With the summer holidays in full swing and the weather staying warm, what better way is there to relax than with a round of golf?
However, if you go down to Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, you can try nine minigolf holes with a unique twist.
Art & Putt is exactly what it sounds like, a mini golf course where every hole is inspired by famous artists and their work, from Andy Warhol to Frida Kahlo.
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I visited the course with my sister, and we had a great time. Each hole has a unique gimmick inspired by the artist in question (for example, the Warhol-inspired hole requires you to hit a golf ball into a Campbell’s soup can to get it close to the hole), all of which were inspired and meant that no two holes were the same.
My favourite was the one inspired by Salvador Dali, which featured a tilting maze you had to drop your ball into; you would then have to tilt the maze to find which hole it would drop out of onto the putting field, meaning you could end up having to take several swings or just one to get the ball into the hole.
The course was quite heavily attended when we went, but things moved at a good speed, and we had a fun time (and I’m not just saying this because I won).
After golf, my sister and I went for lunch at the Giggling Squid. I went to the Giggling Squid in Winchester a few months ago, so I knew what to expect in terms of quality, but it was nice to take my sister somewhere she had never been before.
Starting with drinks, I had a Virgin Jungle Colada, which had a beautiful coconut taste, while my sister went for a Thai Tea. We then followed this with our starters – I had crispy squid bits, a wonderfully warming dish that had a very satisfying crunch and my sister went for chicken satay which she really enjoyed (once she had taken the chilli off).
For our mains, I had a marinated steak, served with a side of jasmine rice, and my sister enjoyed a king prawn pad thai. I liked the steak quite a bit, some of the meat melted in my mouth, but there were one or two pieces that were too chewy for me to enjoy properly.
Likewise, my sister enjoyed her main, but she had to de-shell the prawns herself and the meal didn’t come with an extra plate or bowl for her to put the shells into. If something had been provided, then it might have made things easier for her.
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But these are just small nitpicks, especially since the rest of our meal was so nice. We finished off with a mini melting heart chocolate pudding for me (which was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend), while my sister enjoyed a trio of sorbets.
One of the things that I appreciated at Giggling Squid was how prepared the staff were to deal with food allergies. We recently discovered that my sister is allergic to gluten, and the staff were wonderfully accommodating, with the restaurant even having an interactive menu she could open on her phone allowing her to filter menu items by different allergies and see what she could safely eat.
Suffice to say, if you find yourself with an afternoon with nothing to do, I would recommend visiting Gunwharf Quays and trying both the mini golf and Giggling Squid. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
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