please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Great little pub. Came down to Brighton to enjoy the sun with my girlfriend. Fancied a pint and a bite to eat. Very nice pint of Brains Le Peleton. The pulled pork sandwich I had was pukka. Nice small courtyard out the back. Decent music playing. Really can't speak highly enough of this pub.
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Not overly impressed with this new pubs outlook. Looks like another baron evening star clone. Not my pint of beer
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The Spotted Dog will reopen this weekend (March 23) as the Cask and Kitchen, run by London craft beer entrepreneur Martin Hayes on a completely free-of-tie lease.
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Brilliant Welsh beer festival on at the Hop Poles until 6th March. Yesterdays beers came from Waen Brewery, Brecon Brewery, Neath Brewery, Celtic Experience and 2 from Otley Brewery including Oxymoron!. Understand they have other breweries represented in the cellar as well. Truly a great effort for a pub in Brighton. Unfortunately, I understand the current owners are letting the pub go back to Greene King. . Hopefully, someone will see how well its working with the current guest beer policy and continue the good work. Or else it will be back to IPA & Abbot. If there is anyone still going in there to drink them
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Great pub- picks its own music- upbeat but not too young- real ales - well kept and half a dozen of them- does food but didn't try it- really good little joint- what britain could be, but it generally isn't...individual....good score from alezilla....
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Thankfully gone back to its proper name of The Spotted Dog. Having been released from its Grren King tie, now offers a wide range of beers mainly from local brewers such as Kissingate. Food looked good too.
foamy - 30 Dec 2011 18:28 |
Found another pub in Brighton that is passionate about beer (there are not many). The Spotted Dog have a great range of Dark Star and Harveys plus some interesting lagers - no Carling or Fosters here.
Bar staff were very knowledgeble about the beer. I will be there again soon.
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Now a very serious rival to the Evening Star...'nuff said!
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The Spotted Dog as it is now known is a very nice airy modern decored pub with a nice outside patio area with a roof to allow you to enjoy it no matter what the weather. Service is good, prices a little steep but roughly on a par with other pubs in the immediate area. The pints of Brooklyn Lager were delicious and went down a treat. Nice laid back atmosphere to enjoy it in too.
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Now re-opened under its proper name, the Spotted Dog, decor different, all change on the beer/lager front (Dark Star, Harveys) lots of new choices on everything.
Still the same good food. Well done to everyone concerned.
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Will be back once the scaffolding is done.
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Good news everyone - see below direct from The Morning Advertiser...
Brighton pub freed from Greene King beer tie
By Ewan Turney
25/08/2011 10:12
Greene King has released the beer tie at a famous Brighton pub in order to keep two well known and successful licensees at the venue.
The Hop Poles: will be renamed the Spotted Dog and get a new range of handpumps
Tony Leonard and Dominic McCartan had been in the process of selling the lease of the Hop Poles but were made a free-of-tie offer by Greene King when the deal fell through.
The pub � to be renamed the Spotted Dog � will now only have to stock one Greene King beer. Rent re-mains the same, but there will be an extra payment of a set percentage of turnover, which the licensees asked to keep confidential.
�It came as a bit of a surprise to us � it is something we put to them a while ago,� said Leonard. �In the end, Greene King said they did not want to lose us as operators.
�Under the tie I felt we had reached a dead-end at the pub. We had reached a turnover of �1m but trade had dipped since, because the market and the area had changed. We had the same drinks as everyone else who were doing happy hours and while we were not necessarily losing people through the door, we were losing spend as people went elsewhere for cheap drinks first.�
�It is so frustrating knowing what you want to do but not being able to achieve it.�
Leonard is now planning to introduce a range of eight handpulls, mostly from the local area, and is working on a special Gooseberry IPA with Dark Star Brewery.
Notably, Greene King has also released the tie at two Craft Beer Company sites in London.
Simon Longbottom, managing director of Greene King Pub Partners, said: �We are happy to consider innovative agreements where appropriate that recognise the talent of highly-rated licensees and help them to revitalise their pubs.
�The focus for Greene King is to get the right deal for the right pub at the right time and that�s what we believe we have achieved at the Hop Poles, where the licensees will be getting greater flexibility in return for a percentage of their net turnover.
