely food, friendly staff, fab setting

On our visit today me and my mother came for breakfast, it was our first time dining at this location, straight away we was appalled by the man who had taken us to our seat to dine as the smell that came when he was walking infront was quite frankly disgusting, we was taken back by the smell as it wasn’t busy and on top of this it was early in the morning so no reason for anyone to smell like sweat at this time in the morning. As well as this the state of the man’s shorts and too was filthy as anything which clearly shows the man’s poor hygiene. We will not be coming back that’s for sure as it put us off our food as well as our first experience at this restaurant that I heard good things about prior.

We went on a lovely end of Summer evening. Our food was really nice. Good selection of drinks. Staff were excellent and very friendly. Will be back.

Rang up to book a table this evening. The lady my wife spoke to was so rude, responding with one word answers in an abrupt and dismissive manner. When we were debating which time to go for she cut my wife off mid sentence so we decided not to book in the end if that’s the level of customer service you can expect! A real shame, but to have someone on the phone as rude as this made us not want to book.

Great environment with a beautiful view of the river and can see the most amazing sunsets in the summer. Good quality choice of drinks and nice food.

Definitely worth a visit top notch food q Well presented generous portion dog's welcome will be back

We had an outside table. It was a lovely setting for a warm evening, sat looking over the water/marina. The menu is mediocre, but when choosing I felt maybe the food would still be its best version and with a good glass of (over priced) wine and the lovely view all would be well. Sadly the food was very averagely presented and just average. It was edible, but I've cooked better. The waiting staff were under immense pressure which was sad, as they definately earned their hourly rate, but service was embarrassingly slow. For that reason we skipped dessert. The waiting between ordering even a drink was overlong. We learned they were a chef down. I would say they needed a few more bar and waiting staff too. Usually we might return to see if it was just a blip, but sadly I don't think we will bother this time. Such a shame!!!

I can’t fault the food, really lovely but overpriced. The service however I felt we were putting then out. On arrival although we had booked we had to wait for the staff to finish what they were doing, the guy said we could sit outside so I asked our friends but the member of staff was already outside rather than waiting for my answer. Drinks came a long time before food, food was nice but never checked if we needed any sauces or if everything was ok. Just felt like it was too much of an effort. Definitely nice food but there is plenty of other nice food places to visit in Warsash, so won’t be returning.

A lovely experience. Great food and good service. Lovely and clean, and beautiful outside seating area.

A superb place to enjoy drinks and nibbles when using the Universal Marina. It caters for light snacks and a full range of drinks. Service is courteous and attentive. The menu choices offer selections for vegans and those that suffer allergies. A pet friendly place which has a lovely terrace to enjoy wonderful views of the Hamble and marina. Always enjoy popping by when boating and a very social plane to meet new friends.

6 of us pre-booked a birthday lunch having visited once before and were impressed then. This time certainly did not disapoint. Lovely weather of course helps, we were shown to a table outside under the trees. Drinks order came within minutes. After an explanation of the 2 specials, one of which was mussels, we ordered and starters arrived. The mussels as a starter, and indeed one of us had them as a main were declared the best outside Britanny!! Other starters, king prawns, squid all went down a treat. Main course steaks were perfectly cooked, 2 pizzas spot on, 2 bottles of wine, no desserts where possible after all this. Total 3.1/2 hours, excellent service. Yes if you need to be picky it is probably on the expensive side but 10 times better than pubs with couldn't care less staff, steak and ale pie, beer battered fish and chips, etc. Give it a go if only for the mussels!! Someone complained about the service charge added to the bill, it is entirely discretionary, if you don't like it ask for it to be removed. Issues with parking are generally with the marina operators Premier, don't blame the restaurant!!!

We ordered coffee and breakfast. We waited for an hour but nothing arrived, not even the coffee. The servers were apologetic and said they were short staffed. We didn't want to waste any more of our Sunday waiting and so we left. The tables around us were all having a similar experience.

