The Dolphin Inn, Hastings

Just across the road from The Stade's shingle beach and its tall black fishing huts, and with a big car park just up the end of the road, The Dolphin is situated in tourist central here in Hastings, but the clientele (inside at least) seemed to be regulars on a warm weekday afternoon. 6 handpumps, though unhelpfully batched into 3 groups of 2 on opposite sides of the centrally-located bar, these were a mix of local (Harvey's Sussex and one from Kent Brewery) and further afield (Hop Back Crop Circle and a St Austell special for example). There's also a long row of keg taps, but nothing too left-field, though your Neck Oil or Madri might come in glass straight out of the fridge. The Dolphin's a perfectly reasonable watering hole and better than you might expect, given the location.

This is a fine old Fisherman’s pub, opposite the famous tall Fisherman’s nets huts and the shingle beach where I believe they still have the largest beach launched fishing fleet in the UK. Unfortunately, its prime location does mean it’s a bit of a tourist magnet in high season and as mine was a late lunchtime visit it was full of people dining and quite a few families included. But difficult to complain as on this occasion I fitted the tourist definition and they are renowned for their pub food rating very highly for it on Trip Advisor, and especially the sea food dishes, as the product come direct from the fishing fleet each day. The interior is as well described by PSM below, but we actually chose to visit here as, on passing we spotted a bench being vacated on the excellent small front facing terrace and decided to grab it to celebrate the fact that the sun had just broken through for the first time that day. Fortunately, real ale is as much a focus as the food and all six handpumps dotted along the bar were in operation with Harvey’s Sussex Best, Youngs Special, Dark Star Hop Head, Marstons Pedigree, Surrey Hills Brewery Sheer Drop and 360 degree Brewing Fast Back American Pale Ale. I did notice they offered a paddle of 3 1/3 measures but we went for halves of the latter two and they were in very good condition. This was a very good and well run food and ale pub in the tourist section of Hastings and was probably our second best preferred pub of the day after the FILO.

Official site of The Dolphin Inn - thedolphinpub.co.uk

Official site of The Dolphin Inn - thedolphinpub.co.uk

A very busy pub as described by Ray and Graham below, the six cask beers on were Youngs Special, Harveys Sussex Best,Dark Star Hophead and APA, Rother Valley Hoppers Ale, the choice was welcome given a lot of surrounding pubs were Shepherd Neame owned. I had an enjoyable couple of pints here.

An excellent pub, despite being in the touristy bit opposite the famous fishing sheds. The interior is a fairly standard seaside type, with fishing nets and other nauticalia around the two rooms, either side on the bar. There is a patio area at the front, raised above road level. But what it does have is that feel of a lively, well-run pub, with a good welcome. A fair range of beers is offered, at time of visit including 3 Legs Black, Youngs Special, Harveys Sussex and Long Man American Pale. That they take their beer seriously can be seen as the pub has also won various local CAMRA awards.