please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Greene King pub situated next to the Lavender Line, with its old preserved trains. Whilst some of the Greene King standards were on - Greene King IPA, Morland Old Golden Hen & Hardy and Hansons Olde Trip, there were also some guests - Isfield Imperial, Black Cat Hopsmack & Dark Star American Pale Ale. They also had 2 ciders - Westons Old Rosie & Seacider Medium. The interior is primarily set across 2 rooms. Although there is a third, smaller room next to the toilets, with a bar billiards table. To the side of the pub is a garden with a children's play area. Another good pub.
|
Lovely pub with a great selection of ales. Black Cat Original and Dr Rudi's summer ale were both very good. Food was also very good. well worth the visit.
|
I decided to visit this pub on the return journey from Eastbourne, I must admit that the tie to Greene King nearly put me off but the beer menu had three of theirs plus three local ales, namely Hylder Blond from Dark Star, a 1648 beer and the local Isfield Breweries Straw Blond, the Isfield ale beat the Hylder by a small margin. The pub is next to the Lavender Line ( steam railway) . It has a pleasant garden with apparatus for children, care is needed on entering the car park as children are running around enjoying themselves. The kitchen doesn't open on Sunday/Monday. An exceptionally pleasant interior and a warm welcome make this a truly wonderful pub.
|
Treated family to the french night .H and B excelled themselves,a extravagance perhaps but a splendid meal.
|
Fleeting visit before walking to the Anchor to meet friends. Wish we'd stayed here! Excellent beer, peaceful attractive garden. Attentive professional service from the barstaff. Food looked good - will return to sample it.
|
goes from strength to strength .a benchmark for how beer should be
|
yeah the haggis is an accquired taste
|
I tried the (enormous) scotch egg with haggis meat - will always go for the homemade bar snacks in a pub though this was only OK. The pub, however, is a quirky little gem with traditional standards, excellent Hophead from a sensible range, and the Euros on TV at quiet volume. 9 out of 10.
|
try the scotch eggs
|
Bit of a discovery. Good atmosphere, friendly staff. Good outside graden and very relaxed atmosphere. Very good range of ales available, including 'Over the Moon' and Hophead from Dark Star. Very well kept. Greene King pub, but able to keep local brews as well. Enlightened policy!
All this and steam trains on their doorstep! What more could you want?
Well, perhaps slightly better cooked food. The menu is very interesting and varied, but has obviously been drawn up by someone different than whoever runs the kitchen. Just a bit mundane in the preparation and presentation dept; but reasonably priced.
A great pub that just needs to up its game a little in the catering .
|
Bar billiards: beware if you ever have to play HAB, he's super-human. Had to play him just after qualifying for a tournament for the top 16 performers on the circuit and my score was 10, HAB scoring 19,000 !
But on to the pub - very roomy, nicely furnished, and welcoming. The beer is good and the food excellent too. And you sense that they put a lot of effort in to make your visit a pleasurable one.
|
new policy of local brewers being added to guest list has made the fish even more a haven of quality.The campaign for a couple of comfy chairs goes on.
|
A proper local pub...beautifully kept range of beers...lovely garden and friendly staff. If you want a beer in a proper pub give it a try.
|
.Consistently good beer ; indeed any brewer should be grateful for an outlet that presents their product so well.
|
really nice pub. beer great, didn't eat there, got a bar billiards team and darts team, id like to go back
|
This is a great lunching pub - very well run indeed. Friendly staff, really good food and reasonable prices. We usually visit at lunchtimes; did go once in the evening and it was a different atmosphere; much quieter. The background music stays in the background, and is selected to suit the customers, rather than the bar staff.
|
We stop off at the Laughing Fish on our way down to Glyndebourne in the summer and are always made welcome. The moules marinieres were back on the regular menu and as good as ever. I prefer ale to bitter and enjoyed the St Edmunds. It was good to see the display of woodcuts had been selling well since our previous visit (when I bought one) and that some of the designs had been translated into placemats. For our money, it has the most authentic atmosphere of the pubs selling food we have tried in the locality.
|
I went to this pub last night and can honestly say i was really looking forward to visiting this but as soon as i saw it was a GK pub i knew it was going to be rubbish.
The beer selection was nothing more than average for a GBG listed pub, there wasnt a sole in there eating and the young chief was stood by the entrance and couldnt even say hello, the young barmaid couldnt muster a hello or thank you when serving and was more interested telling the locals about her weekend.
There was also a cold feeling to this pub even tho the fire was on.
Wont be rushing back for a while as the Cock Inn is much much better than this pub.
|
I've known this pub for many years, and as far as the refurbishments go I'd say they've been well done on the whole and probably needed to happen. I've certainly seen much worse so just thank your lucky stars. The pub is well run and the beer is kept well, I've just has a pint of Brains Rev James here, and since this is Greene King owned, thank god they do allow guest ales (unlike Harveys! please note ) because the GK own brand is very poor. The only thing that was poor otherwise unfortunately was the food - Lamb curry - I don't think that had been a lamb for some years and my wife left all her meat/gristle. Shame.
|
I've just left the pub and while I can very much understand the sentiments apropos recently refurbished favourites, all I can say is that it must have been amazing before.
Can you have a pub that offers an equal appeal to locals and visitors alike? Can you do good food without delusions of grandeur? Can you welcome kids and animals without them becoming an irritant for those like myself with neither? Can you serve an admittedly limited beer range but rely on quality alone? Can you introduce me to a pub game that I've never heard of before?
