Old Portsmouth has a fine dining spot that is worth knowing about, even if you have to plan a little ahead to get a table. Smoke and Mirrors, run by the couple Caitlyn Odin on front of house and Jordan Thompson in the kitchen, is a small, intimate venue with room for no more than 20 guests at a time. It opened its doors in February 2023 and has since built a name for itself as one of the city's more refined places to eat.
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The room sets the mood before you even look at the menu. It is done in black and smoky tones, with a wall gallery of naval-themed artefacts that nod to the neighbourhood's maritime history, chandeliers and patterned cutlery. It is the kind of space that feels more like a private dinner party than a busy restaurant, which is a good thing when you are settling in for a proper meal.
Jordan Thompson is the chef patron here, and he brings a fair amount of experience to the pass. He started out at 14 as a kitchen porter at Sur La Mer in Southsea, worked his way through kitchens recommended by the Michelin Guide, and spent three years as executive chef at Marco Pierre White's restaurant before returning home to Portsmouth to open this place. That background shows in the cooking, which is polished without being precious.
The menu is compact by design, with no more than five or six options per course, and it changes with the seasons, prepared fresh every day. On a typical evening, you might start with a Smoke and Mirrors Scotch egg made with honey-glazed pork, a British trinity of slaw and mustard mayonnaise at £11.50, or honey-roasted figs with serrano ham, gorgonzola and balsamic at £9.50. The Jammy Dodger, a duck liver parfait with cognac, sablé and plum, is another popular starter at £9.50. For mains, there is a salmon fishcake at £21.95, chicken supreme at £23.00, butternut risotto at £21.00, belly of pork confit at £23.00 and a 30-day aged fillet steak with vintage cheddar dauphinoise at £29.95. To finish, a Cambridge burnt cream at £9.00, sticky toffee pudding at £8.50, vintage cheddar and stilton at £9.00 or an affogato at £7.50.
Thompson's signature touch is smoke, and it runs through the menu in clever ways: smoked breast of duck, fishcakes made with black charcoal breadcrumbs, smoked haddock arancini, a goats cheese sorbet and a guineafowl terrine with fig chutney are all part of the repertoire. There is also a pithivier of turkey and spicy honey-glazed pork belly. The wine list is short, sparkling water is available, and a glass of Pinot Grigio rounds things off. Dietary needs, including gluten-free options, are taken care of.
On Sundays, the à la carte mains make way for a traditional Sunday lunch menu, so the weekend changes depending on when you book. Advance booking is required either way, and tables of more than four carry a £10pp deposit that comes off the final bill but is non-refundable if you cancel within 24 hours. The restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday and for lunch on Sunday, and it sits among the 35 Portsmouth restaurants that picked up a TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Award for 2026. It is a quiet, well-cooked corner of Old Portsmouth that rewards a bit of planning.
