The Admiral, Brighton

This down to earth pub, located on the edge of the Hanover neighbourhood, just across the way from The Level, has a lovely curved frontage which makes it look quite appealing on approach. You enter into a fan shaped room with a dirty parquet floor and a nice servery along the back wall. The bar has a traditional dark wood counter and a nicely detailed wooden bar back with some decorative mirror and patterned inserts to liven it up a bit. There is a small, L-shaped carpeted space behind a big pillar to the left with some sofas set out to one side and hard benches around the perimeter. A fireplace stands on the end wall with some bookcases and a stack of board games to the side and a nice collection of old 12" records stuck to the wall. In the open space opposite the bar, some tables and chairs have been awkwardly positioned, making it a bit tricky to reach the bar if people are blocking the left hand gangway, which I would imagine becomes a real pain on busy evenings. A long banquette runs along the front wall and there was a large Tv screen in the front corner, a dartboard over to the right and various drinks themed items dotted around the walls alongside a big map of the British Isles. The pub looks like it is used for regular live music performances and there were a fair few flyers around the pub promoting various upcoming events. Heading to the toilets, you pass an upright piano which looks like it is in active use, whilst the toilets themselves are a bit unusual in that the walls have been fully papered with pages from old comic books. A decent selection of tunes played quietly in the background through the course of our visit and a few folk had opted to sit on the picnic benches out the front of the pub. Just the two ales on the bar on our early Friday evening visit - Titanic Plum Porter and Hammerpot Double Helix, with four unused pumps presenting a pretty sad sight. I'm in the distinct minority of PuG users who can't stand Plum Porter, so I had no choice but to try the Double Helix, which was thankfully pretty good, if a little stronger than I would've liked with several pubs still to negotiate on the crawl. I quite liked this place and thought it had a bit of quirky charm to it and a lived in feel that set it apart from some of the more food focused pubs around Hanover. I imagine you get a good atmosphere in here on a night when there is some music on and wouldn't mind popping in on such an evening. The limited beer range was a shame, but the quality was good and that's really the most important thing. An interesting spot that's worth giving a try if you find yourself passing by.

Sadly this one didn’t do it for me also, but I do wonder if we visited it at the right time. Perhaps on a summers evening when there are lots of locals utilising the decent garden area outback or when there are lots of students in for one of the many live music nights, this place has a different feel about it. But with only a couple in it lacked as much in atmosphere as it lacked in ale choice from the six (I counted five but it had been a long day so I will bow to the review below) handpumps on the main bar. I did like the traditional interior and with a few in and a better choice of beer this could be a cracking pub. Unfortunately it wasn’t for our visit.

Originally the Admiral Napier and in existence by at least the mid-19th century, though probably rebuilt in the 1930s. There’s a herringbone floor, attractive wood panelling and conventional mixed furniture with some large, circular tables – good for accommodating our fairly big group. There’s also what seems to be a very interesting Art Deco bar back. Ales: I haven’t had porter since my last visit to Pimlico’s now defunct Orange Brewery in 1999 and plum porter sounds rude, so I went for the only other ale, Hammerpot’s Double Helix at a very expensive £2.40 a half, even for a 5.2% ABV ale and in Hanover too. It was new to me and very nice also. This seems like a friendly pub which is also a live music venue, so the sort of thing I’d appreciate at an earlier hour. Worth seeking out if in the area, but the range of ales is a bit limited and with too strong an entry point for a session ale.

Interesting-looking corner pub with a curved frontage, and (because of the lie of the land) dominating the nearby road junction. Mix of semi-traditional furniture and mostly music-themed decor. Disappointingly, just Hammerpot Double Helix and Titanic Plum Porter on two of the six handpumps.