�We are happy that the pub will continue to offer its customers our quality beer and look forward to seeing the business thrive as a result of this new agreement.�
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Soon to be renames the Spotted Dog (the original name apparently) with the promise of a better beer selection. Hopefully similar to the Snowdrop in Lewes which is owned by the same people. Sounds promising
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Good pub food with veggie options, if not particularly cheap. Lots of atmosphere, generally attentive bar staff, and I'd drink here more if it weren't unfortunately a Greene King tied pub.
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Usually make the effort to call in when in town so supped here, with friends, on Saturday evening amongst the zombies ghouls and brides of frankenstein/dracula that make up the halloween weekend clientele of any Brighton City Centre pub.
Barman more or less chased some idlers from the corner table for four of us to get a seat when it looked we might turn on our toes - well done that man!
The Proper Job was in fine form, as was the St Edmunds of which I has a couple. Excellent 80's sounds being played, until the shift change when it all went a bit too contemprary for my musical tastes. The food looked good but we had lunched at Food for Friends so didn't partake.
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Lovely pub inside, the roast dinner was lovely. Staff were nice, great music was playing. The crowd there seemed a little pretentious, other than that a nice pub.
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I am probably in a minority in not thinking this pub is brilliant. Used to visit often 3 or 4 years ago, due to working in the same street, but have grown tired of the expensive prices, poor service and uncomfotable seating. Also the real ales are usually off or taste poor. Recent visits have done little to change my view. Much prefer The Victory, Bath Arms or Fiddlers Elbow.
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Good pub with a selection of premium lagers and usually good food apart from our last visit, but that was probably an off day. Nice atmosphere and interesting decor.
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What can I say apart from if I lived in Brighton this would be pretty much the only place I would drink and eat out.
The food is brilliant, good portions and good quality. The menu is entertaining as a little story is told about how each dish may make you feel or what you might dream of after having scoffed the lot.
The crowd is always mixed, as it Brighton. The quirkiness comes from the extremes, some old school posh jobs come to be part of the cool kids circle where as the cool kids with the hole punched ears and the black protruding nose bungs just read the paper with a pint of ale.
A weird mix of everything always brings me back like a twanged elastic band to this place. I hope it never changes.
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Wjodathoughtit on Middle Street? What a find! Is this place Brighton's best kept secret?
Excellent food from a huge eclectic and ever changing menu. Good well kept guest ale with no Greene King beer in sight. Decent wine. Very excellent staff who treated us like we were old friends coming back home when it was our first visit. For a city centre pub prices are ok. Rammed, but, and a big but, six of us got a table at 19:30 after a short wait, so there seems to be a steady turnover of customers.
Best pub I've found in that part of town. I was told it was charming and it charmed me. Only limitations were limited range of ale (two only) and not everything on menu was actually available. A very creditable 8 out of 10 and, as Arnie said "I'll be back"
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Still owned by Greene King, but now sells other ales from around the country "because Green King is so cheap in Wetherspoons", this puts it up from a 7 to a 9 out of 10!
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Quirky pub. Excelent food, friendly service and the beer's pretty good too
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Still offering excellent food at reasonable prices. The staff are great, and the rear outdoor area is welcoming and ideal for smokers with heaters and a retractable roof. The ale selection is always disappointing (I think Abbots and Green King IPA are the only options), and beer prices do seem a bit on the steep side, however this place remains the best option in this part of town, especially if you are looking for a few daytime drinks and some food.
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The beer is not cheap in here but comparitive with other pubs in this part of Brighton.
Bit like a very smart student union bar at times but that is not without its charm.
Sit, have an Abbots Ale and ponder the intriguing looking building opposite it that has been up for sale for the last 2 years.
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The best pub food in Brighton (that I've experienced), with an original, ever changing menu. Shame it's Green King though.
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This pub had passed me by until now. Nice discovery. Staff were extremely pleasant. Will definately be returning.
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Still a good pub well run.
Decent atmosphere, nice hub-cap creation on the ceiling and a decent range of beers.
Undergraduates still seem to be (coughs) "on reading week."
