BITE user comments - crossman
Comments by crossman
Just visited and stayed overnight. Cracking pub, superb in every way as well as being endearingly quirky. Great welcome, extremely friendly 'nothing is too much trouble' landlord and staff, well cooked pub nosh in vast portions plus very good value. Beers well-kept; great log-fire, good atmosphere and a breakfast whose proportions defeated me! Can't really think of anything to criticise negatively. Go now while it lasts, as you can eat and stay there, but it is still a proper pub.
Top marks
18 Feb 2009 15:06
Yes it's gay (so what? This is Brighton) and speaking as a militant heterosexual, this is one of the friendliest and most accommodating pubs in the area. A great welcome, good beer and superb service. As a straight man I have never felt uncomfortable in here.
Try it!
31 Dec 2008 16:41
The Devils Dyke Hotel, Brighton
Take a pub in an astonishing location with one of the best views in Sussex (West over Fulking Hill) and screw it up completely! Quite an achievement, but whoever owns/runs/manages this debacle of a boozer has managed this feat!
Slow service would be an understatement. We went in there prior to undertaking a National Trust guided walk. Said walk was due to commence at 2.00 p.m. We entered the establishment at 1.00 p.m. and ordered the culinarily complex dish of 'two bowls of chips.' - We barely got out in time for the walk! As for obtaining drinks - that so-called "service" proceeds at glacial speed.
This place is of use only if you wish to shelter from the howling winds which frequent the Dyke. As a pub, it is a travesty, which is such a pity given its stupendous location - Shame on the management!
26 Dec 2008 22:01
The Amsterdam, Shoreham By Sea
Not good.
Hugely overpriced and 'not nice' food. I had "potato skins" at circa �6.50.
Turned out to be the skin from about one potato, accompanied by disgustingly overcooked 'cheese' and a revolting and insubstantial
so-called "dip." When I had the temerity to complain, I was made to feel as if I had crawled out from the primordial soup that morning! Venture in here at your peril.
Horrible.
23 Dec 2008 19:23
My drinking den of choice when in Lewes. The GK hiatus has dragged down its score I think. A great boozer, wherein conversation is rife, quirkiness rejoices, and the answering of a mobile 'phone within the premises is punished severely! Also no loud 'music', very few children and hearty food (Michelin star unlikely, but great portions and value!)
Now Harvey's is back it should begin to return to its iconic status of old.
21 Dec 2008 18:40
Proper pub. Friendly pub. Great pub - definitely worthy of the appelation "Pub!" Bar staff faultless and cheerful, beers well kept. It has that comfortable, almost (but not) shabby feel that a genuine pub should have, not formulaic, not contrived, just (at risk of repetition) a "Pub."
Apparently it is the home boozer of the Brighton Morris Men, who, I am reliably informed, know a great deal about good beer!
Thoroughly recommended
21 Dec 2008 18:03
Used to be a 'not bad' place to drink and it has to be said that the staff are uniformly friendly and efficient. However - it now seems to habituated by those whose I.Q. only marginally exceeds their shoe size! This pub used to have available, most of the daily papers - this seems no longer to be the case, which I can only attribute to the present clientele's inability to read.
It is an hotel also, but I shudder to think what you would make of it as a guest, should you manifest yourself in the bar when the protosimians are in!
Avoid (unless you wish to be sworn at because you wear a hat!!!)
14 Dec 2008 20:35
A ghastly barn of a place - it barely qualifies for the description, "pub."
Huge and loud screens showing the usual 'Footie' et-al. Bar staff seemingly disinterested (not surprisingly mayhap!) as if, even acknowledging your presence is an effort, let alone serving you, and It seems to be populated by those that you go on holiday to avoid!
I would suggest that YOU avoid
13 Dec 2008 21:06
My local pub, so I'm probably biased, but having tried the others in the area, this is by far the best. Good atmosphere, very friendly bar-staff plus a chef in the kitchen who can work wonders, and certainly does care about food (The food is so fresh that it is not unusual to see unplucked pheasant, or freshly caught fish brought in, and put on the menu forthwith), plus the best belly pork I have ever tasted. The clientele is certainly civilised, and very eclectic (the regulars include a roofer, an opera singer, a carpenter, a film director, a ski instructor, a nurse, a magician, and more than one artist! The main occupation within the pub however, is conversation.
Good food, good beer, good company - say no more!
10 Dec 2008 18:14
The Stag Inn, Petworth
Visited again recently, just to see how it was going. Pleased to report that it is still at the top of its game. It is still a genuine 'pub' thank God, with all beers and ciders well kept, and Hamish the landlord, is able to combine effortless affability, with equally effortless efficiency, and his staff follow suit. The barmaid/waitress was so superbly friendly and capable, that the leaving of a large tip was a necessity, rather than a responsibility.
As ever, the nosh was better than 'pub', well cooked and in even more vast proportions than I recall from my last visit (we dined in the beautiful garden as the sun went down).
We stayed overnight again, and revelled once more in the quirkiness of the ancient architecture - (apropos of which, there is a wonderful entry in the Guest Book as follows - "Thank God for drunken English builders!")
O.K. the guest bathroom is an experience, and the gentlemen's toilets are a blast from the past, but this is why you want to go there!
If you want bland, clinical "Chain-pub" - then I wish you joy. But if you want a unique experience in a real pub (plus a breakfast that has to be seen to be believed) then seek out "The Stag" now!!
Still nothing to criticise negatively, hence - top marks.
6 Aug 2009 18:30