please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Surprisingly well kept Dark Star APA and great music make this place still one of the best seafront bars.
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When I am grey and old (well older and when what remains of my hair gives up the ghost at least), I shall look back on the afternoon I spent in this pub sitting by the open window upstairs in this pub, overlooking a fine late summer afternoon on Brighton beach with a gentle sea breeze cooling me, as I enjoyed a couple of nice cold lagers chatting with my mate and listening to an excellent soundtrack of reggae and ska playing at a nicely understated volume in the background, and remember it as one of the most pleasant experiences I have ever had in any pub anywhere at any time. Simply bloody marvellous. Should you not have the good fortune to catch it on such a day, the sea view, lovely dark wood decor and good drinks with pleasant service should mean that you find yourself in a very good pub anyway. Catch it on a good day, and you may achieve pub nirvana!
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Great location, lovely interior. Laid back atmosphere, nice staff. Awful toilets and far too expensive.
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Now serving real ale (Arundel Sussex Gold) and quality cider, the only bar on the beach to do so I think. Plastic glasses aside, a great place to spend a lazy summer's afternoon.
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Ghastly pub full of wannabies and teachers, not a decent drink to be had there, deafeningly loud music, overcrowded, overpriced. Not the place to go for a drink on a wet July evening beach or no beach
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Rip off sums it up one for the wannabe trendies from London.
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Open late, by the beach, very expensive, gets far too crowded. On the whole a funny old place really only worth a look on a sunny weekend
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Turning up at Brighton�s beach side is a bit like going on a date expecting to be greeted by Lucy Pinder�s massive charms, but instead finding Grandma Wilted Walnut Face sitting at your table with her teeth and catheter bag in the fish course. OK, my unresearched expectations were cack, but surely a beach should have this little thing called sand. Not four hundred million pebbles caked in bird shit and smelling distinctly of cat�s piss.
Besides buggering castle building plans, the winding rock pit of a seafront also scuppers even the hardest attempts by the area�s bars/pubs/local council to create a genuinely picturesque vibe as really there isn�t much you can do with deep grey stone and nine months of rain. This is a shame as the Fortune, like quite a few watering holes in the area, has plenty potential beachside. The interior is a nice, well kept dark wooden affair that just about keeps the right side of �tacky� in its attempt to create an oldie ship kind of feel. Yes, I know this is a Disney interpretation of 19th century sea travel (oh, and its on land), but it�s pleasantly done, with enough authentic wall adornments and winding up/down sections upstairs to give a smack of character to the place. There is also a nice selection of window seats to help ventilate the upper tier and allow the soothing sound of the waves to trickle in during the night time. Downstairs is composed simply of a standard long bar that opens out onto a semi-enclosed beer garden � less satisfying (concrete prevails) and more cheap feeling (uncomfortable chairs and tables) than the rest of the pub, but it still does the job.
There are though other rougher edges: the booze selection is standard, not particularly cheap and then there is the bar staff. Not awful or particularly rude, but made up of students who work at a canter, presumably because the last edition of Countdown was a bit strenuous.
However, what really depreciates the whole bar is that turn away towards the sea and you get pebbles. During the summer � when the sun hits the sea � or during the night this can be ignored to a fair extent, but for me at least it rather brings down the atmosphere even during these optimum times.
Maybe I`m a fussy sod, but coupled with the other flaws this does bring the FOW down to a good but not brilliant 7/10.
anonymous - 21 Nov 2006 10:50 |
Lovely and warm in the winter, and in the summer you can sit on the beach with all the other patrons and throw pebbles at the plastic glasses. Plus, plus, plus, that window seat.
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I went to this pub on a Friday night and I really enjoyed it. I sat outside looking onto the beach and the staff were full of life and seemed friendly. Good music and I would recommend.
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Oh dear. I'm all for tourist pub's on the beach, but this place needs an attitude adjustment. The rude black girl behind the bar needs to be sacked. I never been so shocked by a staff members disgraceful attidude in my life.
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Great for watching the beachlife if you can get a window seat and a handy spot to retreat from a sudden shower. It's just a shame that the selection of drinks is woeful. A disappointing use of a potentially amazing location.
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Not as wonderful as during it's heyday a few years ago. Far too xxxx for my tastes.
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I don't think this pub is as good as it was. It's become a typical seafront bar, with obligatory plastic glasses and indifferent lager. I went there on a summer afternoon and the upstairs bar (with its fabulous sea view) was closed, which was hugely disappointing. An interesting history behind it, but an uncertain future in front of it????
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It's a bit attitude-al but then it's on the seafront between loads of other B-right-on bars and clubs. It can get away with it.
You take your beer out on to the beach. Go there for that.
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Its one of those places, recently attacked by castlemain on the beach can't do much better. I have not been down there for a while but if you want a laugh and a different view of life and the sea then this is the place for you. ok service might be bad (staff usally hungover)but get to know them they are a good bunch and can always point you to something decent to go to. beer beach sun mmmmmmmm
david - 10 Jun 2004 13:17 |
Found the bar staff particularly rude and insulting. This may be due to an over indulgence of attitude. Will not be returning there, which is a shame as the location is good.
Christine - 8 May 2004 11:26 |
The candles-in-Tia-Maria-bottles add to the atmosphere
Cornelius - 24 Jan 2004 19:46 |
Best pub in Brighton for a quiet drink. Well - best in summer.
Rob - 11 Nov 2003 16:15 |
A fantastic pub, go in the pub up the stairs and get the big window bay seat to "people watch" and watchthe world go by. Looks like an old ship inside with the wood. Toilets are clean but bit of a trek, lots of stairs!!! Give it a go, i live in Cumbria and go everytime im in Brighton just for the view.
TheBoozer - 5 Nov 2003 10:19 |
Good pub, probably more clubby in the evening - on beach.
justvisiting - 17 Oct 2003 13:23 |