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Friendly staff, good food with a prompt service....especially for a Saturday lunchtime.
Usual pub drinks, averagely priced.
Didn't haven't a problem with the clientale unlike fellow poster have suggested.
I will properly make a return visit next time I'm in the area.
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Go here for the food, which is good value and there is a lot of choice. Standards have slipped, however the dishes are still a cut above average pub fare. Beware- the pub is usually very busy so it can be a battle for a table. The interior is a bit quirky (in a good way) and there is always a nice atmosphere to the place. There is a small courtyard to the rear.
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I suppose in saying "student" I did not necessarily mean somebody in full-time education.
People talking loudly about their gap years for example. People with jazz beards. And people who say their parents are "just like so bourgeois reactionary."
But there has to be somewhere for these people to go.
Not knocking the Hop Poles though. I quite like the Hop Poles.
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The term 'student' can be used here. Not necessarily meaning someone in education, but meaning that largest of the Brightonian tribes, often called Crispin or Huw, spending their parents' money on daft haircuts, rare grooves and Marlborough Lights. You'll find them here talking VERY LOUDLY about the night they're going to put on at some grim club and the perils of globalisation (while swigging their multi-national owned global brands like Stella and Guinness.) They're easily impressed by the flowery language on the menus, and don't notice how ordinary the food is. Greene King's dull ales are available if, like me, you end up going there with a gorgeous girl who thinks it's great.
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Not sure how old the other people leaving the comments are, but the people you think are students are actually the general Brighton Population ;) The students don't have the money to hit this pub, it's actually more of the trendy set that visits.
Regardless of that it's a good friendly pub, food was better than average lat time I ate there and they sell Tuaca, so double thumbs up from me.
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A plethora of students with unsightly, poorly managed and possibly even infested facial hair in here on my last visit.
But never mind.
Decent enough to visit.
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Great pub atmosphere, although very studenty right now. Nicer when its summer and you can sit outside. The food has really taken a dive. It used to be excellent, but their menu is overelaborate with too many dishes. They seem to focus so much on writing pages of comic decription about each dish, that when they bring your meal, it's usually missing an ingredient!
anonymous - 9 Oct 2006 14:45 |
Yeah a definite student atmosphere. Well-stocked bar with a good range of beers on tap.
The mate who I was with felt comfortable enough to look through the wine list.
Undergraduates do provoke a sense of irony though don't they?
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Seemed ok by me on a visit. Nice studenty atmosphere. Nothing outstanding, though selling sweets (like the penny sweet variety) was an odd touch...
Bit small, worth a pop by.
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Not sure why this place is so popular. In my youth it was the spotted dog, one of Brightons first gay pubs so we wouldn't be seen dead in there. It's a studenty type place now. When i decided to give it a try, it took several weeks of evening visits before I felt it was quiet enough to get a feel for the place. Bit small and very ordinary, good food, apparently.
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Worth a bash for the inventive and reasonably-priced food.
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Love this place. Admittedly a tad small, but is great in the summer sitting outside eating their smashing food and drnking from a selection of good beers.
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This is one of the best pubs for food in Brighton, but I would have to agree about the staff. At a glance they seen to be your average layed back Brightopians, but it doesn't take them too long to make you feel like an out-sider, with a sort of miss-placed superiority, I mean there only serving you drinks for christ's sake, not 24 carrot diamonds!!
But full respect to the kitchen.
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Fantastic food. vegetarians heaven. bar staff a bit on the unfriendly side. if your not part of their click they let you know. and dont take up a table for 4 or more if you are dining alone (even if it is the only table free at the time) because before you have had time to finish your drink or digest your food they willl as you to move. rather off putting and made me feeel uncomfortable even though i was waiting for friends later. we drank else where!!!! but cant fault the food just the service
Jane - 18 Sep 2004 16:04 |
This is a nice small pub, with a resonable beer garden at the back. Friday/Saturday nights can be crowded, but have personally not seen any agro. The bar staff are helpful, and the beer is crisp. Havent tried the food, but it gets good reviews from my friends. Recommended.
Dave G - 9 Sep 2004 16:20 |