Firstly, it’s almost impossible to park! There is an area designated ‘restaurant parking only’ which was full, leading me to believe the restaurant itself would also be full, but it wasn’t, so non-restaurant clientele are obviously parking there. Secondly, one of their two disabled parking spaces is taken up by smelly industrial bins which encroach on the other space, and the spaces are no wider than a standard space. The whole point of a disabled parking space is the extra width to enable a wheelchair user to open their car door fully! On entering the restaurant, we were greeted by the manager who didn’t stop what he was doing while he spoke to us and when my friend said she had a reservation, he rolled his eyes, because it was inconvenient for him to walk over to the reception area! One of the staff must have noticed this as she came over and checked us in and showed us to a table outside with beautiful views over the river. The food was superb albeit overpriced - the Nasi Goreng was very tasty but £23 for what is essentially a stir fry? The fajitas were also good but the tortilla to filling ratio is poor - more tortillas required! The manager came to take our dessert orders - what an arrogant, rude, humourless man and he, along with the parking, is the reason we won’t be returning to this place.

We often pop in for a drink at Banana Wharf Univeral Marina but last night we decided to eat there. I booked a table an hour or so our planned dinning time. The Moules special was excellent, a massive portion size, and the service was very good. We'd eaten at Bistro 8 before, a previous incarnation, and thought it was over priced for the service and food we received. That is not the case with Banana Wharf, I only wish we'd eaten there sooner. We will be back.

Stopped for lunch ordered the mussels which came with bread and chips and were HUGE ( came a second Time and shared a portion!) absolutely delicious with wine sauce nice surroundings

Beautiful place to eat or drink, take dogs if you want, sit & enjoy the sunset over looking the river hamble.

A modern - dare I say trendy - and fun restaurant on the shoreline overlooking the river. A bit noisy downstairs so they found a spot for us upstairs with a view out over the trees. The garlic bread with cheese starter was soggy and rather boring - give it a miss. But my mussels in a leek and ham broth were exceptional - lots of shredded ham and really filling, served with bagette and chips. Sadly my friend had the last portion of the paella and it showed - little content and dry. But the friendly waiter was great, immediately apologised and offered an alternative, and also said they'd deduct the price from the bill, so you couldn't fault them here. They'd also got rahmen noodles on the menu along with some Asian dishes (my friend recommended the Nasi Goreng which she'd had before) as well as pizza, pasta, burgers and steak. Ideal for youngsters and us oldies alike.

Absolutely beautiful place and the service was spectacular. Phil made me feel very welcome and right at home. The overall atmosphere was very relaxing and very well planned out. Will definitely be coming back with friends

Nice bar with nice outside area but not practical to visit

I'd recommend going to one of the villages bustling cafes or pubs for cheaper and better food! We pre-booked for lunch as it was a nice location overlooking the marina. The service was shockingly abysmal despite it being so quiet. We had ordered our food...

Been to Southampton one many times, And this one was as good will definitely go back but Hopfully be able to sit outside.

The most beautiful garden setting if weather good. Sitting outside in gorgeous garden surrounded by oak trees. Beautifully lit at night. To the right can be seen a field of donkeys. Deer and foxes often seen at twilight and ahead a view of boats on...

Firstly, the signage is incorrect and needs updating so people do not waste their time, the breakfast menu is not everyday…only on weekends. Upon arrival we were ignored by a man behind the bar making himself a coffee, no welcome, no greeting..we stood there for...

