Prince George, Brighton

This is a smart pub with multiple drinking areas in a good location at the top end of the Laines and close to Brighton station. The pub has been partially successful in retaining its multiple room layout, although a fair bit of modernisation has seen some spaces opened out a little. You enter into a bare boarded main bar area with a cosy little seating area to the left offering several tables with benches in a spot that was proving popular on my visit. The rest of the room is essentially an open plan bar area, albeit with a small section of partitioning wall through the centre, directly opposite the bar, which helped to give it a more secluded feel. Some high tables and stools are arranged in the centre, whilst more benches fill out the space under the front windows and a lone table to the rear has some low stools in support. The bar runs down the right-hand wall and has a traditional dark wood counter and a pleasant mirror and brickwork bar back. Moving further into the pub, you pass a door to the left for a side room that looked much like a dining room to me, with bench and chair seating under rustic brick walls decorated with various pictures, but the space was very dimly lit, so maybe dining in here wouldn’t be the best idea. A corridor leads you further back to a small rear space with a quarry stone and bare boards floor. Seating here comprises a couple of bench booths including one underneath a long L-shaped cabinet full of spirit bottles. On the other side, a table with low stools has been positioned beneath a shelving unit full of old ceramic bottles and the like. The corridor continues past the toilets and a wall covered in many Victorian-era portraits, eventually reaching a beer garden that I didn’t bother to explore in the darkness. Electronic music played in the background throughout my stay and I noticed that the menus are all vegetarian. Just one of the four handpulls was in operation when I arrived, dispensing a modest pint of Bedlam Benchmark, although I did notice they had plenty of craft beers on keg dispense, including a few from Beavertown, no doubt at premium prices. Service was prompt but a bit frosty and the clientele was exclusively youngsters about half my age. I liked this pub, despite the sole ale option, as I thought it was a comfortable place that I could easily imagine settling down in for a few pints. There are lots of good pubs along this road and in the adjoining part of the Laines, so if you’re looking for a crawl that doesn’t venture too far from the station, this would be a good one to add to the itinerary.

Another good pub with 3 tiny rooms off the main bar.Brick walls and pastel colours are warming.Rear area with seating Four cask beers doom,seafarers,gun -strong pale and holler boys -fog cutter.Tank beer from Firebird

This place was full of younger folk on my visit. Apparently it does discount for students and I was told that they do CAMRA discount for Hophead only. As it was so busy I didn't get to note all of the beers but I had an Arundel Trident (£3.90) which seemed a bit expensive. As this former Charrington pub sells beers almost entirely from various Sussex microbreweries I assume that it is now a genuine free house.

I think I came in at the wrong time. Only two of the six pumps were on and the one I opted for was warm and on the turn. In hindsight I would have ordered a bottle of Brewdog but frankly a pub offering this sort if rubbish by disinterested kids doesn't deserve my custom. I'm going across the road to try the Great Eastern. By way of explanation, rather than excuse, I did hear one of The disinterested kids say the manager was on holiday. They need to choose their relief staff more carefully.