This was my first visit to the Southampton Publick House and I was surprised to find what a big place it is, with two tap rooms, two dining rooms, and, behind a glass wall, big vats where some of its prize-winning ales were fermenting.


Its size aside, the dark wood, exposed brick walls, and endless brewery tchotchkes give it the friendly feeling of an old pub, the sort of place you can go in your old sweater and jeans and feel comfortable.


We went there on the evening of Mother's Day, so the dining room was filled with young families with restless kids or subdued tables each with an elderly white-haired mom being given the annual Hallmark card treatment. The tap rooms were livelier, and I imagine that most people go there to hang out with friends and have a few beers. But we were there for the food.


I did not know that you could order a beer sampler, so, the remainder of our party being rigid wine drinkers, I only got to try one beer, the Southampton Secret Ale, winner of the 2002 bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival. And very good it was, too.


Had I but world enough and time, I could have tried Old Herb Barleywine, Southampton Trappist Ale (drunk, I presume, by all those Trappists milling around onwings, a handful of salads, and - brace yourself - Irish nachos: cottage fries and sweet potato fries topped with jack and cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions.


Entrees, $8 to $24, include steaks, burgers, pastas, ribs, fish and chips, and most of the usual suspects.


Two of us ordered from the extremely good value Mother's Day three-course $22 prix fixe menu. One of us, the one who chose an exceptionally light and fresh spring roll and an enormous, perfectly cooked prime rib with mashed new garlic potatoes with the skins on, was very happy.


The other, who chose a flabby, stodgy, bland crab cake and dull salmon, was not, though she acknowledged that the melange of marinated eggplant and red peppers that came with the salmon was not only delicious but startlingly original.


You can order "peel and eat shrimp" by the pound ($18) or half-pound ($9) that are firm and flavorful and are an ideal accompaniment to a glass of good ale. Even better with your beer would be the fried calamari ($9). Ubiquitous though they may be (I believe you can even get a plate of fried calamari at the Wainscott Post Office), they are by no means equal in quality wherever you go. The Publick House serves some of the best, partly because the coating includes Japanese panko crumbs.


The Cajun duck met with a mixed reception, with some of us finding the flavors an interesting combination and others believing they completely sabotaged the poor Anas longislandius, who needs little more than a very hot oven to bring out his best.


The ale-battered cod in the fish and chips was excellent, though the fries, strange waffle-shaped objects, could definitely do with a visit from the "Extreme Makeover: French Fries Edition" team.


For dessert we tried a rich, chewy brownie with a lovely caramel ice cream and something called a Snickers Chaos Pie, if you can believe it. I disapprove of mixing peanuts and sugar, but it was ordered nonetheless. From the expressions on their faces and the unseemly noises they made, I concluded it must have been satisfactory.


The Southampton Publick House is obviously a bonanza for beer lovers, but you don't have to be one to enjoy its friendly, have-a-good-time atmosphere, simple unpretentious food, and reasonable prices.


The Publick House
40 Bowden Square
Southampton
283-2800
Lunch and dinner seven days