We visited on a Monday lunch time so probably one of the quietest times of the week. The setting is lovely and the food was ok but the service was some of the worst we have experienced for years. We were seated and given menus but no drinks orders were taken. When the lady came to take our food order she asked if that was it and it was only because we requested drinks then that we were able to order them. This run of the mill request was obviously far more complicated than we were aware as we had to go and request that our drinks actually be bought to the table after waiting for at least 10 minutes. I think this was a result of the two main wait staff sitting at a table themselves eating food which seems bizarre given that they’re there to do the lunch service. They also looked at us several times from their table with utter contempt that we were inconveniencing their day. The food arrived in a perfectly respectable amount of time but at no point did they come over to ask if we’d like more drinks or ‘is everything ok?’ which is pretty standard in hospitality across the country. We had finished for over 15 minutes before they eventually decided that they could drag themselves from their own meal to clear the table. We then for some insane reason decided to ask for the dessert menu which had several options that sounded lovely. However, after waiting for another ridiculous length of time with no sign that they had any intention of taking our order we just left. Whilst paying, another customer had come in from outside to request that a member of staff come out to take their order so we were clearly not the only ones. Having read many reviews on the venue this is clearly a regular occurrence so you have to ask why nothing has been done about it. One positive was the barman was good. It’s a massive shame that such a poorly run establishment has a truly brilliant setting.

Good food and atmosphere overlooking the Hamble and marina.

We had a lovely breakfast of sourdough toast, orange juice and coffee overlooking the river in a beautiful setting. The staff were friendly and polite and we'll definitely be visiting again.

The location is great but that’s really the only thing going for it as the service and food really let out experience down. The staff took a long time to take drinks and food order (at least 20 mins). Then the drinks took over 15 mins to arrive. A large party that came in after us revived both food and drinks before us. We were also told that they had run out of a breakfast item on the menu (which would normally be fine) but we were only told after all the other food was brought to the table. The food quality was OK. Nothing to shout home about and all portions were quite small. It has such potential to be an amazing place as the outside space is lovely. Just needs some improvements for it to be worth the money in my opinion.

I've used Ocean Village venue since it opened & never had a bad meal or service. Advertised new site at Universal & used to use years ago when I boated always a pleasure if bimbling on the Hamble. It was 11.30 advertised online as open from 900 a.m. breakfast for Fathers Day. But, got there & 11.30ish 2 on desk & venue empty, asked for a table & said no food till Noon, said we'll wait outside but NO more bookings all day as short staffed!! No signs of food or smell of coffee, Good Luck if you had lunch!! Will mention to their colleagues next time I'm in Ocean Village. PS Hamble Marina is a great venue too..... what's going on? ........

Great location by the Hamble at Universal Marina, great selection on the menu, pasta, pizza, burgers, salads and much more, lovely tasty food, generous portions. Will definitely be returning. Did return in June 23, food excellent again, but service was friendly, but slow, sat down at 7.15, shared a starter and waited till 9.15 for mains, had to chase a couple of times for drinks, water and a wine cooler.

Lovely venue with great views. Food is always top quality and staff can't do enough for you. I visit here often and will continue to do so. Would highly recommend to anyone.

Terrible service, totally ignored and felt in the way. We wanted coffee and breakfast, I will not go back

A lovely setting down at universal marina, but spoiled by the shambolic service. It took over ten minutes to be seated even though we had booked. Further 10 minutes to get a drinks order for coffees and then longer to come, even though it wasn’t busy. The breakfast was nice, but when we tried to order a second round of coffees we were brought our bill in error, and then we were completely ignored by male members of staff. When the drinks finally came they were tepid. We then got our bill at the right time and requested that the gratuity be removed as the service had been so poor, they then comped us the second lot of coffees and apologised. This experience does not make me want to return. Such a shame, it has the potential to be brilliant.

Beautiful setting, lovely sat around the fire pit in the evening, didn't eat myself but food look's great, fantastic place

The most awful lunch experience ever. We were seated, orders taken and after this - commence the never arriving main..! Yes - 2 hours later and no food arrived, prompting us to have to walk out. Better still, we were told “better you cancel the...

Banana wharf universal marina probably the best if this franchise we've every visited. 10 stars

The food was very delicious and the staff where very friendly

Took 30 minutes to drive there only to find parking was awful, couldn't find anywhere to park and no allocated parking for restaraunt

Visited here for first time booked over the phone very easy was taken to our seat and you couldn’t even walk between the 2 tables either side of us we were basically sat on the table with 2 other tables awful and service was very slow no one came to take drinks orders for 40 mins and they were not particularly busy

Lovely food, brilliant service and stunning location

friendly spot to grab a quick snack while waiting for crew - lemon cake and coke were served quickly and the tables outside gave a great view of the reeds and the marina.