Not many can tick all the boxes but I've been more impressed with the Fish than any other pub new to me for a good year or two.
|
I have visited this pub many times over the years. I would agree with orther comments that the pub has lost something from the refurbishments but that is nothing unusual these days and the I have seen much worse done to other pubs. It is defintely still a real pub that is run by one of the most professional landlords I have seen for several years. The beer is Greene King which is a disappointment, but there is usually something there that is worth drinking and the beers are well kept. I know many many people who would love to replace their own local with one like this and would recommend it.
|
And why not a steak.?
Still a great pub,a good landlord and landlady.
It seems that the fact that there is so much comment on this pub just goes to show how well thought of it is.
There was just as much local comment when it lost its Harveys and the pub survived that. To hell with atmosphere , get our Harveys back.
|
This place used to be superb; I used to travel from London to this pub regularly because of the excellent food and fabulous atmosphere.
My move to the area coincided with the refurbishment, which as others have said, has left the place somewhat characterless (why the use of orange paint on the walls?).
The food remains good; though why on my latest visit the chips were dire (they seemed like frozen chips reheated - why can't the LF make soem nice home made chips?)and they have a selection of well kept real ales (including a non Greene King.)
|
I didn't ever say I wasn't. I wouldn't have used my initials as a username if I wanted to remain anonymous. What I said merely needed to be said.
|
HAB. i suspect strongly that you are the landlords son! anyway back to the pub, i must agree that the works to the pub could have been done better and do lack style, but to be fair its still a nice pub and serves a reasonable pint. there are worse pubs in the area such as the piltdown man.
|
What people must realise, and this is certainly relevant since the smoking ban, is that food trade is where the money is at. The Laughing Fish is run primarily as a PUB and its chief aims are providing quality beer as best as they can. The tie to GK obviously restricts the range but there is nothing that can be done about that, so all that can be done is to keep the beers in tip top condition 24/7, which believe you me, is done and well! However, in order to subsidise this quality beer, profit must be made, and after all, it is a business, and that profit comes from food. That is why the recent refurbishment was a necessity. It has opened up a huge amount of space for diners, and while, yes, a fireplace has been lost, it will be for the best for not only the pub, but its customers in the long term. I emphasise however, the Laughing Fish is a PUB, is run as a PUB, and will always be a PUB.
|
Ignore the luddites! Its still a great pub with one of the best landlords in Sussex!
|
still a proper pub.The refurb will settle in.Curiously the place seems warmer than before.In the gents of course it will not be woodlice and ivy;more tarantulas and strangler figs.Above all the beer is consistently first class.I would rather have a good pint of gk than a duff harveys,and there are too many of them.
|
This is one of the best pubs in Sussex. It has always catered for country folk, fishermen, dogs, families. It has good facilities for children and the landlord and landlady go out of their way to be friendly.
It was a great shame when the Harveys disappeared a few years ago, but the general ambience of the place is enough to bring me back regularly.
However, I agree with the previous comments - the alterations have detracted from the atmosphere, which is a shame. Hopefully it wont affect the business and hopefully the locals will continue to make this a superb village pub.
|
news reached me today that i have upset the landlord of this pub with a previous comment! well landlord my name is carl and i am the man who has said your refurb is poor,i am not a local man but have a friend who i come to visit in isfield and have always thought your pub to be very good.
you should be able to take some critism, rather than put me down in your pub newsletter.
i will visit again and i will introduce myself and you can put a face to the man who has upset you.
but i stand by what i said that your refurb is half arsed and spoilt the general cosiness of the place.
you can make fun of my spelling and grammer, but being poor in general english does not mean i am not entitled to an opinion.
try talking to your locals many of whom i know very well, if they are honest i think you will find many agree with me, that is why locals now call the pub the isfield harvester.
|
Agree about the refurbishment - horrible. At least there was a non-Greene King beer to try. St. Austell Tribute - excellent. You can get to the pub easily by bus, the 29 runs from Brighton and Lewes and from Tunbridge Wells and Uckfield. Beware, the timetable will change in September and it will only run hourly through Isfield village. Unfortunately there are no late evening buses.
|
This pub has been ruined by a half arsed refurb.
more like a school canteen than a pub, such a shame lost all its character.
anonymous - 19 Mar 2007 13:53 |
Stopped for a snack on the way down to Seaford and ended up sharing excellent local asparagus (grown 1/2 a mile away) with home-made hollandaise sauce and mussels in the delightful garden full of flowers and birds. Good choice of beers: enjoyed my first taste of Greene King's 'Ale Fresco' this summer. Nice play area for children with dragon slide. Lots of locals in the bar (bemused apparently by my praise for the hollandaise) and definitely a pub which happens to sell albeit excellent food. Perfect lunch-spot for those driving down from London to Glyndebourne and avoids the A27.
|
good pub with wide range of beers and exellent food.
made all the better by its picturesque location.
|
very good food and beer. Beer is very well kept. lots of parking.landlord very helpfull. We turend up as East Sussex Car Club for a evening out, and were meet with great enthuseasaem.We had not asked or informend that we would be arriving. Sorry about the spelling but a very good night out.
|
a proper pub
john sullivan - 2 May 2004 18:29 |
Good value English pub grub, small non-smoking side room for eating if required. Our kids (13 & 8) made very welcome on saturday evening, we had booked the side room. nice garden for summer, including play area. Traditional pub games,old speckled hen was magnifishent(sorry couldn't resist the pun). In all a good traditional English Pub.
|
