The Victory Inn, Brighton

More a comment than a review. Reading the reviews below it appears that the Victory could do with a bit of work. Just my luck to call on the day it was shut! I did walk in to be met by a team of builders and was told they would be open tomorrow. Maybe next time …..

Very nice looking pub from outside but a bit tatty inside and poor toilets.Three cask beers on and I reluctantly tried Laines -breaker.Dullsville.

Most striking on approach, is the fine glazed tilework indicating that this was once a Tamplin’s house, dating back to around 1766. Inside it’s a fairly traditional pub, certainly in the front bar, illuminated in part with daylight filtering through the etched stained-glass windows. There are few small high tables and a bare boarded floor, though there’s a games machine and TV which spoil things a bit. The rear area appears to have been knocked through into at least one house on Middle Street so is more spacious than it seems at first. It’s along this street that there are around four tables with separate benches. In winter, there’s a real log fire – nice. On the downside, the lavatories could do with a little remedial work. Ales: Jenning’s Sneck Lifter, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Laine’s Breaker at £2.15 a half and indeed non-descript, also a little pricey. This is mostly a very good pub but could do with a larger and more interesting array of ales. The existing range could be improved by ditching the Doom Bar as the sight of the pump clip offends. There’s a five-day midnight licence, 2.00 am on Friday and Saturday which is a nice bonus.

One of the city's most impressive pub exteriors, with the Tamplin's tilework immediately catching the eye from whichever direction you approach through the Lanes. By comparison, the two-room interior is relatively plainly furnished, but the decorative window glazing adds interest and there is a splendid dark-wood bar-back in the main bar at the front. Five of six handpumps in operation, with three real ales - Doom Bar, Sneck Lifter and Laine's Breaker pale - and a couple of ciders.