The food here is excellent, the chef and the team are one of the best in the area and the dishes are always of the highest standard. From perfectly cooked pasta to the daily specials every dish we’ve had has been outstanding. The service is...

Excellent service….. made up for 4 below average meals. As I said….Excellent service made up for 4 below average meals.

Have visited this venue twice in the last two weeks and both times have had a fantastic meal and great service. The first time I had the burger with blue cheese which was absolutely delicious. Second time I had the Nasi goreng which was good...

Music was a bit loud for conversations but apart from that it was a lovely place

Great little secret of a restaurant, fantastic views and staff very friendly.

The manager was very helpful getting us a table at ocean village after having an issue being booked in on a day they were closed at universal.

Dissapointed. Popped into Banana Wharf with dogs on a Sunday morning for coffee and breakfast. All we both wanted was scrambled egg on toast with coffee, but we're flatly refused this as it was not on the menu, only poached or fried egg options, as scrambled takes too long...I know its only a minor thing but really, the place was empty...waitress was lovely, but chef and management had no can do attitude...we did though order avocado on toast and a bacon bap with a tea and coffee and paid £25 for the privilege, won't be going back again for breakfast...

Excellent Mother’s Day lunch with family. Great set menu with lots of choice for everyone. Amazing service from Phil too. Will definitely be back soon.

Didn't know the place was in hamble. Lovely setting. Staff were very friendly, attentive and the food was excellent. Lovely atmosphere. Definitely recommend.

Really lovely food for valentine's day and atmosphere was great. Quick service but it seemed like the waiters were keen to get us out quickly -- not sure if that's because it was valentine's but we did book The dock nearby was cute too

Beautiful outdoor seating area to watch the sunset with a G&T - loved the ice cream bar too, very nice touch.

We have visited a couple of times now. We always feel welcomed by the staff even when we haven’t booked. Food always tastes fresh and my favourite is the carbonara. Only downside was the burger which my partner ordered was a little on the greasy side but there are so many other options from their large menu! There was an issue with our drinks but the staff were very apologetic and quick to rectify the issue. We will no doubt be returning :)

We held an event on at banana wharf, universal marina and it was nothing but fabulous! The venue is clean and modern but still has character and a good atmosphere - as well as lovely views over the river. We pre-ordered a buffet and it...

Food was excellent, big portion and very tasty. Friendly staff.

This is a very nicely situated Licensed Restaurant with great views of the boats moored at the nearby Marina on the River Hamble from the outside terrace. This area is lit up in the evening and as such it is a very cosy and pretty place to eat and drink in.

I would like to thank The team at Universal for a great NYE ,well organised fantastically staffed music brilliant and as always very welcoming . As always these guys are a credit to the hospitality profession Well done team . See you in the new year Mark & Belinda xxxx

On the same day that the Rising Sun ( further up the river Hamble) was so disappointing , Banana Warf cafe/ bar/ restaurant was welcoming, friendly , warm and inviting. Beers a plenty to choose from, good family atmosphere and food very good & served...

Great place, a hidden gem! Tony and all the staff there are so accommodating and friendly.

This is the second time we’ve visited both times average which is disappointing. We ordered 2 pizzas which were both £15.50 and for that price you hope to be served something worth that (especially as they have advertise as being hand stretched sour dough) but...

Top experience! Haven't been for a while but got a voucher through the door with only a few days left to book. Decided to give their Sunday roast a go. Oh my! Had the lamb. It was absolutely yummy. Everything about it was first class...

Had our Christmas meal there this afternoon. Food was absolutely wonderful - there was 26 of us and all of us were delighted with our three course meals. Thank you to all the team for a great event. We are definitely going to come back...

