Pubs in Lewes, East Sussex*

The place to go for a lazy afternoon, pub quiz or last call

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• lewes has no night life but the lamb and the elephant and castle are great
• The Pelham Arms is friendliest pub in East Sussex, also one of the best places to eat if you like top notch food, service and menu (booking essential since many people are aware of this secret). The Bar Staff are all terrific and treat you like you`re family, and there`s nearly always some extravagant entertainment on the go, especially fancy dress, live music and theme nights. Everyone goes back after having discovered it.
• Depending on taste, would recommend the Pelham Arms, Lansdown and at an absolute push the Elephant, just avoid the middle-aged couples with kids....hideous noise....
• Elephant & Castle
• I visited the Snowdrop Inn with my family, as we had read very good reviews about it and were looking forward to a good veggie meal in interesting surroundings. We were somewhat suprised to see the waiter/hired hand (a young lad of about 17) bringing out the food with his dirty thumbnails IN a portion of lentils on a customer's plate! I decided to mention this to the woman serving in the bar who said in a very off hand way "well he shouldnt be doing that but his hands are spotless" and walked off quickly. The lad in question then came by and said aggressively "Who's complaing about thumbs in food?" and I said that I was. Again, he was very off hand and said, "well you try carrying plates of hot food without putting your fingers in it" and proceeded to demonstrate on my plate of food by picking it up and showing me just how hard it was to be a waiter! He then mumbled something like "Im just the hired hand, it doesnt matter anyway" and walked off. My family and I were horrified and disgusted (as were neighbouring 'diners') at the approach of the staff of this so called excellent pub. When the bar woman came back my son asked to speak to her and said that we were annoyed at the attitude of this boy. She said they had never had any complaints before, and she had told him about our complaint and proceeded to walk off again. I called her back and said "Youre doing it again; we're talking to you and you are walking away" She said "Im sorry, ok, Ive had a long day, Im tired, he is my son, I cant do anything else to help you, Im sorry. Alright?" And off she went again. Ive never been treated in such an appalling manner by staff of any restaurant or pub. They were immediately on the defensive about the service and were not really interested in our comments. I had seen this lad in the kitchen serving out food and licking sauce off his fingers and coupled with his filthy thumbs actually in the food, was very shocked and disappointed. Apart from which, the food itself was pretty mundane. How the pub got the praise it has is beyond me. Go to Brighton where there are many veggie pubs and restaurants that make this place look like a run down roadside Happy Eater.
• The volunteer is a damn good pub. there is a good cron downt there and the service is great. Personally I find it an excellent place to drink, and as for townies yes you get the few on a fri/sat night, but who cares? the atmosphere makes up fo that/1 gets my number one star rating.
• The best for beer and value used to be the John Harvey Tavern run by the Brewery but now it's probably the Brewers Arms. However the Brewers back bar can often have a large croud of townies/kevs, plus they can be a bit anal about language and getting drunk (it's a pub for gods sake) The Lewes Arms is a really nice pub in terms of appearance position and decor, however being very small it has a severe local feel. Cold shoulders are common. The Elephant is a good pub for beer and atmosphere mainly at the weekend, however there are a few nasty individuals particularly behind the bar. But it gets a large number of younger drinkers. Juke box is good! The Lewes Arms is a bit souless and beer is not that good, has a fair few younger drinkers but also a few idiots. The Rainbow Tavern, now a Zel bar is good in the back bar, but has started to get very busy on some nights. The drinks can be very expencive, the roof terrace is great in the Summer months. The bar Staff are cool. It has a good atmosphere with fewer idiots, although not completely. The Volunteer is a no go area for anyone who is not a townie/kev or does not want to get a broken nose from one. Best avoided. Gardeners Arms is nice for a quick drink but stay longer or arrive drunk and they will not like you, it can be quiet. Landsdown Arms, not that good really unless you like the Titanic. It used to be full of collage people but now a bit boring. The Royal Oak is quite good it has a good pub garden for the summer it has live music some times. Nothing special though. The Kings Head has had a refit but looks the same as it did? Not very good! The Snowdrop is a long walk! But is the only pub in Lewes on the good pub guide. Younger croud generally, beer is OK they have made a lot of effort on the decor though. The only other one worth mentioning is the Pelham Arms which is a nice place to eat but is a bit quiet.
• Highly recommend a trip 'round the brewery and a visit to the brewery shop, where you can by bright (fresh!) ale from flagons to poly pins.... (Wish I knew where the guy who made the previous comment gets his rats piss....)
• harveys is wet
• The Black Horse Inn Western road is probebly the best pub in the world
• The Black Horse in Western Road (at the top of the town, opposite County Hall)has excellent beer (Harveys and a good range of guests) and does nice food at lunchtimes. Unpretentious and definately no horsebrasses on the walls!
• Elephant and Castle is the best pub in Lewes if you like miserable bar staff, horrible décor, cheesy clientele
• The SNOWDROP
• Very old brewery called Harveys. The ale tastes of rat's piss, and that's being generous, but the locals rave on about it. Loads of pubs, around 27 (as well as there being 130 licensed establishments!) good ones are
  • The Snowdrop Cliffe ]
  • The Royal Oak [Station Street]
  • The Lewes Arms [High Street]
  • The Brewers Arms [not a very good pub but it's my local, and I'm normally in there every Friday!]
• The locally brewed beer is an aquired taste, and after several years aquiring it, I now feel qualified to say that it's fucking great. The best pub in Lewes is the Elephant and Castle. Pool, darts, pinball and table football as well as a good selection of beers.
• The Royal Oak is currently in decline, and is almost dead. The Lewes Arms, is in my opinion, the best pub in the town. It is not in the High Street, but in Castle Ditch Lane. Yes, I can confirm that Harvey's beer is fucking great.

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Last updated: 2009-04-01