Portsmouth: Raise a toast to the coast

It's hard not to feel smug when it's a glorious autumn day and your train is pulling out of London headed for the coast. The Thames may glitter prettily, the parks may be magisterial this Sunday morning. But while your neighbours dutifully attend a farmers' market in a primary school playground you, lucky thing, are going to a farmers' market by the sea – in Portsmouth, new foodie capital of the south coast.

Okay, perhaps not the capital, exactly. I made that bit up. But why shouldn't it be? It's flanked by the verdant Hampshire hills and dales, in one of the sunniest, most sheltered spots on the British Isles. Portsmouth are still a major port, and its waters are a thoroughfare of village-sized container ships (it's the largest importer of bananas to the UK). Just as importantly, it's accessible by train from all over England, and is the stepping stone to the Isle of Wight – itself booming with a new wave of family-run food specialists and small organic farmholdings.

So why shouldn't this ancient stronghold of our nation carve its own niche in the new world order? Especially when a rising tide of forward-looking Pompey citizens seem determined that civic pride should be rooted in more than just a football team.

I strolled from Portsmouth and Southsea train station down into Southsea proper, past the King Street Tavern, where jazz and folk bands play regular sets to an enthusiastic indie crowd, and where the young staff decorate the tiny back garden with tea lights. This island town is still nominally divided in two: Portsmouth, home to the docks, and Southsea, with its genteel suburban streets, parks and esplanade.

Just north of Southsea seafront lies Palmerston Road. It's a pedestrianised strip, the type that exists in so many town centres around Britain. But once a month its home to the Portsmouth leg of the Hampshire farmers' market circuit – and the space fills with banter and gossip, with impromptu meetings and informal local education.

Here are tomatoes and garlic from the Isle of Wight and award-winning cheeses from the New Forest, chilli jams from Emsworth and organic bread from Wimbourne. According to Hampshire Farmers' Markets standards, all produce sold here must have been "grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked, or processed within Hampshire or 10 miles of the border".

At the Hill Farm stall, 10 varieties of apple juice are on sale at £2.20 a bottle. The Bramley is tangy and dry, the unusual Ashmead's Kernel is sweet. But where is the blend with damsons and sloes? "We always sell out, you see," says the stallholder, apologetically. It's only 1pm, and already the hog roast is finished, such is its popularity. Far from there being a limited demand for such so-called "niche" products, people just can't get enough.

"It's mostly locals here, all ages, all types," says Ed Anderson, of the Oakleaf Brewing Company, whose Hole Hearted ale has been voted "Champion Beer of Hampshire" by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) virtually since the brewery started, eight years ago. "Portsmouth's just full of life," says Anderson. "It can't get any bigger as it's an island, so everyone lives right by the shops. It has a continental feel."

From the farmers' market, I head for the esplanade, where couples are strolling and a brave soul swims the crawl up Portsmouth Harbour. There's a line for the tables overlooking the water at Mozzarella Joe's. The restaurant's sleek lines are a stark contrast to neighbouring Clarence Pier amusement park. The latter is the Great British Seaside we used to know: a clatter of light and sound. Mozzarella Joe's is just an upmarket pizza parlour, really – but it's a pizza parlour that wouldn't be out of place beachside in the cooler parts of Sydney or LA.

Wandering on into the docks of Portsmouth proper, we stop at East's fishmongers for whelks. Just over the way is Gunwharf Quays. For almost a millennium these wharves were at the heart of Britain's naval defences; now the wharfs have made way for glossy waterfront apartments, designer outlet shops and smart restaurant chains.

Reborn in 2001, Gunwharf Quay's makeover was designed to address the job losses and decay that followed the naval cutbacks of the Eighties. But in the fishing harbour it's all about family business – and local produce.

Beyond the boutiques and cafés of Marmion Road, there's another family business, for here mother and daughter Sue and Holly Newland run Coco Chocolatiers. Both accountants in previous lives, they decided two years ago to leave the figures behind and instead sell slabs and bars and selection boxes of a higher class of chocolate, all handmade on the premises. "Southsea has lots of small, independent traders and the desire for better, high quality produce seems to be growing," says Sue.

I poke around the shops and while away some time in the renovated naval storehouse of the Aspex Gallery (see page VII) – dedicated to supporting local artists (and they do good cakes). Then I stop for some food at abarbistro. Once used to house convicts prior to deportation, this dockside restaurant is now all light wood and sparkling glass, a digital print of the coveted Portsmouth beach huts stretching across one wall.

Like the Montparnasse, or Rosie's, or Oddballs, abarbistro is typical of the Portsmouth new breed: small, laid back and enthusiastically eager about both cooking and Pompey, with friendly staff and reasonable prices (a main course is £10 on average). The catch of the day is sourced locally, of course. From the window, I watch a Sunday crowd across the harbour, congregating around The Bridge Tavern.

This city used to have the most pubs per capita in the country, thanks to the thirsty seafaring community. Numbers might have dropped off slightly, but you're still never far from a drink. CAMRA's Best Pub vote goes regularly to the Hole in the Wall, both for its no-fuss friendly atmosphere and weekly-changing beer menu.

It's also handy for my bed for the night. The Retreat was one of Portsmouth's first boutique guesthouses, a period family home now stylishly refurbished, with four comfortable bedrooms and plenty of space to lounge. Since Sian and Mark opened up last year, keen to add their own touch of individuality to his home-town, a surprising number of small hotels have followed suit. Their vision might be just around the corner from the town's traditional seafront guesthouses, but it's a whole new world away.

TRAVELLER'S GUIDE

The Retreat Guesthouse, 35 Grove Road South, 02392 353701,www.theretreatguesthouse.co.uk. Doubles £70, including breakfast.

Hampshire Farmers' Markets, 01420 588671, www.hampshirefarmersmarkets.co.uk

East's Fresh Fish, Camber Quay, 02392 82969

abarbistro, 58 White Hart Road, 02392 811585, www.abarbistro.co.uk

King Street Tavern, 70 King Street, 02392 873307, www.thekingstreettavern.co.uk

Hole in the Wall, 36 Great Southsea Street, 02392 298085, www.theholeinthewallpub.co.uk

Coco Chocolatiers, 98 Marmion Road, 02392 295191, www.cocochocolatiers.co.uk

Mozzarella Joe's, Clarence Esplanade, 02392 295004

The Oakleaf Brewing Co. Ltd, 02392 513222, www.oakleafbrewing.co.uk

Aspex Gallery, The Vulcan Building, Gunwharf Quays, 02392 77808, www.aspex.org.uk

Fore more information on days out and short breaks in Portsmouth, see www.visitportsmouth.co.uk

Interesting? Click here to explore further