The Victory Inn, Brighton

The traditional exterior of the Victory makes one want to pop in as it screams ‘proper boozer’. At the front of the pub is a narrow bar that supports a few standard draught products alongside Amstel and four hand pumps that were drawing Dark Star’s Over The Moon (dark and superb), Brighton Best and Prospect with the fourth pump being unused. There is an old TV up in the corner and a more modern plasma screen can be found in the rear seating area. Both of these were off during my Tuesday evening visit and I spotted no sport advertisements. There is something advertised for every night of the week and these include local DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, games night on Tuesdays (not that much was happening on the recent Tuesday evening I visited) and live music on Thursdays. There is an upstairs lounge that I did not visit and to complement the two picnic tables out the front there is also a courtyard at the rear with some covered seating. I liked it in here and would have no problem returning.

Another first posting ! Occupying a street corner position in the heart of Brighton’s shopping district, on the edge of The Lanes, is The Victory Inn, a smallish attractive looking pub whose fine tiled exterior still advertises the delights of Tamplins Ales, Wines and Spirits and which still retains the etched glass indicating it was once a multi room pub. Outside, we learn that the pub dates back to circa 1766 and that it was rebuilt in 1824 to commemorate The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, although quite why it took some 19 years to get round to doing this is not explained. A small wooden bar counter with an attractive bar back serves a narrow main bar and 2 further adjoining rooms round the side and back. The interior is decorated with naval memorabilia, including a number of framed prints of HMS Victory. One of the rooms has a couple of sofas, but, apart from that, furniture consists of rather rustic looking heavy duty pine tables and chairs. Small vases with flowers on each table add something of a homely feel, although some of the flowers had clearly seen better days. Despite the bare boards, it’s a reasonably pleasant and traditional interior. There’s further rooms upstairs in similar style. Sitting in the main bar, I noted that the barrel base of my table had a small plaque telling us that “this barrel was discovered in the cellars of The Victory in 1996”. Food plays a major part of the offering ( but it’s definitely a pub not a restaurant ) and, on my recent Saturday lunchtime visit, the pub was quickly starting to fill up with hungry shoppers and visitors eager for some sustenance and a respite from the rain. 4 real ales were available – W J Kings Brighton Best and South Downs Ale, Dark Star Saison and Arundels Castle, the latter being a fine dark malty pint, probably one of the highlights of my Brighton visit. Staff here were noticeably more friendly and enthusiastic than in some other pubs. Taking the visit as a whole, this is likely to be one of my first ports of call when I’m next in Brighton