please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A fine location in this Sussex Village. Worth a trip if coming off the Downs Link. Sussex Beer is available, while selection is reasonable but expensive as you would expect.
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A lunchtime visit to the Fountain found a well kept Harveys Best and Caledonian Smoked Porter (ABV 4.3%). Fullers London Pride and Wadworth 6X were also available. The food was excellent and well presented in a friendly atmosphere and considering it was a Sunday lunchtime, well cooked and delivered in good time by courteous staff.
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This is more of a restaurant than a pub.
Lots of atmosphere and a good menu.
The food was generally excellent BUT one meal was inedible as the meat was dangerously raw.
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Wonderful setting and a building of interest to match- much of it given over to food meaning the rest of us having to cram shoulder-to-shoulder in the diminutive bar- but with 33 or so pubs closing a week- of course there are less places thus capacity problems. A choice of three ales on tap, the Sussex we tried was very well kept and flavoursome. The highlight of this pub is that the great man Larry Olivier used to hang out in here and get bladdered when not interpreting the bard- there is a plaque outside to commerate this, only ruined by the fact they had to include the great event of paul 'have a crack at every art form' McCartney who apparently filmed that chronic pop drivel 'simply having a wonderful crassmas time' in here- i'd say forget the Beatles and stick to the Sussex. Food not sampled so jury is out.
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The pub I first over did it in on the cider. Rode back on to Partridge Green on my AP50, had to go back the next day to pick my crash helmet up. Those were the days. It is splendid in the summer, and must be good to have survived. There aren't enough locals to keep it going, so for a pub in the middle of nowhere you can only drive to, they must be doing something right.
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Visited last Thursday evening. Great pint of Directors and Harveys Sussex Best was also good. Easy going atmosphere.
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Nice country pub with a duck pond outside. Three real ales were on - Hepworth Classic Old Ale, Harveys Sussex Best & Hogsback Tea. A fourth pump with Fullers London Pride was off, whilst a cask for gravity-dispensed beer was being readied. The cider was Stowford Press. An open log fire makes the front bar pleasant. There is also a cosy bar at the rear and two further rooms to the left hand side on entering. The barman was pleasant. But he didn't seem too clear on what was actually stocked. Many of the clientele were rather pompous and were there for the food. The menu did look quite tempting. A nice country pub, with a relaxing atmosphere.
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Inside you'll notice a very old pub - but plenty of real ales on, including the Horsham bitter. It can get crowded however and there can be a long wait for food on a sunny day.
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lovely pub, wonderful flagstones, Harveys Best in fine fettle, and the only off note was the idiot of a middle aged chinless wonder sitting at the end of the bar who had an opinion on everything including our private conversations.
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The perfect antidote to a hard-days-slog at the "BF" in ashington where I used to work (and a truely diabolical pub, by the way), the Fountain is a haven, with good food, good service and fantastic bevvies. There's never been a queue when I've been there, but I was usually working weekends at the BF where there was most certainly a queue-out-the-door of knob-jockeys on a Sunday and even prior to opening! (Get a life you R-tards). The Fountain remains my fave pub in W Sussex. If there's a queue there then it is well deserved. Either get in line and STFU, or go to the kebab shop in Ashington, which is in my opinon, bliss!
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This has the potential to be superb, however the service is diabolical. You are lucky to get served for a drink before you die of dehydration, don't even chance waiting for food. This used to be THE best pub in the area, god knows what has gone wrong? Simple solution yet for the last 3 years nothing has changed.
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Lovely building and garden, the beer is good, usually Harvey's, London Pride and HSB and excellent food too. Children under 10 or 14 (can't remember which) are not allowed in the pub itself but are allowed in the garden. They also have a skittles alley in the small barn out front.
They still have major problems with service during even slightly busy times though, which does spoil an otherwise very good pub.
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Ooh, I see jonrodge had the same problem last summer. Not just me then!
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Gorgeous building. Beautiful surroundings. Shame about the pub itself. In the winter the small bar is simply heavenly - inglenook fireplace with a fire roaring away, cosy room. Great for around Christmas time. In the summer there are literally loads of nice little tables and chairs to sit at outside and gaze at the beautiful building with roses around the door. I sat there in the summer on a lovely bit of decking which reached right over the duck pond as I looked at a great view. Quintessentially English pub. However, However, you have to get there about 9am if you fancy a seat indoors on a Sunday lunchtime as there are about four tables in that bar or something ridiculous like that. And in the summer whilst sitting on the decking I amused myself by counting the number of frustrated people waiting for their food. The couple next to me had waited for over an hour for their two ploughmans and when it came it was wrong. I think they ate it out of relief and desperation more than anything else. Agree with the other reviewer - sometimes the queue is out the door. I was there on a Sunday in the summer at lunchtime. Common sense would tell you you were going to be busy. All we wanted was a pint and a bowl of chips. Firstly they don't sell chips on their own (never heard anything of the like); secondly the queue for food never went down desipte the person at the front standing there for about twenty minutes; thirdly everyone was frustrated because the entrance in and out to the toilets is where people have to queue for food and everyone is always in the way of everyone else; fourthly on one of the busiest days of the year there were only two young guys at the bar and they were going flat out. The landlord was nowhere to be seen (probably sitting upstairs watching telly); fifthly there must have been only one person cooking because food was taking on average an hour to come out and sixthly no-one gave a toss - the two barmen just shrugged their shoulders when the person in front of me asked why there weren't more people serving or taking food orders or just doing something. As you sit outside you can hear the murmurs and mutterings of people that have paid (quite a lot) for their Sunday lunch and are wondering if they are going to get it before Monday breakfast. When the food arrives it's good but by then the experience is completely soured. Great pub building, great location but lets itself down in such an easily avoidable way.
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Good pub in a great location, only real letdown for me was the wait just to order a pint, particulary in summer see yourself waiting for a good twenty-thirty mins! (queing outside of the pub sometimes), everyone was buying doubles and triples in a hope of never returning to the bar again!. Not enough staff for the small bar in a large pub, on a recent visit I only had to wait 5 mins for a pint of Harveys so I picked a lucky day, I guess avoid weekends, evenings and holidays and you'll get good service. Service aside great ale selection, well kepted.
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Very nice position with good food (even the kids ate it all !)
Even better in the summer !
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Snottiest landlord I've ever met and the menu while tasty rapidly becomes monotonous. The worst pint of Harvey's I've ever been served with (and they refused to change) and ridiculously expensive non-alcoholic beer. Nice setting.
Mark - 25 Oct 2004 17:26 |
A 16th century pub in a peaceful rural setting just south of Partridge Green. Two small bar areas are complimented by dedicated dining areas plus pretty gardens to either side where you can enjoy meals from an interesting and varied menu (plus daily specials). Three or four real ales are always in evidence, including the excellent Harvey's Best. A small duck pond provides an interesting distraction, and there's a kitchen garden at the back next to a large car park. In the winter, open fireplaces in each of the bars will warm you through, while the pub's claim to fame is that Paul McCartney filmed part of a video in the front bar. As with all good pubs it's very popular and fills up quickly, even so, you owe yourself a trip here! (Harveys Best, Adnams, London Pride, plus guest beers).
Robin - 24 Jul 2004 17:28 |
