Every Pub in Brighton #26-30
Entry six into this little thing and we’re covering a handful of pubs, some with great food options and a lovely little bottle shop. Have at it!
#26 // Daddy Longlegs
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Address: 1 Arundel Rd, Brighton BN2 5TE
Date visited: September 2022
I was more intrigued by the name of this pub than anything else. On looking into why it has such a distinctive name I learned it takes its name from the Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway - a single carriage train that carried passengers from Kemptown to Rottingdean from 1896 to 1901 through shallow waters. Dubbed ‘Daddy Longlegs’ due to its carriage sitting atop 7m high legs fixed to a track under the water - it was a mixture of a boat, a tram and a mobile pier. I’m doing a terrible job of describing it - LOOK AT THIS. Apparently, you can still see the concrete sleepers the track was built with at low tide.
We wandered here as it was around the corner from Brighton Bier’s Taproom and (sort of) on the way back into the city centre. It’s not far from Brighton Marina either so is probably a good spot pre or post marina visiting.
It’s a rather large pub at the end of the street with an equally large outside space at the rear. The beer options were a little lacking with all of the draft options being macro-brewery or macro-brewery adjacent. I ended up with a pint of Thatcher’s Haze which probably tells you everything.
This place is definitely a pub with a heavy focus on food and wine so we probably came for the wrong reasons. It’s run by the same team behind the brilliant cocktail bar, The Plotting Parlour in the city centre, and knowing that now, I can understand the approach a little more. It was doing a pretty decent trade when we headed for the bus with pretty much everyone in there but us eating so maybe come here if you’re in need of nourishment rather than hydration. Unless you’re in the mood for wine or cocktails.
#27 // The Fountain Head
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Address: 101 North Rd, Brighton BN1 1YE
Date visited: September 2022
This pub featured on BBC’s Interior Design Masters (series 4 episode 8 if you’re interested) and it turns out we went just after it had its glow up. We were completely oblivious to this at the time but I’m sure we’d have noticed had we visited prior to the refurbishment to compare and contrast the changes.
The pub is in the North Laine area, next door to Bison Beer. Its striking black facade and white illustrative signage make a bold statement amongst its neighbouring buildings' cream, white or exposed brick frontages. It is yet another Laine Pub Company pub but as I’ve said before, despite not being massive on their beers, their pubs are all at least very different and don’t feel like they are a chain as much as some other pub companies do. That’s definitely the case here as the aforementioned makeover of its interior courtesy of the BBC show has given this pub. We actually sat on one of the new bench seats that featured in the episode and it was a cosy little snug area in the window so we definitely approve.
The Fountain Head regularly hosts events such as Lino printing workshops run by The Paint Club as well as pottery classes from Pottery & Pints.
We did try and eat in here back in the summer of 2022 but they didn’t do food at the time - that appears to have been rectified now with a vegetarian menu offering the likes of nachos, salads, loaded fries, halloumi and veggie burgers all of which can be made vegan.
Beer offerings is the usual Laine Brew Co. affair (plus a few other rotating choices) but they also serve up a range of cocktails as well if that’s more your bag. Although you’d probably not be reading a review of a pub on a beer blog if it was. Anyway, good pub!
#28 // Vine Street Tap + Bottle
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Address: Unit 3, 13-16 Vine St, Brighton BN1 4AG
Date visited: September 2022
We stumbled in here, sort of by accident. We were wandering around North Laine in pursuit of a pub for a pint on a bustling Saturday night and they were all, unsurprisingly, teeming with patrons. A friend suggested we check out a little bottleshop/bar he’d been to before instead. So we did. And it was excellent.
Tucked down a residential street (can you guess which one?) in the heart of the North Laine area is this hidden gem. It’s a tiny place with four two-seater tables inside (and more out on the pavement, weather permitting) and always seems to be doing a steady trade when we’ve been in. I believe it used to be affiliated with Good Things Brewery but that sort of ended after the whole brewery getting struck by lightning thing (don’t worry, they have returned as Allkin now and have a taproom in Tunbridge Wells!).
Vine Street has five draft beer taps with an ever rotating line-up, an extensive selection of natural wines to peruse and a range of cocktails to pore over. I had beers from Baron Brewing and Glasshouse - two breweries I haven’t seen on draft all that much in Brighton so was delighted to sink a few pales from each of them.
I’ve been in several times since to buy takeaway beers when nearby and even a few cans as gifts. Although the beer selection may not be extensive (did I mention this place is small?), it’s impeccably curated offering up a choice of beers from local breweries as well as cans and bottles from producers from further afield.
Well worth a visit if you’re looking for somewhere a little more relaxed and chilled out than the plethora of pubs in the area.
#29 // The Stirling Arms
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Address: 3 Stirling Place, Hove, Brighton BN3 3YU
Date visited: October 2022
Behind the giant Tesco superstore in Hove and just around the corner from The Urchin, is where you’ll find The Stirling Arms. This is another Good Times pub (like The Railway Inn and Poets Ale & Smokehouse) so I was looking forward to paying it a visit after the aforementioned two had set the bar high for this independent pub chain. Its bright yellow facade means that it’s pretty much impossible to miss - even in the middle of autumn.
We visited on a Friday evening as we were looking for somewhere to eat and have a few end-of-week pints to welcome the weekend and we couldn’t have picked a better spot. The Stirling Arms feels very much like a neighbourhood pub (it helps it’s nestled in a residential area) with regular patrons chatting away with the bar staff as we ordered our drinks. We managed to snag the last available table and, whilst it was busy, it didn’t feel overly so.
I had two pints from local brewery Three Acre, based in Uckfield. Their cask India Pale Ale tasted excellent and went particularly well with my well-earned cheeseburger following a long week at work. The food menu appears to have changed since our visit with bao, banh mi, tacos, burgers and even more now on offer.
A great pub and one I’ll definitely be calling into again.
#30 // The Stoneham
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Address: 153 Portland Rd, Hove, Brighton and Hove, Hove BN3 5QJ
Date visited: October 2022
The first time we visited The Stoneham was back in 2021. We’d viewed some houses nearby and were in need of some lunch. It was absolutely bucketing down, so we sought refuge in the nearest pub, which just happened to be The Stoneham. I had an incredible beef short rib dish that was absolutely perfect to warm me from the lashing I’d received outside.
Roughly a year later, I was back. Now a Brighton resident and this time with family in tow. My Mum was visiting us for the first time and we went for lunch with her and my in-laws. Although the menu had inevitably changed, it was a good choice due to its proximity to our house and the sheer size of the place. This pub is massive. It’s a hangar of a venue, with a whole host of seating options that makes it ideal for groups. In addition to this, it apparently boasts an impressive beer garden but, as I’ve only visited in autumn, I have yet to experience it.
It was quiet on the Saturday lunchtime that we visited but you’d need to have two full football squads to fill this place so was sort of expected. This suited us as it allowed for conversation to flow and lots of catching up to occur. Although I didn’t get my beef short rib, I did have a perfectly decent plate of fish and chips accompanied by a pint of Harvey’s Best that placated me.
There aren’t as many pubs on Portland Road as I thought there would be but this is probably the best one.