My husband and I were out walking with our daughter’s dog and stopped off here for a coffee. Unfortunately as it was 11:50 the restaurant was closed - the staff were cleaning and getting it ready to open for lunch at 12. Huge thanks to...

Positives - The food was good, my family and I had breakfast before a walk. Avocado on toast, & pancakes. Good quality sourdough bread, well cooked poached eggs, my children were happy with their pancakes. Our waitress serving us was very pleasant. Negatives - The...

really good, staff very friendly especially to dogs!😁. food was excellent.

Was much better as Bistro 8. Its okay, but not as good as it was.

Delicious food, great menu and fantastic staff. Especially Abbi who made visiting with small children a stress free pleasure. Nothing was too much trouble for her and the team were all friendly and attentive. Will definitely visit again

Awesome place.. Awesome staff lovely food..👍

Swanwick restaurant has a lovely setting, great service and fab food. The restaurant could benefit from some sound damping alterations though. Not the place for a quiet chat.

Had a great birthday meal here with my family today. The food was excellent, the staff were so friendly and excellent too! Would definitely recommend Banana Wharf at Universal Marina!

Literally just walked up to have breakfast after a 1 hour walk to be told by the on duty manager that breakfast had finished. That was at 10:40. Their website says 11. EVERYTIME we have visited we have had a problem with the staff. The...

Lovely food in a beautiful sophisticated location. Staff were excellent. Would definitely go back.

Lovely location, especially on a good day. With views over the water and marina and lots of trees. Food is standard Banana Wharf which is to say it is very good but quite expensive.

Very nice spot. Sat outside under a canopy. Food was reasonably priced in my opinion. Staff were friendly and attentive. Will definitely return.

We came on the recommendation of a friend. Excellent service by the two friendly welcoming staff nothing was too much trouble , the setting was lovely and so was the meal thank you.

First time visiting Banana Wharf when in the area visiting family. We had a table outside where we could enjoy the sunset over the marina. When the rain arrived we were lucky the staff could find us a table inside. The food was very, very good. Excellent quality, good portion size and all of the party enjoyed their main meals. The mussels (special) and miso salmon were fantastic. Fajitas also went down well with 3 of our party. Staff were friendly, which is lovely, the drinks service however was slow. This is not uncommon these days as the hospitality service recovers and it wouldn’t necessarily put me off visiting again.

Had lunch there, excellent staff and food. We will certainly return. One of us had a hamburger, another a salad, I had a sandwich all excellent. Close Parking can be hard to find, we went in the Marina's visitors parking.

Sadly very poor experience. Scene set, on a riverside walk, with the dog 🐶. Fancied a coffee… big queues at ‘favourite’ Mermaids so decided to ‘ask and try’ Banana Wharf at Universal Marina. Was asked ‘do you have a reservation (for breakfast)’ ? No, but okay to go through to the garden with the dog 🐶? Yes. Please go out beyond the tables. We did. Time passed, no interest from waiting staff, so my wife went to find someone to be told ‘no table orders out there’ so ordered and paid for coffees. More time passed, spoke again to at least one/ two members of staff. Finally, coffees arrived they were COLD. Final insult ‘very expensive COLD coffee’. I gave feedback as we left. We wont return any time soon. Felt unwelcome. Worthy of note we have eaten here in the past.

Food was good - service was somewhat patchy and inconsistent - waited ages to be asked for drinks as soon as we got them, we were asked again for drinks by two more servers within a few minutes. We then waited a long time for...

Met a friend here after a busy working week on Friday. Fun and friendly staff, nothing was too much trouble, really delicious food (biggest bowl of muscles ever, with chips and a baguette), and a fabulous view. The sunset we ordered was just perfect too...

Went to Bannana Wharf, Universal Marina for the first time. Very nice. Excellent location, service and food. We will go back again, soon!!

Hard to get too and parking poor, food good

Great food and excellent service.

Great atmosphere and the staff were so helpful and lovely. Meal was huge and very tasty. Please go if you get the chance.