Chichester Inn, Chichesterback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
While I had probably the best pint of the day here it all seemed a bit faux and twee and un pub-like. Felt more like I was in an issue of 'It's Grim Up North London' though I do realise I am a miserable old gnarled bastard - i.e. I do prefer a beermat to put my pint on as opposed to a shard of Vermont Structural slate.
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The Chichester Inn turned out to be the best pub we found in Chichester on a Christmas Eve visit. There is a front bar and a back bar, connected by a corridor to the side. The barmaid was very friendly. Ales were Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, Vibrant Forest Black Forest & Citra & Langham Hip Hop. My Black Forest was my favourite beer of the day. Chichester doesn't appear to have too many decent pubs. But this one was a clear favourite for me.
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I wouldn't give this pub a rating above zero as I didn't get as far as being served. I was refused service for absolutely no reason. I had never set foot in any pub in Chichester before but this place looked promising so I popped in for a pint. While choosing what ale to have, I was told by a staff member that he had been 'instructed by the manager not to serve me'. He refused to say why.
I returned the following lunchtime to try to clear things up and was told I was barred and threatened with the police if I didn't leave.
Rather than immediately writing a review describing this awful experience, I thought it would be fairer to contact the manager via their website to tell him what had happened. He replied that his staff had said that I was 'acting rather strangely' and didn't think I should be served alcohol. This was clearly just an excuse. As the bar staff know very well I had been acting perfectly normally, and there was absolutely nothing to justify this assertion. I had had one small glass of wine an hour earlier.
In nearly forty years of pubgoing I have never been treated like this before. I was left feeling humiliated and upset. The obvious explanation is mistaken identity, but I am utterly baffled as to why the manager should then add insult to injury by refusing to admit their error or apologise when given the opportunity to do so.
Avoid at all costs unless you want to risk being refused service for no reason, threatened with the police when you make an effort to clear things up, and lied about when you complain.
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Not a bad boozer despite the very high pump prices. Usually a good selection including Dark Star, and Burning Sky breweries. Back room has become an established music venue putting on some of the best touring acts around - given a capacity of just over 100 which reflects the perhaps high ticket prices although I'd have said it's well worth it to see and hear great musicians rather tan pay more to travel further afield.
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This two bar Free house at the end of West Street originally dates from 1785. Today it functions as a good town centre pub with a focus on real ale and live music. The high ceilinged front lounge bar is spacious and comfortable with comfy chars around the edge and wooden chairs and tables in the middle. And a log fire gives a distinct smell of wood smoke in winter months. The larger back bar to the rear has additional seating, but doubles as the live music venue on weekends when bands play on the stage area at the back. And then beyond this is a very pleasant outside courtyard garden area which stretches away from the pub some distance, providing several individual seating areas including some heated covered areas with large comfortable settees.
There are 5 Ale pumps on each of the bars and the landlord said that he usually has a minimum of three regional Sussex ales on at any time and increases this to five for the busy periods and at the weekend.
We chose to visit at the first weekend of the month long Cheltenham festival when the pub was holding its own mini beer festival over the weekend to tie in with the main event. For this the left hand section of the front lounge bar was taken up with an additional ten beers available on silage, mainly from smaller regional brewers from around the country. These included brews from Salopian , Blue Monkey, Redemption and Castle Rock amongst others.
A very enjoyable couple of visits were made to the Chi (as it is referred to by locals) , and I would classify this as a should visit pub when looking for a decent pint of Ale when in the City of Chichester.
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In there today at 1.00pm and the front bar was all mine. A few punters in the garden area out back otherwise quiet. No idea why as its by far the best pub this side of town/city. Beer was pricey but 5 ales on plus a cider, had the Harvey Best and it was great. Nice looking pub as well, bags of seating and proper solid tables, bare brick and cosy feel. Staff very chatty. Menu was looking good, I did not eat, and cheap. Note there is a discount for CAMRA people, its in the Sussex Brewer news.
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The front bar is quite cosy, looks like a good traditional pub and there is live music (but admission is not cheap). The drawback is the blanket ban on dogs, very odd in an independent pub.
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Nice pub, unfortunately the last time I visited, the landlord, a chap called Nick was a complete idiot. The beer and food is expensive and although they do live music, they do not pay the bands which is a real shame because they are more talented than to play for nothing.
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